The 31st Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has unveiled its Carte Blanche lineup, featuring personal film selections from actor Fan Bingbing, director Kim Jeewoon and cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo.
Carte Blanche, a French term meaning complete freedom of choice, invites prominent figures from film and culture to pick titles that shaped their own sensibilities and discuss them with audiences after each screening.
Fan, whose commanding screen presence has carried a wide range of roles, has also served on juries at international festivals. She chose Park Chan-wook’s “The Handmaiden.” “‘The Handmaiden’ weaves together desire, deception and power through its exquisite aesthetic, while following two women trapped in their own predicaments as they confront one another, ultimately saving themselves and breaking free from the constraints of fate,” Fan said. “The women captured through director Park Chan-wook’s lens are both dangerous and free. I was deeply captivated by its clarity, boldness and vitality.”
Kim, who made his directorial debut with “The Quiet Family” in 1998 and went on to direct “A Tale of Two Sisters,” “A Bittersweet Life” and “The Age of Shadows” before crossing into Hollywood with “The Last Stand” and returning to Cannes out of competition with “Cobweb,” picked George Miller’s “Mad Max.” “‘Mad Max’ is the beginning of a great legend and the wildest, toughest, and most instinctive film in the entire series,” Kim said. “The shock and fear I felt from the sheer force of its energy when I first saw this film are still vivid. It is a film that proves what true ‘cinematic cinema’ can be.”
