Busan becomes an "A-list" festival: Majidi wins, Michelle Yeoh returns to the red carpet

The Busan International Film Festival ran from October 6 to 15, 2026, recording the highest attendance in over a decade: screening admissions reached 200,043, the highest figure since 2015, for a total attendance of 277,027 people, according to Variety.

The jury chaired by Zhang Yimou awarded the prize for best film to Majid Majidi’s “Midday Meal,” an Iranian drama about a teacher struggling to keep a rural school open. This was the first edition of Busan classified as an “A” category festival by FIAPF, a status that allows the film to qualify directly for the Oscar race for best international feature, without going through national selection, as The Japan Times reports.

The best director award went to Lee Yun Chan for the Taiwanese film “To Be Ordinary,” while the special jury prize was awarded to “Ibuku” by Indonesian director Eddie Cahyono. The best actor award was shared by Zhou Xun, for “The First Taste of Loneliness,” and Himeno Kashun, for “Satoko Always.” The results reflect the geographical variety of this year’s selection, with titles from Iran, Taiwan, Indonesia, China and Japan.

Michelle Yeoh returned to the Busan red carpet after a 15-year absence and was named Asian Filmmaker of the Year. “It gives Asia a powerful voice on world stages,” the actress said. Ann Hui, meanwhile, received the Camellia Award, another career achievement award presented by the South Korean festival.

Among the awards in the Vision section, dedicated to new Asian filmmakers, the Tamil film “Selvi” by Sailesh Rathnakumar won two prizes, while the Punjabi film “Birds in the Dark” took home the Songwon Vision Audience Award - Asia, according to ETV Bharat. The new FIAPF status now places Busan in the same rank as festivals such as Cannes, Venice and Berlin for international award qualification rules.