The 28th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN, festival director Shin Chul) finally concluded its 11-day fantastic journey on Sunday, July 14th. Screenings of 262 films - 121 features, 97 shorts, 15 AI films, and 29 XR works - from 49 countries took place at the festival’s main venues Bucheon City Hall CGV Sopung, and the Korea Manhwa Museum. The films were presented on 15 screens in 10 theatres and streamed online at the platform wavve. Of the 262 films, 202 (77.1%) were premieres, 70 world premieres, 9 international premieres, 57 Asian premieres, and 66 Korean premieres.
¡ã (from top left to clockwise) Official BIFAN 2024 poster,
Chairmen of Organizing Committee CHUNG Jiyoung and CHO Yong-eek (Mayor of Bucheon City),
Programmer Thomas NAM, Jin PARK, MO Eunyoung, Program Manager Martin LEE,
Head of a Strange Planning team CHO Yangil, Fetsival director SHIN Chul, XR Curator Jay KIM
This year, BIFAN has rebranded its industry section as BIFAN+ and expansion its scope with an addition outside the festival. BIFAN+ has integrated NAFF Project Market, the NAFF Fantastic Film School and Made in Asia (formerly summarized as B.I.G or BIFAN Industry Gathering), Goedam Campus, and the XR experience program section Beyond Reality. The core of the innovation was dedicated to AI, which has emerged as a huge topic in the international film industry. The newly added component ‘BIFAN+ AI’ including the first international competition section for AI in Korea, the ‘BIFAN+ AI Filmmaking Workshop' and the ‘BIFAN+ AI International Conference' aimed to present new solutions for the future of the film industry.
In particular, the successful launch of new section BIFAN+ AI attracted the attention of Korean and international media, film industry, and AI industry professionals. The 'AI Filmmaking Workshop' held from July 2 to 4, attracted a large number of media representatives to experience AI film production in practice, and more than 12 broadcasting medias reported about the AI production process. The AI film production system, a new topic of BIFAN, contributed to the establishment of BIFAN's position as a hub for Asia's advanced film industry and the creation of an entertainment technology cluster in Bucheon, maximizing the expectations for the 30th anniversary of BIFAN.
#1.
From an international competition for AI films to a 48-hour AI filmmaking workshop
Zero production costs, no barriers to entry to open a new era of film content creation!
¡ã (Left) Bucheon Choice: AI Film Competition Award Ceremony, (Right) AI Filmmaking Workshop Closing Ceremony
At the AI Film Competition awards in three categories were handed out: Best AI Film, Best Technical Achievement, and the Audience Award. Jury member Sten-Kristian Saluveer commented: "We, the jury, were astounded by the high quality of the programming of the competition, the narrative coherence, the emotional impact and the technical quality of the films we saw in this pioneering competition program, especially understanding that AI technology is taking first steps."
The AI Filmmaking Workshop was expanded to 60 places after receiving 600 applications for 30 places. The workshop brought together creatives from various fields, including animation, games, art, philosophy, and engineering, as well as filmmakers, to work in teams for two days and three nights to produce extraordinarily creative works. Korean media who attended the event were fascinated by the AI filmmaking scene and realized the paradigm shift in filmmaking.
#2.
AI pioneers from all over the world and Korean and international film, content, and IT industry professionals gather!
Establishing the leading business networking platform in Asia
¡ã (Left) BIFAN+ AI International Conference Panel Discussion
(Right) BIFAN+ Awards Ceremony
The three-day BIFAN+ AI International Conference, introduced and discussed the potential of AI technology in film and content production during 24 talks and discussion events, providing new ideas and inspiration. The conference featured more than 30 speakers and panelists, including Dave Clark, Hansl von Kwon, Caleb Ward, Sten-Kristian Saluveer, Lee Jinjoon, Lee Seungmoo, Anna Bulakh, Ferdi Alici, Kyle Doh, Sey Min, and Brian Kim. All seats were sold out (286 seats) on a two of the three days of the conference, setting a new record for the first such conference in Bucheon. It was an encouraging result that showed another potential of the city.
BIFAN’s core industry program, the NAFF Project Market took place from 7-9 July. This year, 232 companies participated in a total of 780 business meetings. This was an increase of 175 (28.9%) from the previous year, demonstrating the high level of interest in the NAFF projects from both Korean and international film professionals. The training program Fantastic Film School (4 July - 10 July) led by Roger Garcia, Advisor at the Asian Film Awards Academy, guided 30 participants.
#3.
Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra to present BIFAN Eve film music concert!
Opening ceremony with a pipe organ performance!
A cultural landmark created by the convergence of Bucheon City's cultural resources in cooperation with BIFAN
¡ã (Left) Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra BIFAN Eve, (Right) BIFAN Opening Ceremony
This year's BIFAN added special significance by holding major events in Bucheon's representative cultural spaces, utilizing the city's diverse cultural resources. First, the Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra BIFAN Eve, which was held at the Bucheon Arts Center, featured a concert of film music by the Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra, which captivated the audience with its beautiful melodies. In addition, the opening ceremony, which was held for the first time at the Bucheon Arts Center, began with a pipe organ performance ('Also sprach Zarathustra') consisting of 4,576 pipes, which gave the audience a thrilling and unforgettable impression.
At the Bucheon Art Bunker B39, a complex cultural facility built by upcycling an incinerator for the first time in Korea, BIFAN's signature project, Beyond Reality, showcased 30 international XR works demonstrating the latest trends in XR content. The show that took audience interaction to a new level was sold out day after day and drew enthusiastic responses. The Webtoon Convergence Center, where the 'BIFAN+' event took place, is a cultural space that has been supporting content planning, production, and networking based on comic and webtoon IPs since its opening in October last year.
As such, BIFAN was held in various spaces such as Bucheon City Hall, Bucheon Arts Center, Webtoon Convergence Center, Korea Manhwa Museum, and Bucheon Art Bunker B39, with the cooperation of various cultural institutions such as Bucheon Cultural Foundation and Korea Manhwa Contents Agency.
#4.
SON Yejin, Johnnie TO, PARK Joong-hoon, MITANI Koki, Anna BARYSHNIKOV,
YAGIRA Yuya, JANG Mi-hee and many other film stars mesmerized the BIFAN audience
¡ã (from top left to clockwise) Hosts of the Opening Ceremony Jang Dong-yun and Jung Soo-jung, Anna Baryshnikov, Son Yejin, Yagira Yuya, Vivian Sung, Park Joong-hoon, Kim Jae-joong, Johnnie To
The 28th BIFAN was attended by many famous Korean and international filmmakers. Anna Baryshnikov, lead actress of the opening film Love Lies Bleeding, Soi Cheang, director of the closing film Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, Son Yejin, protagonist of this year’s actor retrospective, Kim Sung-soo, director of 12.12: The Day, actor Park Joong-hoon, head of the jury, J-horror master Hideo Nakata, and famous Japanese actor Yagira Yuya were welcomed by an enthusiastic audience.
Also actors and actresses Kwon Eun-bi, Kim Jae-joong, Kim Do-yeon, Kim Jung-nan, Kim Jung-hwa, Kwak Si-yang, Go Min-si, Moon Jung-hee, Park Joo-hyun, Park Ji-hoon, Sohn Suhyun, Ahn So-hee, Ye Ji-won, Oh Ji-ho, Chang Mi-hee, Jaehyun, Jeon So-nee, Jeong Ha-dam, Cho Seong-ha, Cha Tae-hyun, Daniel Choi, Choi Myung-gil, Choi Jae-sung, Han Sang-jin, and directors Kang Je-kyu, Suin Kim, Yeon Sangho, Lee Kyoungmi, Lee Sang-yong, Lee Joonik, Han Jun-hee, and Heo Myeong-hoeng also joined the festival, raising the excitement of the audience.
Directors Johnnie To and Mitani Koki gave film fans an unforgettable experience during masterclasses. The opening and closing ceremonies were hosted by actress Jung Soo-jung and actor Jang Dong-yun, actor Jang Sung-bum and actress Jung Yi-seo.
#5.
From ‘Carnival in July’, ‘A Visiting Local Movie Theater’ to ‘Fanterview’
– public events filled with passionate energy from citizens and audiences!
BIFAN's outdoor event brand ‘Carnival in July’ is an event for everyone to participate and enjoy. For three days (5-7 July), Sohyang-ro behind Bucheon City Hall was transformed into a festive place. Various events such as dance parties, water gun fights, experiential playgrounds, and treasure hunts enriched the weekend for the public. Events in collaboration with Bucheon City such as the ‘Chimaek Day’ and the ‘Ggobsari Film Festival’ also attracted visitors. ‘Spot Tour: Celeb Paparazzi’, an experiential event where visitors could visit every corner of the BIFAN venue to collect stamps, take photos, and become a celebrity for a day, was a huge hit over the weekend.
The events ‘A Visiting Local Movie Theater’ and ‘A Midsummer Night Cine Festa’ were held for free in various neighborhoods to reach out to the citizens of Bucheon. Son Yejin, main actress of The Last Princess, director Kim Ju Ho and actors Cha Tae-hyun and Oh Ji-ho of The Grand Heist, director Lee Joon-ik and actor Park Joong-hoon of Radio Star met with the audience before the screening.
The special talk event 'BIFAN Street: FANTERVIEW', held on the outdoor stage, provided an open stage for the audience to interact with directors such as Kang Je-kyu of TaeGukGi: Brotherhood Of War, Lee Sang-yong and Heo Myung-haeng of The Roundup series, and director Kim Suin and actress Ahn So-hee of The Daechi Scandal.
Various public events connected Bucheon City Hall, Bucheon Arts Center, a car-free Sohyang-ro, and Bucheon Central Park, and thus transformed the square in front of the city hall into festive place throughout the festival.
The 28th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, which was held with unprecedented interest and enthusiasm from the media, film industry, audiences, and the citizens of Bucheon, will return next summer.