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Juries

Bucheon Choice World: Features

BYUN Seung-min

BYUN Seung-min

BYUN Seung-min

Since founding Climax Studio in 2018, he has produced around 20 films and series. In recognition of these achievements, Climax Studio was named one of Cine21's "Most Anticipated Production Companies" in 2022, and he was named "Producer of the Year" in 2023 by Cine21. The studio's TVING original series Bargain won Best Screenplay at the Cannes International Series Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Series at the 2024 Critics Choice Awards. Concrete Utopia (2023) was invited to major international film festivals, including Toronto and Sitges, and was selected as South Korea's official submission for the 2024 Academy Awards. He has produced numerous hit Netflix original series, including Hellbound, D.P., and Parasyte: The Grey. Furthermore, the films JUNG_E (2023), Badland Hunters (2024), and Officer Black Belt (2024), Ballerina (2025) each reached No. 1 on Netflix’s global Top 10 charts.

Asmara ABIGAIL

Asmara ABIGAIL

Asmara ABIGAIL

Asmara Abigail made her acting debut in Garin Nugroho’s Setan Jawa (2016). The following year, she gained widespread recognition for her role in Joko Anwar’s Pengabdi Setan (2017). In 2022, she was nominated for Best Actress at the 75th Locarno International Film Festival for her performance in Woo Ming Jin’s Stone Turtle (2022), which also won the FIPRESCI Prize. In 2025, she served as a jury member for the Concorso Cineasti del Presente section at the 78th Locarno International Film Festival, further solidifying her position as a globally recognized film artist. In 2026, Mothers Are Mothering (2026), a short film co-directed by Khozy Rizal and Lam Li Shuen and starring Abigail, was invited to the Critics’ Week section of the 79th Cannes Film Festival.

BANJONG Pisanthanakun

BANJONG Pisanthanakun

BANJONG Pisanthanakun

Banjong Pisanthanakun has been a cornerstone of Southeast Asian cinema since his 2004 global horror debut, Shutter. He redefined genres with Alone (2007), 4bia (2008), and the hit rom-com Hello Stranger (2010). In 2013, Banjong made history with Pee Mak, shattering records as Thailand’s highest-grossing film ever. He followed up with the romance One Day (2016)—remade in China and India—and the acclaimed Thai-Korean horror co-production The Medium (2021). As a producer, he steered You & Me & Me (2023) and the 2025 blockbuster The Red Envelope (2025). This year, Banjong returns to directing with Inherit (2026), a highly anticipated psychological horror starring Davika Hoorne.

YUKISADA Isao

YUKISADA Isao

YUKISADA Isao

He made his feature film debut in 1997 with OPEN HOUSE (1997). His second feature film, HIMAWARI (2000), won the International Federation of Film Critics Award at the Busan International Film Festival. Since then, he has directed numerous films. His latest work is KAEDE (2025). He has expanded his activities overseas, producing films in South Korea, China, Malaysia, and other countries. In 2024, he directed the OTT drama The Perfect Family (2024) in South Korea. His major works include GO and Crying Out Love in the Center of the World.

Bucheon Choice Korean: Features

KIM Se-hun

KIM Se-hun

KIM Se-hun

Kim Se-hun studied Producing at the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA). Beginning his career as a line producer on The World of Us (2016), he went on to produce House of Hummingbird (2019), More than Family(2020), and Hail to Hell (2023). In 2022, he founded the independent art-house film production company Semosi, through which he produced Red Nails (2025) and The World of Love (2025). He was named one of Cine21’s “Producers of the Year” in 2025.

JUNG Ha-dam

JUNG Ha-dam

JUNG Ha-dam

Jung Ha-dam made her acting debut in director Park Seok-young's Wild Flowers (2014) and went on to star in Still Flower (2015) and Ash Flower (2017), taking the lead in the so-called "Flower Trilogy" and earning widespread recognition in the Korean independent film scene. She has since built a strong body of work across a range of films and dramas, including The Priests (2015), The Age of Shadows (2016), A Resistance (2019) and Decision to Leave (2022). More recently, she appeared in the drama Pyramid Game (2024) and has maintained a longstanding connection with the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festiva(BIFAN) l through her starring roles in Unknown Narrative (2023) and Idiot Girls and School Ghost: School Anniversary (2024). She received the Best New Actress Award at the 36th Korean Film Critics Association Awards, the Best Actress Award at the 4th Wildflower Film Awards, and the Independent Star Award at the 41st Seoul Independent Film Festival. This year, she will serve as a jury member for the Bucheon Choice Korean Feature section at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival(BIFAN).

PIL Gam-sung

PIL Gam-sung

PIL Gam-sung

He began his career in film as a member of director Kim Sung-su's directing team and honed his on-set instincts while working as an on-set editor on several films by director Yoo Ha. After directing the short films Room 211 (2002) and You Promised Me (2011), he made his feature directorial debut with Hostage (2021), a thriller noted for its intense suspense. He has since established himself as a filmmaker who balances genre craftsmanship with mainstream appeal through the TVING original series A Bloody Lucky Day and the film My Daughter Is a Zombie (2025).

Bucheon Choice World
& Korean: Shorts

RYU Hyun-kyung

RYU Hyun-kyung

RYU Hyun-kyung

Ryu Hyun-kyung is an actress and director. She began her filmmaking journey in middle school with the short film Discord, which she wrote, directed, and acted in using a home video camera. She later majored in directing at the Department of Theater and Film at Hanyang University, where she made several short films including What About an Apple(2006), Kwang Tae's Basic Story (2009), and Heart Robber (2010). Alongside her acting career, she has continued to work steadily as a filmmaker. On December 17, 2025, she released her feature film Don't Go Back (2025), for which she took on multiple roles including producer, director, screenwriter, editor, actor, and distributor.

LEE Sang-geun

LEE Sang-geun

LEE Sang-geun

Director Lee Sang-geun studied film at Sungkyunkwan University and completed the Professional Graduate Program at the Korea National University of Arts. His short film Poetry Class (2004) won the Jury Special Award in the Unspoken Cinema section at the 3rd Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival, and his short film Do You Wanna Baby? (2006) received the Grand Prize and the Jury Special Award for Acting at the 5th Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival. In 2019, he made his feature directorial debut with Exit (2019), produced by Outer Korea, serving as both writer and director. In 2025, he directed Pretty Crazy (2025). He currently serves as Co-Executive Director of the Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival.

YAMASHITA Koyo

YAMASHITA Koyo

YAMASHITA Koyo

He was born in Tokyo, Japan. Has been festival director of Image Forum Festival since 2001. Programmer of Theater Image Forum in Shibuya, Tokyo since 2005. Has been guest programmer/curator for many film and media art festivals and film events in and outside Japan, such as: Transmediale (Berlin), Bozar (Bruxells), Arkipel International Documentary and Experimental Film Festival (Jakarta), Sea Shorts (Malaysia), etc. Also curator for the film exhibition/DVD project for Japanese emerging independent animation artist THINKING AND DRAWING(2001). Has served as jury for many international film/art festivals such as Hong Kong International Film Festival, Cannes Director’s Fortnight, Rotterdam International Film Festival, Tampere International Film Festival and Minikino Film Week Bali International Film Festival etc.

Bucheon Choice AI Films

KIM Kwang-sik

KIM Kwang-sik

KIM Kwang-sik

Director Kim Kwang-sik studied Korean Literature at Yonsei University and completed the Professional Graduate Program at the Korea National University of Arts. He demonstrated his talent for storytelling by contributing to the screenplays of Hwang In-roi¡¯s television drama The Return of Iljimae (2009) and Kwak Kyung-taek¡¯s 3PM Paradise (1997). After working as an assistant director on Lee Chang-dong¡¯s Oasis (2002), he made his feature directorial debut with My Dear Desperado (2010), earning acclaim from both audiences and critics. He subsequently directed Tabloid Truth (2014) and The Great Battle (2017), and most recently helmed the AI short film Day One (2025).

Jay KIM

Jay KIM

Jay KIM

Jay Kim studied literature and film and emerged as a pioneer in immersive media as a founding member of the storytelling studio GiiÖii. He planned and produced global XR projects like Missing Pictures (2022) and expanded the industry's horizons as the curator of the "Beyond Reality" XR section at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. In 2024, Kim joined Studio Realive, a subsidiary of SM Entertainment, as CCO, successfully managing operations across immersive tech, XR, virtual entertainment, and AI technologies. Appointed as the new CEO on March 31, 2026, he is now guiding Studio Realive into its next chapter, driving the company forward at the intersection of technology and art.

Roy OH

Roy OH

Roy OH

Roy Oh is a filmmaker, creative director, and the founder of ODDY STUDIO, specializing in AI-driven films and visual content. He began working with generative AI imagery approximately three years ago, during the inception of AI video technology. Through hands-on experimentation with a diverse range of AI tools, he has since developed his own distinctive production methodology and visual language. Moving beyond purely visual experimentation, Oh focuses on narrative-driven, long-form works that emphasize character emotion and storytelling. He takes a holistic approach to filmmaking, overseeing every stage of the creative process—including concept development, screenwriting, directing, music, sound design, and editing. His signature work, Color of My Garden (2025), is an AI short film inspired by the life and inner world of Frida Kahlo. The film premiered as the opening work of BIFAN+ at the 2025 Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival and has since received awards and invitations from numerous international film festivals. Most recently, Oh contributed to the visual content for the cultural performance at the APEC 2025 Leaders¡¯ Summit Gala Dinner, demonstrating the potential of AI-based filmmaking on a global stage. His recent portfolio also includes directing the leader film for the London East Asian Film Festival and collaborating with renowned Spanish artist Eva Armisén on musical compositions and music videos, further expanding his footprint in international arts and cultural initiatives.

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

Chris OOSTEROM

Chris OOSTEROM

Chris OOSTEROM

After programming film and events in various music venues in the 80’s and 90’s, Chris joined the Filmmuseum (now EYE) in 1997, where he worked in programming and later headed the distribution department. In 2003, he started his own distribution company, first in Amsterdam, later in London, where his company Yume Pictures is still active. In November 2012, Chris became the Artistic Director of the Imagine Fantastic Film Festival in Amsterdam, and the General Director in 2020. Since 2017 he is the co-organiser of the European Genre Forum, a pan-European talent programme for genre filmmakers. Chris is also the chairman of the Méliès International Festival Federation, a worldwide organisation that promotes European fantastic cinema across the world.

Elizabeth E.SCHUCH

Elizabeth E.SCHUCH

Elizabeth E.SCHUCH

Elizabeth is an award-winning director and creative trained in theatre and visual effects. Her feature debut film, THE BOOK OF BIRDIE (2017), focused on the mystical feminine, with 100% female cast and 75% female crew. Elizabeth directed short films LICK ME (2026), TWIST TIE (2024), co-directed a docudrama on the Siege of Malta, and co-created cult Greek monster feature MINORE, and appears in the book 1000 WOMEN IN HORROR.

NETPAC Award

SONG Chee-hwa

SONG Chee-hwa

SONG Chee-hwa

She began her film career in art and set design on Be Strong, Geum-soon! (2002). After working on a variety of film productions, she currently serves as a programmer and writer for KBS1 TV's Independent Cinema (2001~2006, 2011~now). She has developed and produced various film-related programs, including Docuworld (2010), Korean Cinema 100 Years - The Classics (2019), (2024~2025). And her work has consistently focused on broadening the reach of Korean independent and art-house cinema and bringing it to wider audiences.

Patrick F. CAMPOS

Patrick F. CAMPOS

Patrick F. CAMPOS

Patrick F. Campos is a film scholar, curator, and professor at the University of the Philippines Film Institute. His work centers on film culture, curation, and regional exchange in Asian cinema. He is the programmer of the Tingin Film Festival and co-organizer of the biennial Association for Southeast Asian Cinemas Conference. He has programmed, curated, and served on juries and selection committees for film festivals and institutions, including the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Jakarta Film Week, Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival, Festival Film Dokumenter, and the Asian Film Archive, as well as QCinema, Cinemalaya, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. He is also editor-in-chief of Pelikula: A Journal of Philippine Cinema and Moving Image and author of The End of National Cinema: Filipino Film at the Turn of the Century.

Roland Nozomu KELTS

Roland Nozomu KELTS

Roland Nozomu KELTS

Roland Nozomu KELTS is an award-winning journalist and the author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture has Invaded the US and The Art of Blade Runner: Black Lotus. He writes for publications in the US, Japan and Europe, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Guardian, New Statesman, The Times Literary Supplement, Nikkei Asia and The Japan Times, among others, and has contributed to several book-length collections. He has been a featured speaker at The World Economic Forum, TED Talks, and embassies, universities and live events in Europe, America and Asia. He is also a Nieman Fellow in Journalism at Harvard University and teaches at Waseda University in Tokyo. He is currently filming a documentary about manga pioneer Osamu Tezuka and finishing a novel.

FIPRESCI Award

PARK Yu-hee

PARK Yu-hee

PARK Yu-hee

PARK Yu-hee is Professor in the Department of Creative Writing & Media Studies at Korea University. Her research focuses on Korean film history, particularly its relationship with literature, censorship, and genre. Through critical inquiry, she examines cinematic representation within networks of narrative relations and the broader context of social history. She has published more than sixty scholarly articles, including "The Literary Film and Censorship" (2010), "A Study on 'Censorship' in Context of Pornography" (2015), "How did the Films of IM Kwon-Taek Become a Canon?" (2017), "What was Western Literature in the History of Korean Cinema?" (2020), and "Interrogation Structure of Film Censorship in the 1970s and the Drift of Drive" (2023). Her sole-authored books include Hanguk Yeonghwa Pyosang ui Jido: Korean Film History through 5 Keywords: Family, Nation, Democracy, Women, Art (2019), Seosa ui Sup eseo Hanguk Yeonghwa reul Baraboda: The Rhetoric of Korean Films (2008), Narrative & Media in Digital Era (2005), and 1950s’ Korean Fictions & Rhetoric of Irony (2003). She conceived and served as chief editor of the five-volume collaborative series All about Korean Popular Narrative Genres (Vols. 1–5, 2007–2016), a comprehensive study of five popular narrative genres—melodrama, historical fiction, mystery, comedy, and fantasy. Her co-authored publications include Censorship in the History of Korean Film (2016), Chastity and Obscenity: How Eroticism Works (2018), Sentimental Lee Kwang-soo (2013), and History of the Events of Peace and Reunification during the Democratisation Process and in the Post-Cold War Era (2014). She is currently investigating South Korean cinema between 1966 and 1987, a period during which prior censorship was enforced at the screenplay stage, and is completing a book on the relationship between cinematic representation and censorship.

Giovanni Stigliano MESSUTI

Giovanni Stigliano MESSUTI

Giovanni Stigliano MESSUTI

Giovanni Stigliano MESSUTI (Venice, 1997) is a journalist, film critic, interpreter, and literary translator based in Tokyo. He has worked on the press coverage of international film festivals such as Venice (from 72nd to 82nd), Locarno (70th, 71st), Udine FEFF (19th, 20th, 25th), Busan (30th), and Taipei Golden Horse (62nd). He regularly contributes to media outlets Nonsolocinema and Asian Movie Pulse, fostering film culture in his home country as an active member of the Italian Film Critics Board (SNCCI) and the Italian Association of Journalists (OdG). He is also a PhD candidate in Film Studies at the University of Zurich, with teaching experience in film history. His dissertation investigates transnationalism in contemporary South Korean and Japanese cinema, for which he holds a research position at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.

Joonatan ITKONEN

Joonatan ITKONEN

Joonatan ITKONEN

Joonatan ITKONEN is a queer, neurodivergent pop culture critic and narrative designer based in Helsinki, Finland. He is the founder of Region Free (regionfree.net) and editor-at-large for KonsoliFIN, where he champions inclusive and brave storytelling across cinema and gaming. He is a published author and essayist with bylines in FILMHOUNDS and Movies We Texted About. He is a member of GALECA, the European Film Academy, FIPRESCI, and the International Film Society Critics Association.

Preliminary Jury of International Shorts

Kristin JI

Kristin JI

Kristin JI

Studied English Language and Literature at Chung-Ang University, and received her MA degree with the thesis Cinema of Ang Lee as a Popular Auteur at the Graduate School of Arts of Chung-Ang University. She had served as a programmer in Chungmuro International Film Festival (2007-2008) and Seoul International Family Film Festival (2010-2011). She was a jury member of the GrandOFF World Independent Film Award (2014-2016) in Poland. She has worked at the Asiana International Short Film Festival as a programmer from 2013 to 2021. She has been serving as a selection committee for international short films at BIFAN since 2023.

Preliminary Jury of Korean Shorts

KIM Cheol-hong

KIM Cheol-hong

KIM Cheol-hong

Since winning the 25th Cine21 Film Criticism Award, he has contributed film writing to various publications and runs the film discussion group¡ºChoesin Yeonghwa¡».

NAM Sun-woo

NAM Sun-woo

NAM Sun-woo

She is a journalist at Cine21 and also contributes to the Korean Film Archive's webzine Archiview and the Korea Foundation's quarterly magazine Koreana. She introduces new films in Weverse Magazine on a biweekly basis. In October 2022, she received the Democratic Press Practice Award jointly for her reporting on unfair contract practices affecting emerging Korean film directors and screenwriters.

LIM Da-seul

LIM Da-seul

LIM Da-seul

After majoring in film directing and screenwriting, they have been working as a director and screenwriter, creating stories across various media. Their major directing credits include the feature film Home Sweet (2016) and the short films Damas (2012), Flicker (2021), and Tongue (2025). Tongue (2025) won the Best Picture award at the 2025 Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) and the Grand Jury Award at South by Southwest (SXSW).

HAN Jay

HAN Jay

HAN Jay

She graduated from Dankook University's Graduate School of Film and Content, where she specialized in screenwriting. She made her directorial debut with the independent feature Take Me Home (2020), which she wrote and directed. Her second feature, No Heaven, But Love (2023), won the WATCHA Pick: Feature Award at the 24th Jeonju International Film Festival. Her latest film, The Go-to Restaurant (2025), was selected as the closing film of the 29th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN).

HUR Bum-wook

HUR Bum-wook

HUR Bum-wook

Since making his first short film in 2009, he has devoted himself to a career in animation directing. He studied animation and filmmaking at the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA), completing both its 27th Regular Program and 5th Feature Film Program. His debut animated feature, On The White Planet (2014), drew international attention after winning the Grand Prix for Feature Films at the Holland Animation Film Festival in 2015. His second animated feature, Pig That Survived Foot-and-Mouth Disease (2024), received a Special Mention from the Jury at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival and became the first animated feature to win the festival's top prize, the Best Feature Award, at the Seoul Independent Film Festival. The film was screened at more than 30 film festivals in Korea and abroad, most of them genre festivals. On May 29, 2026, it will receive its official theatrical release in Japan, the home of genre animation.

Children's Jury

KO Ra-yun, KIM Hyun-seo, KIM Hyun-woo, MIN Jae-yeon, PARK Min-sung, OH Ji-a, HAN Seung-ah, PARK Gyu-do