Busan returns to 2019 scale: 246 films invited, 95 world premieres
A story the morning did not tell: the Korean festival presents the programme of its thirty-first edition, from October 6 to 15. The main competition, in its second edition, features fourteen titles.
While the 83rd Mostra closes in Venice, the calendar of major festivals moves to Asia. The 31st Busan International Film Festival will be held from October 6 to 15, 2026, in the port city in the south of South Korea, centred on the Busan Cinema Center in the Centum City district, in Haeundae. The programme was presented by the executive committee at a press conference held in Busan on September 1: the report is in the Yonhap news agency dispatch carried by Yahoo! News Japan, and part of the selection is confirmed by the production’s announcement for one of the chosen films.
The numbers indicate the scale of the edition: 246 works officially invited from 59 countries and territories, 95 world premieres, 315 screenings overall. It is the largest scale since 2019.
A still young competition
The main competitive section is only in its second edition: Busan built its reputation over thirty years as a showcase for Asian cinema without a proper competition, and changed its approach only recently. This year it features fourteen films competing for the main prize, the Busan Award.
Among the titles in competition are three Korean works — “Taeju of That Day” by Im Ha-young, the animated film “Long Long Night” by Yeom Gyu-bok and “Shaving” by Kim Jong-hun — the new work by Iranian director Majid Majidi, titled “Bread and Roses”, and films by Japanese directors Nanako Hirose and Shuichi Okita.
Alongside the main competition runs Vision Asia, a competitive section dedicated to the more experimental independent Asian cinema, which has selected eleven films. Among them is the Japanese film “Hajimari no Sayonara” by Ryohei Kumamoto, produced by the music label murffin discs and shot in Onomichi, which will be released in Japanese cinemas on November 20.
“the quality and quantity of the submitted works have improved” (transl. from Japanese) — Executive Committee of the Busan International Film Festival, at a press conference
The assessment comes from the organizers, and should be read as such: it is the position of those who selected the selection they made. The verifiable data accompanying it is the other figure — the return to 2019 scale after years in which festivals reduced programmes and attendance.
Why it matters beyond Asia
Busan was founded in 1996 and is considered one of the continent’s leading film festivals. Its weight is not measured only by awards: it is the place where Asian films meet distributors and programmers from other festivals, and on which part of a title’s international path depends. The presence in competition of an Iranian director alongside Korean and Japanese productions indicates a scope that remains continental rather than national.
What we don’t know
From the material consulted, the names of the jury, the opening and closing films, and the complete list of the fourteen titles in competition are not available — we know only part of it. The composition of the side awards and the daily screening schedule are not available either.
The certain fact is the timeframe: from October 6 to 15, 315 screenings, ninety-five of which will present a film to the public for the first time in the world.
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