25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival

The 25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (Korean제25회 부천국제판타스틱영화제), an international film festival held in Bucheon, South Korea, took place from 8 to 18 July 2021, it featured 257 films from 47 countries. The film festival due to the impact of the COVID-19 is held in a 'hybrid' format (online and offline) at 5 different locations including Oul Madang and CGV Picnic from 8 to the 18 July.[1]

25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
Official poster
Opening filmTill We Meet Again
Closing filmThe Medium
LocationBucheon, South Korea
Founded1997
AwardsBest of Bucheon
Hosted byBIFAN Organizing Committee
No. of films257
Festival dateOpening: July 8, 2021 (2021-07-08)
Closing: July 18, 2021 (2021-07-18)
WebsiteBIFAN 2021 Fact Sheet
Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
24th

As per quarantine guidelines of COVID-19, online screening of 154 films (61 feature films, 93 short films), which is about 60% of the entire film festival are open on Wavve. The opening ceremony was held at the Bucheon City Hall. Red carpet event to meet citizens was withdrawn this year.[2]

This festival is a non-competitive international film festival with a competitive section.

Events edit

  • Performances  
    • Special Event
    • Concert
  • Special Events
    • GoeGoe O-TALK
    • Talk with Female Directors of Genre Films
  • Exhibit
    • Typography by Kim M Kijo
    • Works of BAE Yoon-hwan
  • Experiences  
    • One-day Class

Special screening edit

Ku Hye-sun's short film Dark Yellow had a special screening on July 11, 2021. She addressed a press conference and met with the audience.[3]

Jury edit

Sources:[4]

Bucheon Choice: Features edit

  • Tony Kaye (English film director)
  • Meenakshi Shedde (South Asia Delegate Berlin Film Festival, pre-selecting films since 1998, and independent film curator from India)
  • Jarod Neece (former Partner, Film Programmer, and Event Producer for the SXSW)
  • Moon Jeong-hee (Actress South Korea, alumni of Korea National University of Arts, School of Drama)[5]
  • Jo Sung-hee (Film director South Korea, alumni of the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA))

Korean Fantastic: Feature edit

  • Kim Yun-mi (Film producer, South Korea)
  • Cho Young-jik (Cinematographer, South Korea)
  • Baek Seung-kee (Film producer, South Korea)

Bucheon Choice: Short and Korean Fantastic: Short edit

  • Ji Se-yeon (Film festival programer, South Korea)
  • Jeong Ga-young (Film director and actor, South Korea)
  • Kim Ki-jo (Visual designer, South Korea)

Méliès International Film Festival Federation (MIFF) Asian Film Award edit

  • Pedro Soto (Secretary general of the Mellies International Film Festival Federation, Portugal)
  • Florian Shoreer (Owner and operator of a local art house, Germany)

NETPAC award edit

  • Sidharth Srinivasan (Genre film director, India)
  • Kirsie Sena Boodee (Film director, Sri Lanka)
  • Jung Min-ah (Film critic, Professor Department of Theater and Film, Sungkyul University)

Program edit

Sources:[6][7]

All award winning films are in bold

Opening film edit

Bucheon Choice edit

Bucheon Choice Features edit

  • The Beta Test (Jim Cummings / P J McCabe USA 2021)
  • Caveat (Damian McCarthy UK 2021)
  • The Feast (Lee Haven Jones UK 2021)
  • King Car (Renata Pinheiro, Brazil 2021)
  • The Medium (Banjong Pisanthanakun, Korea, Thailand 2021)[9]
  • NIMBY - Not In My Backyard (Teemu Nikki, Finland 2020)
  • Pistol (LV Huizhou China 2020)
  • Tenement 66 (Rae Red, Philippines 2021)
  • Treat or Trick (HSU Fuhsiang, Taiwan 2021)
  • Vicious Fun (Cody Calahan, Canada 2020)

Bucheon Choice: Shorts 1 edit

  • The Archivists (Igor Drljca, Canada 2020)
  • In One's Shadow (Mor Lankri, Israel 2020)
  • Night Bus (Joe HSIEH, Taiwan 2020)
  • Night of the Living Dicks (Ilja RAUTSI, Finland, Denmark 2021)
  • Sins of a Werewolf (David PRENDEVILLE, Ireland 2020)
  • Who Goes There? (Astrid THORVALDSEN, UK 2020)

Bucheon Choice: Shorts 2 edit

  • The Criminals (Serhat KARAASLAN, France, Romania, Turkey 2021)
  • Hospital Dumpster Divers (Anders ELSRUD HULTGREEN, Norway 2020)
  • Namoo (Erick OH, USA 2021)
  • The Shepherd (Ilya PLYUSNIN, Russia 2021)
  • Solution for Sadness (Marc Martínez JORDÁN / Tuixén Benet COSCULLUELA, Spain 2020)
  • Stuffed (Theo RHYS, UK 2021)

Korean Fantastic edit

Korean Fantastic: Competition edit

  • Action Hero (Lee Jin-ho, Korea 2021)[10]
  • Dieter Fighter (Jeong Jee-yeong, Korea 2021)
  • Ghost Image (Lee Sang-jun, Korea 2020)
  • Good Deal (Cho Kyoungho, Korea 2021)
  • Show Me the Ghost (Kim Eunk-young, Korea 2021)
  • Trans (Do Naeri, Korea 2020)
  • A Trap (Lee Moon-young, Korea 2021)
  • Unboxing Girl (Kim Soo-jung, Korea 2021)

Korean Fantastic: Features edit

  • AI Her (Lee Jung-sub, Korea 2021)
  • Chill-Inn's Bum (Hahn Vad, Korea 2021)
  • The Day I Died: Unclosed Case (Park Ji-wan, Korea 2020)
  • Diva (Cho Seul-yeah, Korea 2020)
  • Fumble Studio (Bae Yoon-hwan, Korea 2020)
  • I Leave Home (Kim Sung-hwan, Korea 2021)

Korean Fantastic: Shorts 1 edit

  • 316 Gongwon Street (Jung Min-soo, Korea 2021)
  • Light in Empty (Kim Seo-jin, Korea 2021)
  • Pitch Black (LEE Junsup, Korea 2021)
  • Yellow Tomato (PAK Hyungnam, Korea 2020)

Korean Fantastic: Shorts 3 edit

  • The Daughter (NAM Soona, Korea 2021)
  • Forest of Purity: Attack of the Adultism (KANG Dongwon, Korea 2021)
  • The Noses on the Run (KIM Boram, Korea 2021)
  • Nowhere Else (LEE Kyeongwon, Korea 2021)

World Fantastic Red edit

  • The Advent Calendar (Patrick Ridremont, France 2021)
  • Anything for Jackson (Justin G. DYCK, Canada 2020)
  • Apps (Lucio A. ROJAS / José Miguel ZÚÑIGA / Sandra ARRIAGADA / Camilo LEÓN / Samot MARQUEZ, Chile, Argentina 2021)
  • At the End of Evin (Mohammad TORABBEIGI / Mehdi TORABBEIGI, Iran 2021)
  • Baby (Juanma BAJO ULLOA, Spain 2020)
  • The Barcelona Vampiress (Lluis DANES, Spain 2020)
  • Benny Loves You (Karl HOLT, UK 2020)
  • Bloodthirsty (Amelia MOSES, Canada 2020)
  • Bloody Hell (Alister Grierson, Australia, USA 2020)
  • Coming Home in the Dark (James ASHCROFT, New Zealand 2021)
  • Dark World (Jittsint PONGINTARAKUL, Thailand 2021)
  • Death Knot (Cornelio SUNNY, Indonesia 2021)
  • The Forever Purge (Everardo Valerio Gout, USA 2020)
  • The Fourth Face (Ranjeet Kamala Sankar and Salil V, India 2021)[11]

World Fantastic Blue edit

  • A-Ha : Take On Me (Thomas Robsahm / Aslaug Holm, Norway 2021)
  • As We Like It (Chen Hung-i / Muni WEI, Taiwan 2021)
  • Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (YAMAGUCHI Junta, Japan 2020)
  • The Con-Heartist (Mez THARATORN, Thailand 2020)
  • Cross the Line (David VICTORI, Spain 2020)
  • The Dawn (Dalibor MATANIĆ, Croatia 2020)
  • Paranoia (Riri Riza, Indonesia 2021)

Family Zone edit

  • Nussa (Bony Wirasmono, Indonesia 2021)
  • Secret x Heroine Phantomirage!: Eiga ni Natte Chodaishimasu (MIIKE Takashi, Japan 2020)
  • Super Hero (Kim Min-ha Korea 2021)

Forbidden Zone edit

  • For the Sake of Vicious (Reese Eveneshen / Gabriel Carrer, Canada 2020)
  • Mother Schmuckers (Lenny GUIT, Harpo GUIT, Belgium 2021)
  • The Spine of Night (Philip GELATT / Morgan Galen KING, USA 2021)
  • Violation (Madeleine SIMS-FEWER, Dusty MANCINELLI, Canada 2020)

Strange Hommage edit

Fantastic Short Films edit

Fantastic Short Films 1 edit

  • The Beehive (Clovis TANGUY-TESTUD, France 2020)
  • Catch You Catch Me (BAEK Jae-ho, Korea 2020)
  • Fear Eats the Soul (KIM Dongsik, Korea 2021)

Fantastic Short Films 2 edit

  • The Adventure of a Hard Drive (BAEK Seunghwa, Korea 2020)

Fantastic Short Films 3 edit

  • Hug Me, Hug Me Right! (LEE Jian, Korea2021)
  • Voice (KIM Youngjae, Korea 2020)

Fantastic Short Films 4 edit

  • Breathtaking Cliff (BAK Sunyong, Korea 2021)

Fantastic Short Films 5 edit

  • Chi Chi (JEON Chanwoo, Korea 2021)

Fantastic Short Films 6 edit

  • Cashy (GIL Iji, Korea 2020)
  • Chewing Gum (Mihir FADNAVIS, India 2021)
  • Sipjangsaeng (JUNG Jaeyeon, Korea 2021)
  • Voice Over (LEE Minseob, Korea 2021)

Vertical Short Film Special Screening : 25 edit

Source:[12]

  • 25 Years Old : the Age All the Young are Deprived of Their Dream (Park Churwoong, Korea 2021)
  • 25 Years Old Couple (Jeong Ga-young, Korea 2021)

Awards and winners edit

Sources:[13][14][15]

Bucheon Choice edit

Bucheon Choice Features edit

  • Best of Bucheon (₩20000000): The Medium director Banjong Pisanthanakun, Korea, Thailand
  • Best Director Choice (₩5,000,000): Lee Haven-Jones for The Feast UK
  • Jury's Choice (₩5,000,000): Treat or Trick by HSU Fuhsiang (許富翔) Taiwan
  • Audience Award: NIMBY - Not In My Backyard by Teemu Nikki, Finland

Bucheon Choice Shorts edit

  • Best Short Film (₩5,000,000): Stuffed by Theo RHYS
  • Jury's Choice for short Film (₩3,000,000): Night Bus by Joe HSIEH, Taiwan
  • Audience Award for Short Film: Stuffed by Theo RHYS
  • Jury’s Special Mention: Sins of a Werewolf by David PRENDEVILLE

Korean Fantastic edit

Korean Fantastic: Features edit

  • Korean Fantastic Film (KRW 20,000,000): Action Hero director Lee Jin-ho, Korea
  • Korean Fantastic Best Director (KRW 10,000,000): Cho Kyung-ho for Good Deal, Korea
  • Fantastic Actor: (2 winners)
  • Korean Fantastic Audience Award: Good Deal director Cho Kyung-ho, Korea
  • Nonghyup Award (distribution award, KRW 10,000,000): Show Me the Ghost by Kim Eunk-young, Korea
  • CGV Award (distribution award, KRW 10,000,000): Action Hero by Lee Jin-ho, Korea
  • Watcha New Talent Award KRW 5,000,000): Action Hero director Lee Jin-ho, Korea
  • Fantastic Actor Jury’s Special Mention:

Korean Fantastic: Short edit

  • Best Korean Short Film (KRW 5,000,000): Pitch Black by LEE Junsup[16]
  • Audience Award for Korean Short Film: The Noses on the Run by KIM Bo-ram
  • Watcha New Talent Awards (KRW 5,000,000) (5 winners):
    • Pitch Black by LEE Junsup
    • Voice by KIM Youngjae
    • Nipple War 3 by PAEK Siwon
    • Voice Over by LEE Minseob
    • Why is It so Warm on Christmas? by CHOI Woogene

Méliès International Festivals Federation(MIFF) Award for Best Asian Film edit

This award is intended to discover and promote Asian genre films.

  • Awardee: At the End of Evin by Mohammad TORABBEIGI, Mehdi TORABBEIGI, Iran

NETPAC Award edit

This award is given by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC).

Beyond Reality edit

The Festival is screening extended reality (XR) content through its program “Beyond Reality” at Incheon International Airport. There will be altogether 80 pieces of XR content, including 39 films, that are going to be screened. Five films created by US-based animation studio Baobab Studios are included in the program.[17]

They are:

  • Bonfire
  • Crow: The Legend
  • Namoo
  • Baba Yaga
  • Paper Birds

References edit

  1. ^ Yoon Tae-hyu (July 8, 2021). "'장르 영화 축제' 부천국제판타스틱영화제 개막…방역에 총력" ['Genre Film Festival' Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival opens... focus on quarantine]. Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  2. ^ Lee Jin-young (July 9, 2021). "웨이브, 오늘부터 부천국제판타스틱영화제 온라인 상영관 오픈" [Wave, Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival online screening open from today]. Newsis (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  3. ^ Jo Yeon-kyung (July 11, 2021). "구혜선 '다크옐로우' BIFAN 첫선 "여성이기에 담아낸 시선"(종합)" [Ku Hye-sun's 'Dark Yellow' BIFAN premiere "The gaze I captured because I am a woman" (comprehensive)]. JTBC (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  4. ^ Kim Ji-eun (June 29, 2021). "부천판타스틱국제영화제, 조성희 감독 등 심사위원 16명 위촉" [Bucheon Fantastic International Film Festival appointed 16 judges including director Cho Seong-hee]. Newsis (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  5. ^ Jeong Il-hyeong (July 8, 2021). "부천국제판타스틱영화제 심사위원을 맡은 배우 문정희" [Actress Moon Jung-hee, a jury member of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival]. Newsis (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  6. ^ Jean Noh (June 15, 2021). "Korea's Bifan to open second hybrid edition with 'Till We Meet Again'". Screen Daily. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  7. ^ "Bucheon Int'l Fantastic Film Festival to open next month". Yonhap News Agency. June 15, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  8. ^ Kwak Yeon-soo (July 9, 2021). "Taiwanese film opens 25th Bucheon Fantastic Film Festival". The Korean Times. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  9. ^ Jeong Jin-wook (July 11, 2021). "'랑종' 부천국제판타스틱영화제서 세계최초 개봉" ['Rangjong' opens for the first time in the world at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival]. News 1 (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  10. ^ Yang Yu-jin (July 15, 2021). "'액션히어로', 부천국제판타스틱영화제 4관왕 쾌거 [공식]" ['Action Hero' wins 4 awards at Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival [Official]]. My Daily (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  11. ^ Iyengar, Shriram (June 22, 2021). "Three Indian films make it to 25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea". Cinestaan. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  12. ^ Song Seung-hyun (July 10, 2021). "Ten TikTok-style short movies to be screened at 25th BIFAN". The Korea Herald. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  13. ^ Jung Eun-eun (July 16, 2021). "[BIFAN] 부천국제판타스틱영화제 폐막, '액션히어로' 4관왕" [[BIFAN] Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival Closing, 'Action Hero' Wins 4 Crowns]. Korean Broadcasting System (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  14. ^ Kim Ji-eun (July 15, 2021). "4단계 속 부천영화제 폐막…장편 작품상에 '랑종'" [Closing of the Bucheon Film Festival in 4 stages... 'Rangjong' at the Best Feature Film Award]. Newsis (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  15. ^ Yoon Tae-hyun (July 15, 2021). "4단계서 치러진 부천영화제 폐막…장편 작품상에 '랑종'" [Closing of the Bucheon Film Festival held in Phase 4… 'Rangjong' at the Best Feature Film Award]. Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  16. ^ Seo Jeong-won (July 19, 2021). "이준섭 감독 단편 '칠흑' 부천국제판타스틱 영화제서 수상" [Director Lee Jun-seop's short film 'Jet Black' won an award at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival]. Maeil Business (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  17. ^ Song Seung-hyun (July 12, 2021). "BIFAN screens XR films at Incheon Airport". The Korea Herald. Retrieved July 12, 2021.

External links edit