BIFAN News

BIFAN News

The 23rd BIFAN Wraps Up the Festival at the Closing Ceremony!

DATE2019.07.06Hit 12797


The 23rd BIFAN Wraps Up the Festival
at the Closing Ceremony!
BIFAN bids farewell to the 23rd edition of the festival
along with the screening of ‘The 12th Suspect’



The 23rd Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (Festival Director SHIN Chul, hereafter BIFAN) held its closing ceremony at the Bucheon City Hall Main Theater on July 5 (Fri.) at 7 p.m. The winners of the competition sections were announced after the red carpet event, and the screening of the closing film wrapped up the evening.

International cineastes heated up the atmosphere at the venue by walking the red carpet. The audience lavished congratulations on the cast of this year’s closing film, The 12th Suspect, who came out in full force for the world premiere of their film. The actors from The 12th Suspect who were in attendance included KIM Sangkyung, JUNG Jisoon, NAM Yeonwoo, KIM Heesang, NA Doyul, NAM Sangjin, HAN Jian, AN Sungmin, and KIM Daehyun. A number of this year’s jury members – actress UHM Junghwa, directors KANEKO Shusuke and JEONG Byeonggil, Jonathan BARKAN, Amy NICHOLSON, and Kiki FUNG – as well as the directors and actors who were honored with awards, including Christian VOLCKMAN, KOH Jungwook, LIM Hwayoung, and CHO Hyunchul, also attended the ceremony. Others in attendance included mayor of Bucheon JANG Deok-cheon, Bucheon City Council chairman KIM Dong-hee, 13th sponsor chair of BIFAN KO Yoonhwa, festival director of the Busan International Film Festival Jay JEON, and actor HAN Jeeil.

Actor KIM Dahyun and announcer SHIN Jiyae took care of hosting duties for the event. The ceremony started things off with the screening of a video that showed scenes from the 23rd edition of the festival. Festival Director SHIN Chul took the stage next to express his gratitude for everyone involved and to give a progress report on the festival’s proceedings. At the awards ceremony portion that followed, awards were presented to projects in 17 categories within 5 awards sections.

In the “Bucheon Choice: Features” section, the Best of Bucheon award went to The Room by Christian VOLCKMAN, the Best Director Choice award went to Adam Egypt MORTIMER of Daniel Isn’t Real, the Jury’s Choice award went to Is That You? by Rudy Riveron SANCHEZ, and the Audience Award was presented to The Culprit by KOH Jungwook.

In the “Korean Fantastic: Features” section, the LG HiEntech Best Korean Fantastic Film award went to Film Adventure by LEE Sangdeok, and the Korean Fantastic Best Director award was presented to LEE Donku of Fanfare. The Korean Fantastic Best Actress award went to LIM Hwayoung of Fanfare, the Korean Fantastic Best Actor award went to CHO Hyunchul of Film Adventure, and the Korean Fantastic Audience Award was presented to Welcome To The Guesthouse by SHIM Yohan.

After the awards ceremony came to a close, Chairman CHUNG Ji-young and Honorary Chairperson JANG Deok-cheon (mayor of Bucheon) wrapped up the 23rd BIFAN with the declaration of the official closing of the festival, which was then followed by the screening of the closing film. The 12th Suspect, which had its world premiere at the closing ceremony, is a mystery thriller set in a teahouse in Myeong-dong, Seoul after the end of the Korean War. The detective and 11 suspects in the film find themselves engaged in a suffocating psychological showdown because of a murder case that occurred around Namsan. The 12th Suspect, which stands out for its multilayered narrative and the enthusiastic performances of the actors, captivated the audience from beginning to end and helped to serve as the grand finale of the 23rd BIFAN.