01/10/2021 - The South Korean festival is presenting a vast selection of European film productions from the last year across several sections

Brigitte Bardot Forever by Lech Majewski, which will world-premiere at Busan

The 26^th Busan International Film Festival will take place from 6-15 October, as a physical, on-site edition. Due to persisting coronavirus-related security measures, the festival explicitly discourages the participation of international guests, which will inevitably have a significant impact, since the gathering is one of the major film-industry events located in Asia. However, the programme doesn't seem to be affected by this too much and will boast a total of 223 films from 70 countries, much to the delight of local audiences, which are traditionally plentiful.

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The festival is an important venue for the promotion of both big productions and independent films from all over Asia. But it is equally famous as a showcase for European flicks in this region. The European productions are represented in several sections of the programme and will be celebrating their Asian premieres at Busan.

In the World Cinema section, 29 European productions or co-productions are being presented from among a total of 37 films – namely, A Chiara [+see also:
film review
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interview: Jonas Carpignano
film profile] by Italian director Jonas Carpignano, A Tale of Love and Desire [+see also:
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film profile] by Tunisia’s Leyla Bouzid, After Blue [+see also:
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film profile] by France’s Bertrand Mandico, Ali & Ava [+see also:
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film profile] by Brit Clio Barnard, the Swedish-Colombian co-production Amparo [+see also:
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film profile] by Simón Mesa Soto, the Danish historical drama As in Heaven [+see also:
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interview: Tea Lindeburg
film profile] by Tea Lindeburg, the Berlinale winner Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn [+see also:
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interview: Radu Jude
film profile] by Romanian director Radu Jude, the Polish production (which will world premiere at the gathering) Brigitte Bardot Forever by Lech Majewski, the action-film parody Cop Secret [+see also:
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interview: Hannes Þór Halldórsson
interview: Hannes Þór Halldòrsson
film profile] by Iceland’s Hannes Þór Halldórsson, the world premiere of Deserted by Estonia’s Kadri Kõusaar, the Argentinian-Chilean-Spanish co-production Dusk Stone [+see also:
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interview: Iván Fund
film profile] by Iván Fund, Fabian – Going to the Dogs [+see also:
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interview: Albrecht Schuch
film profile] by Germany’s Dominik Graf, the French film Good Mother [+see also:
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interview: Hafsia Herzi
film profile] by Hafsia Herzi, Great Freedom [+see also:
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interview: Sebastian Meise
film profile] by Austria’s Sebastian Meise, Hive [+see also:
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interview: Blerta Basholli
interview: Yllka Gashi
film profile] by Kosovar-US director Blerta Basholli, the French-German co-production Hold Me Tight [+see also:
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film profile] by Mathieu Amalric, Michelango Frammartino's Il Buco [+see also:
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interview: Michelangelo Frammartino
film profile] (an Italian-French-German co-production), Întregalde [+see also:
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interview: Radu Muntean
film profile] by Romanian director Radu Muntean, France’s Magnetic Beats [+see also:
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interview: Vincent Maël Cardona
film profile] by Vincent Maël Cardona, the Italian-French-Slovenian co-production Small Body [+see also:
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interview: Laura Samani
film profile] by Laura Samani, the Finnish film The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic [+see also:
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interview: Teemu Nikki and Jani Pösö
interview: Teemu Nikki, Jani Pösö an…
film profile] by Teemu Nikki, the Berlinale Silver Bear winner The Girl and the Spider [+see also:
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interview: Ramon Zürcher and Silvan Zü…
film profile] by Roman and Silvan Zürcher from Switzerland, the co-production between Romania, Belgium and France (which will world-premiere at Busan) The Island [+see also:
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film profile] by Anca Damian, Spain’s The Odd-Job Men [+see also:
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interview: Neus Ballús
film profile] by Neus Ballús, The Souvenir [+see also:
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film profile] and The Souvenir: Part II [+see also:
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film profile] by British director Joanna Hogg, The Worst Person in the World [+see also:
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interview: Joachim Trier
film profile] by Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier, the Cannes Palme d’Or winner Titane [+see also:
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interview: Julia Ducournau, Vincent Li…
film profile] by French director Julia Ducournau, and the world premiere of Vanishing by French helmer Denis Dercourt.

Among the international guests will be French director Leos Carax, who will host a master class and whose latest film Annette [+see also:
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film profile], which screened at Cannes, will be one of the three gala presentations at Busan.

The Icons section, dedicated to established, “iconic” filmmakers, counts 15 European film productions among its total of 23 movies. The pictures are: the Iranian-French production A Hero [+see also:
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interview: Asghar Farhadi
film profile] by Asghar Farhadi, the Israeli-French-German co-production Ahed's Knee [+see also:
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interview: Nadav Lapid
film profile] by Nadav Lapid, the co-production between France, Belgium, Germany and Sweden Bergman Island [+see also:
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interview: Mia Hansen-Løve
film profile] by Mia Hansen-Løve, Cow [+see also:
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film profile] by Brit Andrea Arnold, Deception [+see also:
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interview: Arnaud Desplechin
film profile] by France’s Arnaud Desplechin, Everything Went Fine [+see also:
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film profile] by French director François Ozon, the French-German-Belgian co-production France [+see also:
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interview: Bruno Dumont
film profile] by Bruno Dumont, the co-production between Chad, France, Germany and Belgium Lingui, The Sacred Bonds [+see also:
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interview: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Achou…
film profile] by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Marx Can Wait [+see also:
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film profile] by Italian director Marco Bellocchio, the co-production between France, Taiwan, Colombia, Germany, Qatar and Mexico Memoria [+see also:
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film profile] by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Michel Franco's Mexican-French-Swedish co-pro Sundown [+see also:
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film profile], The Hand of God [+see also:
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interview: Paolo Sorrentino
film profile] by Italian director Paolo Sorrentino, the Portuguese-French co-production The Tsugua Diaries [+see also:
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interview: João Nunes Monteiro
interview: Maureen Fazendeiro and Migu…
film profile] by Maureen Fazendeiro and Miguel Gomes, Three Floors [+see also:
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film profile] by Italy’s Nanni Moretti and Vortex [+see also:
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film profile] by French director Gaspar Noé.

Four more productions have been invited to partake in the Flash Forward section, which plays host to filmmakers from the young generation. The films in question are Compartment No. 6 [+see also:
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interview: Juho Kuosmanen
film profile] by Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen, El Planeta [+see also:
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interview: Amalia Ulman
film profile] by Argentinian helmer Amalia Ulman, the co-production between France, Egypt, the Netherlands and Greece Feathers [+see also:
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film profile] by Omar El Zohairy and Freaks Out [+see also:
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interview: Gabriele Mainetti
film profile] by Italian helmer Gabriele Mainetti. In the Open Cinema section, three more films from Europe have been programmed – namely, the French-Belgian-Dutch co-production Benedetta [+see also:
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film profile] by Paul Verhoeven, Inexorable [+see also:
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interview: Fabrice Du Welz
film profile] by Belgian director Fabrice Du Welz and Last Night in Soho [+see also:
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film profile] by Brit Edgar Wright. Finally, several shorts from Europe will be screened in their own section, dubbed Wide Angle.