18th Busan International Film Festival - International Guests

The Busan International Film Festival unveils its list of internationally acclaimed directors and actors who will visit the festival this year.

2013 Venice Film Festival Golden Lion Winner Gianfranco Rosi (Sacro Gra)

and Best Actress Award Winner Elena Cotta (A Street in Palermo)

Notable winners at the 70th Venice International Film Festival (that has just closed a few weeks prior to the 2013 BIFF) are scheduled to attend the Busan International Film Festival: Director Gianfranco Rosi who won the Golden Lion with his film Sacro Gra and Elena Cotta who won the Best Actress Award with her performance in A Street in Palermo.

Gianfranco Rosi’s films have been invited to prestigious film festivals and have also won awards. His first feature documentary film Below Sea Level(2008) earned him the Orizzonti Documentray Prize at the 2008 Venice Film Festival. Rosi’s another documentary film El Sicario, Room 164(2010) won the International Critics Award (FIPRESCI Award) at the 2010 Venice Film Festival. Sacro Gra, which will be screened at the 2013 BIFF’s World Cinema section, is the first documentary film that won the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival. A Golden Lion winner’s visit to Korea (which is unusual) will surely attract film fans to the 2013 BIFF.

Elena Cotta has already built a strong reputation for her brilliant performance as a stage actress. Regarding her film career, she won the Australian Film Institute Award and Film Critics Circle of Australia Award with her performance in Looking for Alibrandi(2000) by Kate Woods. She visits Busan with the film A Street in Palermo that earned her the Best Actress Award.

Film Masters Jim Sheridan and Neil Jordan

As Well As Brilliant Irish Actors to Attend the Festival

Film Masters Jim Sheridan and Neil Jordan have garnered international acclaim with their films that deal with the reality of Irish society. They will screen 2 films each in the Special Program in Focus ‘Rogues, Rebels and Romantics: A Season of Irish Cinema.’

Jim Sheridan won the Golden Bear at the 44th Berlin International Film Festival with In the Name of the Father(1993) and also directed Brothers(2009) starring Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire. His debut film My Left Foot(1989) earned its actors Daniel Day-Lewis and Brenda Fricker the Best Actor Award and the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Award respectively, at the 62th Academy Awards in the United States. Also, Sheridan was executive producer of Bloody Sunday(2002) directed by Paul Greengrass, who is well-known for his works The Bourne Supremacy(2004) as well as The Bourne Ultimatum(2007). Bloody Sunday(2002) won the Golden Bear at the 52th Berlin International Film Festival.

Neil Jordan swept the world film industry in the early and mid-1990s. Jordan’s The Crying Game(1992) earned him the Best Original Screenplay at the 65th Academy Awards in the United States. He was also awarded the Golden Lion at the 1996 Venice International Film Festival with his film Michael Collins(1996), starring Liam Neeson. His filmography includes Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles(1994), starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, The Butcher Boy(1997), and Breakfast on Pluto(2005).

Also visiting Busan is Pat Shortt, who won the Best Actor Award at the Irish Film and Television Awards in 2008 with his performance in Garage(2007) and tipped for stardom in Irish film industry with the film The Guard(2011).








About the guests

Gianfranco ROSI / Director / Italy
Sacro Gra | World Cinema
Gianfranco Rosi was born in Eritrea and went to university in Italy before relocating and graduating from New York University. He is a guest lecturer at his alma mater, the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica in Mexico City and teaches documentary film studies at Switzerland’s SUPSI and Accademia dell’Immagine L’Aquila, Italy. His films include Boatman(1993), Below Sea Level(2008) and El Sicario, Room 164(2010).

Elena COTTA / Actress / Italy
A Street in Palermo | World Cinema
Elena Cotta was born in Milan in 1931. She made her film debut in 1951, in Miracolo a Viggiù(1951) and in 2013, at 82 years old, she won the Best Actress award at the 70th Venice Film Festival for her performance in A Street in Palermo(2013).

Jim SHERIDAN / Director / Ireland
In the Name of the Father | Rogues, Rebels and Romantics: A Season of Irish Cinema
In America | Rogues, Rebels and Romantics: A Season of Irish Cinema
Jim Sheridan was born in Dublin and is a graduate of Dublin University College. He is also a playwright who had two screenplays staged while living in New York in the 1980s. His filmography includes the Oscar-winning My Left Foot(1989), The Field(1990), In the Name of the Father(1993), The Boxer(1997), Brothers(2009) and Dream House(2011).

Neil JORDAN / Director / Ireland
The Crying Game | Rogues, Rebels and Romantics: A Season of Irish Cinema
Michael Collins | Rogues, Rebels and Romantics: A Season of Irish Cinema
Born in 1950, Neil Jordan is an Irish filmmaker and fiction writer. He won an Academy Award (Best Original Screenplay) for The Crying Game. He also won Best Director at the Berlin Film Festival for The Butcher Boy. His filmography includes The Company of Wolves(1984), Mona Lisa(1986), The Crying Game(1992), The Butcher Boy(1997), and Byzantium(2012).

Pat SHORTT / Actor / Ireland
Garage | Rogues, Rebels and Romantics: A Season of Irish Cinema
Life’s a Breeze | Rogues, Rebels and Romantics: A Season of Irish Cinema
Actor and comedian Pat Shortt was born in 1966 in Ireland. His most notable works include his comedy sketches with Jon Kenny as 'D'Unbelievables', Ireland's most popular comedy duo. His role in the film Garage(2007) earned him the Best Actor Award at the Irish Film and Television Awards in 2008.