Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival

Bucheon Choice: Features

PARK Joong-hoon

Head of Jury

Park Joong-hoon made his debut as the lead in the movie Kam-Bo in 1986 while studying Film at Chung-Ang University. He went on to appear in over 40 films, including Springtime of Mimi and Cheol-Su (1987), Chil-Su and Man-Su (1988), My Love, My Bride (1990), Two Cops (1993), Nowhere To Hide (1999), Radio Star (2006). In 2002, he became the first Korean actor to appear in a Hollywood film through The Truth About Charlie directed by Jonathan Demme who also directed The Silence Of The Lambs . He earned a master’s degree in Drama Education from New York University in 1991. In 2013, he made his directorial debut with the film Top Star and hosted the talk show The Park Joong-hoon Show on KBS. He has an unparalleled record of winning Best Actor awards, including at the Grand Bell Awards, the Blue Dragon Film Awards, the Baeksang Arts Awards, the Korean Association of Film Critics Awards, as well as Asia Pacific Film Festival, Deauville Asian Film Festival, and New York Asian Film Festival.

KIM Seonah

Kim Seonah is currently an associate professor in the school of theater and film at Dankook University and serving as the president of the Women In Film Korea also. She has been an active producer for the past three decades, having participated in several successful films such as Oneday (co-producer, 2016), Rikidozan: A Hero Extraordinary (2004), Save the Green Planet! (2003), One Fine Spring Day (2001), I Wish I Had a Wife (2001), Phantom the Submarine (1999), Motel Cactus (1997), Final Blow (1996), Millions in My Account (1995) and VR film Bloodless (2017, Best VR Story / Venice international film festival).

SABU

SABU was born in 1964 in Wakayama Prefecture. He worked as an actor before he debuted as a director with D.A.N.G.A.N. Runner in 1996 and got his work screened in the Panorama category at Berlin International Film Festival and won Best New Director Award at Yokohama Film Festival, which made SABU, a new prominent video creator, well-known to the whole world. After that, he subsequently released films such as Postman Blues (1997), The Blessing Bell (2003), Dancing Mary (2020), firmly establishing himself as a leading Japanese director and receiving continuous invitations from international film festivals. In 2023, he directed his first Korean film, Under Your Bed .

Jason TAYLOR

Jason Taylor is an award winning film, television, and broadway producer. He has co-produced several blockbusters, including X-Men: First Class (2011), X-Men:Days Of Future Past (2014) and X-Men:Apocalypse (2016). In addition to Hollywood blockbusters he also as a wealth of experience in the documentary and independent space. In 2018 he launched Futurism Studios with the Finnish video game documentary The Name of The Game and Australian science fiction sleeper 2067 . During the pandemic, he followed up the successful collaboration with Australian outfit Arcadia with horror satire crowdpleaser, Sissy (2022 BIFAN selection). Active as a producer and executive for north of two decades, a selection of other credits include U Want Me 2 Kill Him? , The Taking of Deborah Logan and the revolutionary short form YouTube series H+ . On Broadway, Tony nominated & Juliet is in it’s second smash year and about to tour the United States.

Korean Fantastic: Features

KIM Dong Hyun

KIM Dong Hyun is the festival director of the Seoul Independent Film Festival (SIFF). As a screening planner specializing in film festivals, she has played a central role in the growth and development of Korean independent films. In addition to the film festival, she has involved in various fields such as production, distribution, and policy. Kim has distributed and marketed a number of independent films that were screened at SIFF. Beginning with the documentary Jam Docu GangJeong (2011), she has produced films including Cinema with You (2017), A Midday Picnic (2018), and Citizen Pane (2022). Currently, She teaches independent film studies at the School of Film, TV, and Multimedia at Korea National University of Arts and Yonsei University Graduate School of Communication & Arts.

KIM Young-min

While working as a producer in the Korean film industry for the past 20 years, he has participated in the production of more than 20 films and series at SidusFNH, Studio Dream Capture, MCMC, MAP, and Dmix Studio. Among them, Secretly Great (2013) and Pamyo(aka.Exhuma) (2024) achieved great success, breaking records at the Korean and overseas box office. Since 2011, he has been giving lectures on producing films and series at various universities in Korea and is also focusing on nurturing new producers.

SONG Kyung Won

He is the editor-in-chief of the weekly film magazine <Cine21>. He is a film critic and a film journalist. He made his debut as a film critic in 2009 by winning the ‘Cine 21’s Film Critic Award’ and completed Ph. D. Degree in Film Theory at Dongguk University Graduate School of Digital Image & Contents in 2012. He joined Cine21 as a staff reporter in 2012 and has been serving as the editor-in-chief since 2023. He co-authored Producer (2019) and The Ripple of the Mind Stays Within Us (2021), and authored Lee Chung-ho: Critique of a Comic and Webtoon Artist (2019) and The Stains Spread and Became a Film (2024). He appears on Blossom Creative's YouTube channel Moviessom and Haery Kim's podcast Quiet Life. In addition to films, he critiques various forms of visual culture and arts, including games and animations.

Bucheon Choice: Shorts
& Korean Fantastic: Shorts

Sabrina BARACETTI

Sabrina Baracetti, born in Udine in 1967, is the founding member and President of the Udine Far East Film Festival. She also leads the cultural organization C.E.C., an arthouse exhibition company, and consults for the distribution company Tucker Film. Additionally, she co-founded and consults for Ties That Bind and serves on the Board of Directors at Friuli Cinematheque. Baracetti graduated in 1994 with a thesis on Vito Pandolfi’s film "Gli Ultimi," aiding its restoration in the late 90s. Active since 1991 in programming and promoting C.E.C., she became its president in 1995. In 1998, she coordinated a retrospective on Hong Kong cinema, which evolved into the Udine Far East Film Festival in 1999. She has served on many festival juries and as a nomination advisor for the Asian Film Awards.

Vivian SUNG

In 2014, Vivian Sung launched her career as an actress with the film Cafe. Waiting. Love .In the following year, her performance Our Times won her a nomination for Best Leading Actress at the 52th Golden Horse Awards, and these two romantic movies catapulted her into stardom. In 2021, shec ollaborated with director Giddens Ko on Till We Meet Again , which became another box-office success in Asia. A fluent English speaker, shebegan taking part in the international co-productions in 2021, including For My Country directed by the French director Rachid Hami. This year, she will star in the Korean film The Secret House , and this will be her first Korean speaking role.

Jason YU

He discovered a passion for storytelling in a college literary writing course. After his military service, he developed a deep interest in films, joining a film club and creating eight short films. His short film The Favor won Best Korean Short Film at the 22nd Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. With experience as an assistant director on films like Secretly Greatly and Okja, and as a subtitle translator for Burning, he wrote and directed his first feature film, Sleep. This mystery-thriller captivated audiences with its intriguing storytelling, earning awards such as the Emerging Raven Award at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival and the Best Screenplay Award at the Baeksang Arts Awards.

Bucheon Choice: AI Films

Ferdi ALICI

Ferdi Alici is the Director of OUCHHH, a pioneering new media and art studio. He has over a decade of experience as a New Media Design Director for the public arts and new media industry. His work has been showcased in world-renowned museums, organizations, and publications, and he has collaborated with numerous international brands. He has also been selected as a jury for the Ars Electronica, PromaxBDA Global Excellence Awards, and PromaxBDA Europe Awards. Collaborators and featured partners include CERN (Switzerland), TEDxCERN, National Space Center UK, Google USA, City University of Hong Kong, Chinese Government, CODAworx (United States), American Indian Arts, MoMA (United States), Immersive Festival (Spain), IdN Magazine, CNN, WIRED Magazine, ABC, NBC Washington, Fubiz, The Creators Project, Nike, Vodafone, and many more. He has also been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Ars Prix Electronica, German Design Award, Asia Design Award, ADC Award, Muse Award, and International Design Award (LA).

KIM Tae-yong

Graduated from the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Yonsei University. Completed the 13th class at the Korean Academy of Film Arts and graduated from the Australian National Film School. He debuted with Memento Mori (1999), co-directed with director Min Kyu-dong, and directed Family Ties (2006), which showcased different aspects of family, and Late Autumn (2010), a remake of director Lee Man-hee's original film starring Hyun Bin and Tang Wei. His new work, WONDERLAND, explores the changes in daily life and the meaning of existence brought about by the ambiguous boundary between real and AI-generated virtual images. It will be specially screened at the 28th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival.

Sten-kristian SALUVEER

Sten-kristian Saluveer is a visionary in media and technology, known for pioneering initiatives between South Korea, Japan, and Europe, and creating Estonia's first genre film festival, HOFF. He founded Storytek, a media tech innovation hub, and co-developed future strategies for the European Film and Media sector. Sten led Horizon 2020-backed STADIEM and devised the Startup Estonia 2.0 strategy. He serves on the advisory board of Future Hubs at VRT and as Strategic Advisor for NEXT at Marche Du Film, Festival de Cannes. Additionally, he curates "Picture This" conference in Copenhagen and exclusive tech innovator meetings with EU Commissioner Thierry Breton. Sten advises on media, AI, and the metaverse, and has produced notable projects like Sakamoto Ryuichi's Cannes performance and the MURALS 3D experience, winning the Audience Award at BFI London Film Festival.

SHIN Chul

Shin Chul became the head of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in 2019, and this year marks his sixth year with BIFAN. He was instrumental in the modernization of the Korean film industry, producing movies like Marriage Story (1992), Lies (1999), and My Sassy Girl (2001). While in Fox With Nine Tails (1994) and The Gingko Bed (1996) computer graphics were used for the first time in a Korean movie, My Sassy Girl is widely recognized as the film that started the Korean Wave with its explosive success all over Asia, followed by remakes in Hollywood, China, and other Asian countries. This success led to an influx of new talents with fresh visions into the Korean film industry. Shin Chul is regarded as the producer who started the new golden era for Korean cinema. His success triggered major Korean companies to invest in the Korean film market.
As a Korean film producer, he is working on several projects to achieve his second goal. At the 28th BIFAN, he is curating the 'BIFAN+' project, which aims to present a vision of innovation in the film industry brought by generative AI technology. This project sets the momentum to offer creative freedom to creators and focuses on exploring the future evolution of films and film festivals with all members of BIFAN.

Méliès International Festivals Federation(MIFF)
Award for Best Asian Film

Jette KARMIN

Jette Karmin work as a Programme Coordinator for the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) and the Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival (HÕFF). Before this, she spent many years as a dubbing producer and director for animations, gaining valuable experience in the industry. As an avid fan of genre cinema, she is always ready to be surprised by unconventional and fresh viewpoints in films, it brings much inspiration to my work, but also overall joy.

Markus KEUSCHNIGG

Markus Keuschnigg, born in 1981 in Kitzbühel (Tyrol), studied Journalism and Communication Science at the University of Vienna. From 2006 to 2016, he was a film journalist at Radio FM4, and since 2005, he has been a film critic for the daily newspaper Die Presse. In 2010, he co-founded the SLASH Film Festival, specializing in genre cinema, and has since served as its artistic director. Initially starting as a film week, the event quickly evolved into the largest national film festival for works in genres such as horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Since 2013, he has been working as a dramaturgical consultant, particularly supporting filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala in films such as Goodnight Mommy (2014), The Lodge (2019), and The Devil's Bath (2024).

NETPAC Award

Mevlut AKKAYA

Mevlut Akkaya is an award-winning producer and director of stage and screen and has been an active member of the international entertainment community for over 15 years. After graduating the film school, he wrote and directed the film A Jazz Story , featuring jazz legend Gary Bartz. The film has been shown in many international film festivals. Akkaya’s most notable films include Act of Vengeance, When Comedy Went to School, The Doorman, he also co-produced, the international festival’s favorite, Berlinale Crystal Bear winner, Night of Silence . In addition to his roles as a director and a producer, heMr. Akkaya is a prominent figure in many film festivals as a jury member and advisor.

Donsaron KOVITVANITCHA

Donsaron Kovitvanitcha is a prominent figure in Thailand's independent film scene. He works as a film writer, critic, journalist, and film festival programmer. In 2022, he became the festival director of the World Film Festival of Bangkok, Thailand's longest-running international film festival. As an independent film producer, he focuses on nurturing new Thai talent. His productions include Nontawat Numbenchapol’s Boundary (2013), Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s Die Tomorrow (2017), Anucha Boonyawatana’s Malila: The Farewell Flower (2017), and Wattanapume Laisuwanchai’s Phantom of Illumination (2017). In 2022, he produced Sorayos Prapapan's Arnold is a Model Student, which competed at the Locarno International Film Festival.

SONG Hyo-joung

Film critic and Associate Professor at S-LACof Liberal Arts, Daegu University. After winning the 12th 'Cine 21’s Film Award,' she has written for Cine21 and other publications. She has been a jury member and panelist at film festivals like the Jeonju International Film Festival and Seoul International Women's Film Festival. She serves as a permanent writer and programmer for the Indieforum Authors' Association. Holding a Ph.D. in Korean modern literature from Korea University, she researches Korean colonial, liberation, and Cold War cultural orders. As a critic, she engages with the entire system of representation. She co-authored All about the Popular Narrative Genre 1~5 and Obscenity and Purity.