30th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival Unveils 11 Official Selections for International Competition
- The lineup includes acclaimed festival favorites and works from rising directors at the forefront of genre cinema
- To be screened in the Bucheon Choice World: Features section of the upcoming festival
The 30th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (Festival Director SHIN Chul, hereafter BIFAN) has officially unveiled the 11 feature-length selections for its international competition category.
"Bucheon Choice World: Features" is BIFAN’s international competition section dedicated to presenting the Korean premieres of feature films by emerging directors who showcase bold genre imagination and new cinematic adventures. This year’s lineup spans a wide range of countries, including Korea, encompassing both highly anticipated titles acclaimed at major global film festivals and fresh, contemporary works featuring inventive genre sensibilities and a sharp contemporary edge.
Among the Asian selections is BURN, a compelling portrait of anxious youth that generated significant buzz at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, while Japanese horror Cursed Meme will make its world premiere at BIFAN. Audiences can also look forward to Zsazsa Zaturnnah, an animated musical comedy, adapted from the cult comic that became a Philippine pop culture icon. The film delightfully fuses queer identity with a superhero narrative, following a mundane gay hairdresser who transforms into a female superhero through magical powers. Another notable world premiere is NIKO, a Korea-Taiwan co-production set in a uniquely reimagined future Seoul, which features a striking performance by Tiffany Young of Girls’ Generation.
¡ãStill from left: Zsazsa Zaturnnah, NIKO
This year’s international competition boasts a strong lineup of genre films that have made waves on the global festival circuit. Obsession, which captivated North American genre fans following its premiere at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, is a psychological horror tracing how forbidden desire and obsession spiral into supernatural terror. Leviticus, one of the most talked-about titles in the Midnight section at this year’s Sundance, explores the collision between faith and desire through a daring fusion of queer romance and horror by utilizing the language of Christian taboo and punishment. Notably, the competition section will feature the domestic premieres of some of the standouts from this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, the opener of the Un Certain Regard this year, is a distinctive work that reinterprets the grammar of 1980s slasher cinema through a queer lens and meta-horror sensibility. Species, a selection of the Cannes Midnight Screening, is a body horror film that delivers a powerful and fresh take on how the anxiety and rage of a younger generation driven by achievement and competition manifest as physical symptoms.
¡ãStill from left: Obsession, Leviticus (¨ÏNEON)
Also in the lineup, The Night (Gaua) channels Basque mythology and witchcraft legend from northern Spain, weaving together a female-driven narrative of destiny and queer sensibility. Finnish film Nightborn is a psychological thriller combining folk and body horror to portray familial anxiety and fear intensified after childbirth. The film features a powerful performance by rising Finnish actress Seidi HAARLA alongside Rupert GRINT as a married couple. Meanwhile, Hokum, the latest film from Damian MCCARTHY, whose previous feature Oddity, became a sensation at BIFAN. Set in a remote Irish hotel, this eerie folk horror seamlessly blends folklore with claustrophobic dread.
¡ãStill from left: The Night (Gaua) (¨Ïdavid_herranz), Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (¨ÏMUBI)
The official selections for the international feature competition will screen at the 30th BIFAN, taking place across Bucheon City from July 2 to July 12.
¡á Lineup of the Bucheon Choice World: Features
| |
Title |
Director |
Country |
Year |
Premiere |
| 1 |
BURN |
NAGAHISA Makoto |
Japan |
2025 |
KP |
| 2 |
CURSED MEME |
YAMAMOTO Kan |
Japan |
2026 |
WP |
| 3 |
Hokum |
Damian MCCARTHY |
Ireland, UAE |
2026 |
KP |
| 4 |
Leviticus |
Adrian CHIARELLA |
Australia |
2026 |
AP |
| 5 |
The Night (Gaua) |
Paul URKIJO ALIJO |
Spain, USA |
2025 |
KP |
| 6 |
Nightborn |
Hanna BERGHOLM |
Finland, France, UK, Lithuania |
2026 |
AP |
| 7 |
NIKO |
Julien Birban LEVY |
Korea, Taiwan |
2026 |
WP |
| 8 |
Obsession |
Curry BARKER |
USA |
2025 |
KP |
| 9 |
Species |
Marion LE COROLLER |
France, Belgium |
2026 |
AP |
| 10 |
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma |
Jane SCHOENBRUN |
UK, Canada |
2026 |
AP |
| 11 |
Zsazsa Zaturnnah |
Avid LIONGOREN |
Philippines, France |
2026 |
AP |
*Alphabetical order
¡á Festival Overview
▪ Title: 30th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
▪ Date: July 2 (Thu) – July 12 (Sun), 2026, (11 days)
▪ Type: Non-competitive international film festival introducing partial competition
▪ Main Theaters: Bucheon City Hall, Korean Manhwa Museum, CGV Sopung, LOTTE Cinema Bucheon, Bucheon Art Bunker B39
Please contact the BIFAN PR Team for more details.
E. press@bifan.kr | M. +82-10-7367-6313 | T. +82-32-327-6313(135, 140)
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