The 24th Busan International Film Festival was held from October 3 to October 12, 2019 at the Busan Cinema Center in Busan, South Korea. A total of 299 films from 85 countries were screened at the festival, including 118 world premieres and 27 international premieres.
A new "Icons" section was created to introduce the latest films made by iconic filmmakers from around the world in order to focus on both the directors and their works. The Wide Angle section on Animation Showcase and Cinekids have been integrated into A Window on Asian Cinema and World Cinema sections.
This Busan International Film Festival also screened 10 of the most historically meaningful and remarkable classic films to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the Korean cinema. Korean cinema had become the fifth-largest player in the world film industry based on the number of box office admissions, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Program
Opening
The Horse Thieves. Roads of Time - Yerlan NURMUKHAMBETOV, Lisa Takeba (Kazakhstan/Japan)
Gala Presentation
Coming Home Again - Wayne Wang (United States/Korea) Gloria Mundi - Robert Guédiguian (France/Italy) The King - David Michôd (United Kingdom/Hungary/Australia) The Truth - Hirokazu Kore-eda (France/Japan)
Icons
Adults in the Room - Costa-Gavras (France/Greece) Devil Between the Legs - Arturo Ripstein (Mexico/Spain) Family Romance, LLC - Werner Herzog (United States) Guest of Honour - Atom Egoyan (Canada) The Halt - Lav Diaz (Philippines) It Must Be Heaven - Elia Suleiman (France/Qatar/Germany/Canada/Turkey/Palestine) Joan of Arc - Bruno Dumont (France) Marghe and Her Mother - Mohsen Makhmalbaf (Italy/United Kingdom) Matthias & Maxime - Xavier Dolan (Canada/France) Mindanao - Brillante Mendoza (Philippines) Mr. Jones - Agnieszka Holland (Poland/Ukraine/United Kingdom) Parasite - Bong Joon-ho (Korea) Sorry We Missed You - Ken Loach (United Kingdom) The Traitor - Marco Bellocchio (Italy/France/Germany/Brazil) To the Ends of the Earth - Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Japan/Uzbekistan/Qatar) Vitalina Varela - Pedro Costa (Portugal) Volare - Gabriele Salvatores (Italy) Wasp Network - Olivier Assayas (France/Brazil/Spain) Zombi Child - Bertrand Bonello (France)