The 31st Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has unveiled a guest lineup headlined by Isabelle Huppert, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kore-eda Hirokazu, Fan Bingbing and Michelle Yeoh.
Huppert brings her latest film, “All About Corinne,” to Busan audiences. Gyllenhaal makes her first visit to Korea with “Flesh Impact,” a project created to mark the centenary of Marilyn Monroe’s birth. Fan Bingbing joins fellow Chinese stars Shu Qi and Zhou Xun in Busan, while also curating a Carte Blanche selection of Park Chan-wook’s “The Handmaiden.” Yeoh, the first Asian performer to win the Academy Award for best actress, returns to the festival after 15 years to receive the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award and appears in the gala presentation title “It’s My Time.”
The broader guest roster runs deep. Hong Kong’s Ann Hui will accept the Camellia Award, and Indonesian icon Christine Hakim will also attend. Iranian director Majid Majidi, known for “Children of Heaven,” makes his first trip to Korea with competition entry “Midday Meal.” Animator Rintaro returns to discuss his work on “Metropolis,” and Filipino director Lav Diaz comes back to Korea after a decade away. Japan’s Kore-eda Hirokazu arrives with “Look Back,” Taiwan’s Tsai Ming-liang returns for a second straight year with a new entry in his “Walker” series, and French filmmaker Bertrand Mandico brings “Roma Elastica,” starring Marion Cotillard. Korean auteurs Lee Chang-dong, Na Hong-Jin and Kim Jeewoon round out the lineup, the latter appearing as one of this year’s three Carte Blanche curators.
