Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has recommended programmer Jung Hanseok as its up-to-date festival director, ahead of a final selection
Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has recommended programmer Jung Hanseok as its up-to-date festival director, ahead of a final selection that is due to take place next week.
Jung has been the Korean cinema programmer at BIFF since 2019, having previously worked as a journalist and film critic at Korean film publication Cine21. He has also served as a jury member for the Buil Film Awards, Jeonju International Film Festival, Seoul Independent Film Festival, and has acted as advisor for the Florence Korea Film Festival and Hong Kong Asian Film Awards.
In a statement, BIFF praised Jung for “spotlighting trends in Korean cinema and bridging the domestic film industry with the festival”.
The final selection process will take place at the festival’s second general meeting of the year, due to take place on March 20 at the Busan Cinema Center.
The appointment would come nearly two years after a string of high-profile resignations that rocked one of Asia’s biggest festivals. They included festival director Huh Moonyung and managing director Cho Jongkook less than four months before the 28th edition of the festival in South Korea. Taking responsibility, BIFF chairman Lee Yong-kwan also resigned as did Oh Seok Geun, then director of the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM).
The role of festival director has remained vacant ever since. In 2023, veteran BIFF programmer Nam Dong-chul was appointed on an interim basis to shepherd the 28th edition while the following year was co-led by former senior programmer Pak Dosin and Kang Seung-ah, after the appointment of a lasting festival director was postponed.
After the 29th edition in October, a seven-strong committee conducted two rounds of open recruitment for a festival director in January and March. Two individuals were selected who BIFF said “demonstrated capabilities in ensuring the festival’s stable operation, presenting a future vision, managing the organisation, and understanding the direction of the festival”.
After reviewing the candidates, chairperson Park Kwang-su selected Jung as the final candidate.
The appointment would come ahead of the landmark 30th edition of BIFF, which will take place two weeks earlier than usual from September 17-26 to accommodate Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving holiday season.
Last year’s edition featured 224 films from 63 countries, recording attendance of 145,238 – up 2% on 2023 – across the 10-day festival. Despite a 50% reduction in its national government subsidy, BIFF expanded its selection and added a venue to cope with the enhance in screenings.
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