The 28th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN, Festival Director Shin Chul) has kicked off with the opening ceremony on 4 July at 7pm at the Bucheon Arts Center. The ceremony was attended by more than 1,000 guests, including countless celebrities, to kick off the festival.
The opening ceremony was attended by Anna Baryshnikov, actress of the opening film
Love Lies Bleeding, Son Ye-jin, protagonist of this year’s actor’s retrospective, and jury members Park Joong-hoon, Kim Seonah, Sabu, Vivian Sung and Jason Taylor, Kwak Si-yang, Kwon Eun-bi, Kim Do-yeon, Kim Bo-sung, Kim Jae-joong, Kim Jung-nan, and Moon Jung-hee, Park Joo-hyun, Park Ji-hoon, Sohn Suhyun, Ye Ji-won, Lee Hyun-woo, Hoya, Jang Sung-bum, Jaehyun, Jung Yi-seo, Jeong Ha-dam, Cho Sang-gu, Cho Seong-ha, Choi Gui-hwa, Daniel Choi, Choi Jae-sung, Han Sang-jin, Han Ji-il, Johnnie To, Hideo Nakata, Anupam Tripathi, Yagira Yuya, and other Korean and international guests.
Actress Jung Soo-jung and actor Jang Dong-yun served as the ceremony which opened with a spectacular light show accompanied by a pipe organ performance of "Also Sprach Zarathustra" from the movie
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), followed by the screening of the official ID film.
¡ã The hosts of the ceremony JUNG Soo-jung and JANG Dong-yun,
Together with organizing committee chairmen CHUNG Jiyoung and CHO Yong-eek declaring the festival opened
Then, organizing committee chairmen Chung Jiyoung and Cho Yong-eek declared the the 28th edition of BIFAN opened. "This year's BIFAN will leap forward through 'BIFAN+ ’" said Chung Jiyoung, revealing the ambitions of this year’s edition. Cho Yong-eek added "This year, BIFAN will showcase its unique sense of artistic challenge and its status as Asia's leading genre film festival through new attempts to broaden the scope of content using AI”. He went on saying: “We will continue to work together to make BIFAN a festival that both international audience and Bucheon citizens can enjoy together.”
Following the special film BIFAN+ AI opening was screened. Taking the stage after the screening, festival director Shin Chul said: "The film environment is changing. Film festivals must also evolve. We will continue the 27-year tradition of the fantastic film festival and start innovating it for the future this year. We introduce the first competition section for AI films in Korea, we run a workshop using Runway's film production AI programme GEN-3 Alpha for the first time ever, and we host the very first international conference on AI in film production in Bucheon with leading specialists from Korea and overseas.” He went on saying: “Bucheon has a golden opportunity to beat Hollywood cinema without big capital. The efforts for the future will keep you entertained with new and better films and events.”
¡ã (left to right) Festival director SHIN Chul
YEON Sang-ho, director of Parasyte: The Grey, winner of BIFAN’s third ‘Series Film Award' and the executive producers BYEON Seung-min, CEO of Climax Studio, and YANG Yoo-min, CEO of WOWPOINT
Then the third BIFAN ‘Series Film Award' was then presented. This year's winner was
Parasyte: The Grey. Director Yeon Sang-ho, and the executive producers Byeon Seung-min, CEO of Climax Studio, and Yang Yoo-min, CEO of WOWPOINT went to the stage. Byeon Seung-min commented: "BIFAN is changing faster than any other film festival and continues to create new definitions of cinema. It is a festival that supports content from various fields. With BIFAN’s support we will continue to make good content."
The jury members took the stage next. Actor Park Joong-hoon, who was appointed as the chairman of the international competition jury, and actress Vivian Song, who was appointed for the short film competition, gave stage greetings.
¡ã (left to right) SON Yejin, star of the actor’s retrospective,
Anna BARYSHNIKOV, lead actress of the opening film Love Lies Bleeding
The opening ceremony was highlighted by actresses Son Yejin and Anna Baryshnikov. "I'm honoured that the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival has chosen me for this year’s actor’s retrospective”, said Son Yejin. "As an actress, the attribute '’one and only’ is a wonderful attribute. Many actors have their own unique charm and colour, and I'm grateful that my own unique colour is appreciated."
Questioned about her impression about Bucheon Anna Baryshnikov, lead actress of the opening film Love Lies Bleeding answered: "I’m so honoured to be here. This is my first time in Korea. It’s been a beautiful day.” The star introduced the opening film saying: "When I was auditioning for this film, I thought it was one of the most compelling original scripts I’ve ever read. It is a twisted, dark, oddly romantic story about love and the extremes that love drives us to go through.” Rose Glass, the director of Love Lies Bleeding, won the Director's Award at BIFAN in 2019 for her debut feature Saint Maud. The opening film screening was sold out within 19 seconds after the online ticket sales opened. This is the shortest time ever for a film to sell out at BIFAN.
After today’s the opening ceremony, the 28th BIFAN will be in full swing for 11 days until 14 July. The 253 films from 49 countries will be screened at venues like Bucheon City Hall, the Korea Manhwa Museum, and CGV Sopung, and streamed online through the platform wavve. Many Korean and international filmmakers will talk with the audience after the screenings of their films. The actor's retrospective “One and Only Son Yejin” will be held at U-PLEX at the 1st floor of the Hyundai Department Jungdong Branch.
The XR exhibition 'Beyond Reality' will take place at Bucheon Art Bunker B39. The public event 'Carnival in July' will unfold at Bucheon City Hall Lawn Square, An Jung Geun Park, and on and around Sohyang-ro street from July 5 to 7.