30th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
Announces Award Winners

- Awards presented in 20 categories across feature and short films
- Adrián CHIARELLA’s LEVITICUS wins Best of Bucheon and Audience Award in the International Feature Competition
- JEONG Beom’s KNOCK takes Best of Bucheon, Audience Award, and Best Actor Award in the Korean Feature Competition

The 30th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (Festival Director SHIN Chul, BIFAN) held its awards ceremony on Thursday, July 9, announcing the winners that illuminated this year’s milestone 30th edition.

Awards were presented to films selected in the festival's competition sections, Bucheon Choice World and Bucheon Choice Korean, with the prizes across both international and Korean competitions for feature and short films, totaling 20 awards.

The jury for Bucheon Choice World: Features consisted of director BANGJONG Pisanthanakun, Climax Studio CEO BYUN Seung-min, actress Asmara ABIGAIL, and director YUKISADA Isao. The Jury for Bucheon Choice Korean: Features included producer KIM Se-hoon, actress JUNG Ha-dam, and director PIL Gam-sung. The domestic and international short film competitions were judged by director/actress RYU Hyun-kyung, Image Forum Festival Director YAMASHITA Koyo, and director LEE Sang-geun. For the Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF) Award for Best Asian Film, which aims to discover and encourage Asian fantastic genre films, director Elizabeth E.SHUCH and Imagine Film Festival General Director Chris OOSTEROM served as jurors. The NETPAC Award was judged after careful deliberation by Professor Roland Nozomu KELTS, KBS Independent Cinema writer SONG Chee-hwa, and film scholar Patrick F.CAMPOS.

Adrián CHIARELLA’s Leviticus, which took home the Best Film award in Bucheon Choice World: Features, also swept the Audience Award, earning acclaim from both film professionals and festival audiences. The jury praised the film as a film that “opens up striking new possibilities for queer horror.” The Best Director award went to Curry BARKER’s Obsession, while the Jury’s Choice went to Jane SCHOENBRUM’s Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. Notably, Paul URKIJO ALIJO’s The Night (Gaua) received a Special Mention, drawing significant attention. Reflecting on this year’s selections, the jury commented that the films “subverting familiar conventions, these films engage with themes of love and desire, oppression, identity, violence, and a passion for cinema itself—each in its own distinct way—while opening up new possibilities for genre filmmaking.”

In Bucheon Choice Korean: Feature, director JEONG Beom’s Knock won the SHOWBOX Audience Award following its Best of Bucheon win. The Best Director Choice went to director YOO Hyoung-joon’s The Only Child in the Butchery. In the KFAA Best Actor award category, actress YOON In-ah of Knock and actor HONG Seo-baek of Smile Charles were called to the stage, while actress JUNG Yi-ju of Savon and actor JEONG Hyeong-seok of The Only Child in the Butchery received Special Mentions. The NongHyup Distribution Award was presented to director LEE Yong-sun’s Company Sports Day and director OH Young-doo’s Smile Charles. HIVE Filmworks International Distribution Award went to director LEE Jun-sup’s Savon and director NAM Ji-eun’s Psyche. The Korean features jury remarked, “Going beyond genre appeal and cinematic excellence, this year’s award-winning works left a powerful impression through their profound insights into humanity and society.” They praise the films for their “compelling synthesis of meticulous direction, masterful narrative control, and exceptional performances, creating works of remarkable power.”

Among the feature competition titles, the MIFF Award for Best Asian Film went to director JEONG Hyo-jung’s The Fertilizer Home, the FIPRESCI Award went to director Paul URKIJO ALIJO’s The Night (Gaua), and the NETPAC Award went to director JEONG Beom’s Knock. The Children’s Fantastic Choice Award, judged by a children's jury comprised of local children from the Bucheon area, was awarded to director TAKEBAYASHI Ryo’s The Invisibles.

Next, the awards for the international and domestic short categories were presented. In the Bucheon Choice World: Shorts, the Best Film went to director José Eduardo CASTILLA PONCE’s Levantamuertos: Cumbia for the dead, the Jury’s Choice went to director Sandeep FRANCIS’s Switch Off, and the Audience Award went to director YU Chih-Chieh’s The Last Jiangshi.

Among domestic short films, director HONG Seung-gi’s Munchi won Best Film, and director LEE Soo-hyuk’s Siren won the Audience Award. The KFAA Best Actor Award was given to actress HAN Yoo-yeon of Turning girl.

The awards ceremony kicked off with a celebratory performance by the Korean avant-rock band Jambinai and was hosted by actor KANG Seok-woo. Notably, the awards for the finalists of the BIFAN 30-Second Short-form Contest SHORT! FORM! FAN! were also presented, making it a ceremony shared with the citizens.

At the BIFAN+ Awards Ceremony held previously on Tuesday, July 7, awards were presented for Bucheon Choice AI Film, an international competition category for AI cinema, which garnered significant attention. In particular, director LIM Ye-jun’s Big Ball winning the TimeTree Best Technical Achievement holds great significance as it is a result produced through the Fantastic Film School: Creator Course.

With the awards ceremony signaling its final stages, the 30th BIFAN continues to run across Bucheon City until July 12.

¡á BIFAN 2026 Features Winners

Section	Award	Title	Director	Country
Bucheon Choice World: Features	Best of Bucheon	Leviticus	Adrian CHIARELLA	Australia
	Best Director Choice	Obsession	Curry BARKER	Obsession
	Jury’s Choice	Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma	Jane SCHOENBRUM	UK, Canada
	Jury’s Choice Special Mention	The Night (Gaua)	Paul URKIJO ALIJO	Spain, USA
	Audience Award	Leviticus	Adrian CHIARELLA	Australia
Bucheon Choice Korean: Features	Best of Bucheon	Knock	JEONG Beom	Korea
	Best Director Choice	The Only Child in the Butchery	YOO Hyoung-joon	Korea
	KFAA Best Actors	Knock	YOON In-ah	Korea
		Smile Charles	HONG Seo-baek	Korea
	KFAA Best Actors Special Mention	Savon	JUNG Yi-ju	Korea
		The Only Child in the Butchery	JEONG Hyeong-seok	Korea
	SHOWBOX Audience Award	Knock	JEONG Beom	Korea
	NongHyup Distribution Award	Company Sports Day	LEE Yong-sun	Korea
		Smile Charles	OH Young-doo	Korea
Bucheon Choice Features	Hive Filmworks International Distribution Award	Savon	LEE Jun-sup	Korea
		Psyche	NAM Ji-eun	Korea
	Méliès International Festivals Federation(MIFF) Award for Best Asian Film	The Fertilizer Home	JEONG Hyo-jung	Korea
	FIPRESCI Award	The Night (Gaua)	Paul URKIJO ALIJO	Spain, USA
	NETPAC Award	Knock	JEONG Beom	Korea
	Children’s Fantastic Choice Award	The Invisibles	TAKEBAYASHI Ryo	Japan

Section	Award	Title	Director	Country
Bucheon Choice World: Shorts	Best Film	Levantamuertos: Cumbia for the dead	José Eduardo CASTILLA PONCE	Mexico
	Jury’s Choice	Switch Off	Sandeep FRANCIS	India
	Audience Award	The Last Jiangshi	YU Chih-Chieh	China
Bucheon Choice Korean: Shorts	Best Film	Mungchi	HONG Seung-gi	Korea
	KFAA Best Actor	Turning girl	HAN Yoo-yeon	Korea
	Audience Award	Siren	LEE Soo-hyuk	Korea

Section	Award	Title	Director	Country
Bucheon Choice AI Films	Best AI Films	Cornered	Odair FALECO, Davi MOORI	Czech Republic, Brazil
	TimeTree Best Technical Achievement	Big Ball	LIM Ye-jun	Korea
	TapNow New Wave Award	Let There Be Light	TAKAHASHI Hiromu	Japan
	AIMMOVIE Audience Award	Ask me anything	LEE Yong-seuk	Korea
	Jury’s Special Mentions	Prototype	SEO Tae-gyu	Korea

¡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
Scale : 321 films from 50 countries (170 features, 85 shorts, 38 AI films, 28 XR contents)
Main Venue : Bucheon City Hall, Korean Manhwa Museum, CGV Sopung, LOTTE Cinema Bucheon, Bucheon Art Bunker B39, Bucheon Astronomical Science Museum

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