18th Busan International Film Festival - Awards

These are the winners of the 18th Busan International Film Festival.

After 10 days of pure cinema the 18th edition of the Busan International Film Festival has finish. Almost 300 films were projected and more than 220.000 persons attended the festival. The organizers believe that the festival was a success. They listed the achievements of the festival in their final report.

Successful Discovery of New Directors & Numerous Independent Films
Discovering and introducing lesser known directors from Kazakhstan and Mongolia, Busan International Film Festival increased Asian Cinema’s growth potential. The audience who wanted diverse cinematic experience welcomed the screenings of many different kinds of independent films.

Continued Growth of the Asian Film Market
The Asian Film Market showed a significant increase in traffic with first-time sales booth and buyers as well as higher number of APM meetings. The Asian Film Market continues to display stable growth as a place of substance.

Retrospective and Special Programs in Focus’ Outcome
Fly High, Run Far: The Making of Korean Master IM Kwon-taek, his Retrospective, presented all of his screen-able works, 71 films, for the first time to great acclaim. Unknown New Wave Central Asian Cinema drew attention with its new assessment of central Asian cinematic history.

More than 200,000 Visitors for 2 Years in a Row
The number of audience attendees hit the 200,000 mark for the second year. Despite schedule changes and early withdrawal of some outdoor event facilities due to a typhoon, people continued to visit Busan International Film Festival.

BIFF Conference & Forum Successfully Launched
BC&F, expanded from BCF, was successfully launched amidst passionate participation from the visitors and professionals. Through in-depth research on diverse cinematic elements, systematic research outcome can be expected in the future regarding integration of many branches of film industry.

Significant Expansion of Audience Service and Outcome
This year, Busan International Film Festival opened its BIFF Hill lobby to the general audience and expanded audience service including the operation of BIFF Terrace, bringing high level audience satisfaction.

Now we take a look at the winners of this year:

New Currents Section

Winners:

Pascha by Ahn Seonkyoung (Korea)

For its intimate, highly original expression of an unusual love story.

Remote Control by Byamba SAKHYA (Mongolia/Germany)

For it’s sharply observed portrait of the tension between city and country, reality and fiction.

Special Mention:

Transit – Hannah Espia (Philippines)

For opening a window on to an unknown dimension of contemporary Israeli life and the fates of people caught in a desperate political situation.

Sonje Award (Short Films)

Asian Winner 

A Lady Caddy Who Never Saw a Hole in One by Yosep Anggi Noen (Indonesia)

(This film is impressive) for the director’s original take on a very political subject matter through his unique yet simple narrative about love and golf. - Adolfo ALIX JR.

Korean Winner 

In the Summer by Son Tae-gyum (Korea)

(This film deserves an award) for its sensitive handling of a delicate subject that explores the degree of freedom and the choices characters are afraid to assume and the director’s courageous vision of letting the audience understand the journey and psyche of a troubled teenager. Adolfo ALIX JR.

Special Mention (Asia) 

Temporary by Behzad Azadi (Iran)

This film talked about the reality in the very basic way, which should be the foundation of film-making. - JUNG Ji-woo

Special Mention (Korea)

Sprout by Yoon Ga-eun (Korea)

(I’d like to make a special mention of) KIM Soo-an for her well-rounded performance which served as the anchor of this poignant film that questions the basics of family. - Pascale FAURRE

BIFF Mecenat Award (Documentaries)

Winner (Asia)

Jalanan (“Streetside”) by Daniel Ziv (Indonesia)

The jury recognizes Jalanan for its humanizing and respectful look into the class system of Indonesia told through its heartwarming and redemptive characters in a non-sentimantal fashion.

Winner (Korea)

Non-fiction Diary by Jung Yoonsuk (Korea)

Non-fiction Diary is given the best Korean documentary award for making a strong political statement by creatively weaving pivotal events of contemporary Korean history together in a seamless way.

Special Mention

Gureombi – The Wind is Blowing by Cho Sung-bong (Korea)

The jury would like to present a special mention to the film for its incredible footage and access into a group of passionate citizens fighting for what they believe in.

Busan Bank Award (Audience Award)

Home by Maximilian Hult (Sweden/Iceland)

KNN Movie Award (Audience Award)

10 Minutes by Lee Yong-seung (Korea)

FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Award

10 Minutes by Lee Yong-seung (Korea)

10 Minutes impressively depicts the conflicts of the contemporary corporate society in a way of technical competence in production value, and with the ending of profound consideration.

NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Award

Shuttlecock by Lee Yubin (Korea)

(This film deserves an award) for the lightness of the storytelling and the brilliant cinematography in showing the contrasted itinerary of two boys in a quite original road movie. (Max TESSIER)

Busan Cinephile Award

Father’s Garden –The Love of My Parents by Peter Liechti (Switzerland)

The film crosses over several formal boundaries, notably the puppet-show scenes, bold sounds, and experimental short compositions, to re-interpret the universal concept of family with wit. The film demonstrates qualities of originality and bold experimentation.

Citizen Reviewers’ Award

Han Gong-ju by Lee Su-jin (Korea)

Hang Gong-ju’s detailed description of the internal emotion of a character who is trying to recover from pain is impressive.

Shuttlecock byLee Yubin (Korea)

Shuttlecock was exceptional in that it explored the possibilities of growth in the midst of the journey to find family. Both films clearly suggest a vision of Korean cinema and they make us look forward to the future development of Korean cinema.

CGV Movie Collage Award

Han Gong-ju by Lee Su-jin (Korea)

This film, a great achievement in independent cinema, is based on a shocking and tragic true story, but it closely observes the characters within the story rather than focusing on the event itself. The exquisite directing and powerful acting by new actors are also reasons for awarding this film. The film reflects on the violence of contemporary society in a heart-wrenching, beautiful, and profound fashion, and shows the present and the vision of Korean cinema.