Busan Film Festival Reveals 23 Picks for Vision Sections

The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has announced the 23 films that will make up its Vision Korea and Vision Asia sections for the 2026 edition, with a strong focus on independent cinema from South Korea and the wider Asian region.

The selection includes 12 Korean features for Vision Korea and 11 titles from emerging Asian directors for Vision Asia. These two strands were introduced last year as part of a broader restructuring of the festival, which also saw the launch of its first formal main competition.

BIFF describes the Vision programme as a platform for new Korean and Asian independent cinema. It evolved from the earlier Korean Cinema Today - Vision section, which was dedicated to emerging Korean filmmakers. With its expansion to include Asian films, the programme now also features mid-career directors alongside newcomers.

Among the Korean titles is Park Kun-young's 'Things I Left at the Theater', a drama centred on a film journalist searching for an old friend's short film. Jang Woojin's 'Cosmic Trace' examines love, loss, chance and fate through two people reflecting on their lives at the boundary between life and death.

Kim Miyoung, whose 'A Lonely Island in the Distant Sea' won Busan's DGK Megabox Award in 2023, returns with 'Some Detective', which follows a writer confronted by figures from her past. Both 'Some Detective' and Shin Dongmin's 'Not For You' received post-production support from BIFF's Asian Cinema Fund this year.

The Vision Asia lineup features Vietnamese filmmaker Nguyen Hoang Diep's '1982', about a bankrupt filmmaker searching for her missing mother and uncovering family secrets. Filipino director Arvin Belarmino presents 'Ria', a folk-punk drama about a musician fighting to preserve her home and music.

Mongolian filmmaker Sakhya Byamba, who won Busan's New Currents Award in 2013 for 'Remote Control', returns with 'Zogsool', a satire set around an isolated gas station during the early days of COVID-19. Thai actor Inthira Charoenpura makes her directorial debut with 'Bua', co-directed by feature newcomer Phensiri Klangsurin.

BIFF had earlier announced Kim Jong-kwan's 'The Table: Day and Night' as its 2026 opening film. The Seoul cafe-set romance, a loose follow-up to his 2016 film 'The Table', will have its world premiere at the Busan Cinema Centre on October 6, with actor Kim Minha hosting the opening ceremony.

Michelle Yeoh will receive the Asian Filmmaker of the Year honour, while Hong Kong auteur Ann Hui will receive the Chanel-backed Camellia Award. Festival founder Kim Dong-ho will be presented with the Korean Cinema Award.

The festival's main competition lineup is yet to be announced. BIFF will unveil its complete official selection in Seoul on September 1 at its official opening press conference.

The 31st Busan International Film Festival will be held from October 6 to 15, while the Asian Contents & Film Market will take place from October 10 to 13.