A Sea of Short Films Opens in Busan... 148 Works from 43 Countries to Be Screened

43rd Busan International Short Film Festival Opens on April 23


Screenings Across Busan Under the Theme "Cinema & Lumiere"

A sea of short films will unfold in Busan.

The Busan Metropolitan Government (Mayor Park Hyung-joon) announced on April 22 that the Busan International Short Film Festival will be held throughout Busan from April 23 to April 28.

This year’s festival, under the theme "Cinema & Lumiere," will take place at venues including the Busan Cinema Center and BNK Busan Bank Art Cinema. A total of 148 works from 43 countries will be screened.

The opening ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. on April 23 at the Haneul Yeongeukjang of the Busan Cinema Center. Four films, including the French production "There Is Always Something Forgotten," have been selected as the opening films. Singer-songwriter Yuval Lee is also scheduled to perform.

This year, 5,966 films from 124 countries were submitted to the festival. Among these, 40 films were selected for the international competition and 20 for the Korean competition.

Marking the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and France, France has been selected as the guest of honor for this year’s festival. Various special programs will be offered, such as the "Cinémathèque Française Special Exhibition" and "Lights of the Nouvelle Vague."

During the festival, a range of side events will also be held, including talk programs where directors meet audiences, roundtable discussions, and short film production support pitching sessions.

The closing ceremony will take place on April 28, when the award-winning films will be announced. The best film will be recommended as a nominee for the Short Film category at the Academy Awards in the United States.

Cho Yoo-jang, Director of the Busan City Culture Bureau, emphasized, "Through this film festival, we aim to further strengthen Busan’s status as a global film city."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.