In Busan, best film award goes to Majid Majidi, Michelle Yeoh named filmmaker of the year

The 31st Busan International Film Festival took place from October 6 to 15 at the Busan Cinema Center, with Chinese director Zhang Yimou presiding over the competition jury. This is reported by Le Polyester: the news currently comes from a single source, and no independent confirmation is available.

The award for best film went to ‘Midday Meal’ by Iranian director Majid Majidi, set in an arid village where a teacher, Solan, remains the community’s only educational figure. The Special Jury Prize was awarded to ‘Ibuku’ by Eddie Cahyono, while the Directing Award went to Lee Yun-chan for ‘To Be Ordinary’. The acting awards were given to Zhou Xun and Kashun Himeno, and the New Currents Award for best debut work went to ‘Birds in the Dark’ by Shashank Walia.

Among the honorary awards, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh received the Asian filmmaker of the year award. Former festival director Kim Dong-ho was honored for his contribution to Korean cinema, while director Ann Hui received the Camellia Award.

Since 2026 the festival has been classified as an ‘A-list’ event by the Fiapf, alongside Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Locarno and San Sebastian. The recognition places Busan among the most prestigious competitive festivals internationally, in a year when the awards honored authors from Iran, Indonesia, South Korea, China and India, confirming the festival’s vocation to represent Asian cinema in its geographical variety.

The edition that has just concluded is part of a particularly dense season of Asian festivals, with Tokyo and Busan itself working to consolidate their international status alongside the more historically established European events.