[29th Abroad Festival] The never-ending wave of movies...4,500 seats full of heat (comprehensive)

The 29th Busan International Film Festival opened on the 2nd. ⓒOSEN

The Busan International Film Festival, Asia's top film festival, began its 10-day long journey.

In front of the Busan Haeundae-gu Film Center, where the 29th Busan International Film Festival was held this afternoon (2nd), various filmmakers from all over the world walked the red carpet. The 4,500 seats at the Seoul Cinema Center were packed with audiences.

Earlier, last year's Busan International Film Festival was embroiled in internal strife due to personnel issues from the preparation process, and there was constant noise even before the opening. Eventually, then-executive chairman Huh Moon-young and then-chairman Lee Yong-kwan expressed their resignation, and then-chairman Jo Jong-guk was also dismissed, and the film festival was held in an unprecedented leadership vacuum.

Since then, the Busan International Film Festival has organized an innovation committee and worked for about five months to normalize the festival, and this year's festival was held normally under the leadership of Chairman Park Kwang-soo and Vice Executive Chairman Park Do-shin and Kang Seung-ah.

The opening ceremony marked the beginning of the festival in earnest with the hosting of actors Park Bo-young and Ahn Jae-hong.

At the opening ceremony, Japanese thriller master Kiyoshi Kurosawa took the stage as the winner of the "Asian Filmmaker of the Year" award, which is given to the most prominent figure in the development of the Asian film industry and culture. He expressed his sincere gratitude for winning the "honorary award" and expressed his affection and respect for Korean audiences, saying, "I think the audience of the Busan Film Festival is higher than anywhere else in the world."

Park Bo-young and Ahn Jae-hong ⓒ OSEN as hosts.

At the festival, his latest films, "The Path of the Snake" and "The Cloud," will meet the audience.

Later, at the opening ceremony, the late actor Lee Sun-kyun, who suddenly passed away last year, was selected as the winner of the Korean Film Achievement Award, and a time was arranged to commemorate him. When his masterpieces appeared on the screen, Lee Jung-jae, Song Joong-ki, and Lee Hee-jun, who were in the audience, expressed their condolences for the deceased with heavy expressions.

Park Bo-young and Ahn Jae-hong also said, "It was a very sad farewell. I hope you have now reached comfort like the last greeting of "My Mister," he said, remembering him and delivering the meritorious award to the bereaved family. Six films will be screened at the festival, including his representative films Paju (2009), Woori Sun-hee (2013), Parasite (2019), the drama My Mister (2018), and the Land of Happiness ( posthumous works).

Meanwhile, the festival hosted the opening ceremony, including actors Park Bo-young and Ahn Jae-hong, Koo Hye-sun, Gong Seung-yeon, Kim Gyu-ri, Joo Hyun-young, Jeon Bae-soo, Ye Ji-won, Shim Eun-kyung, Jang Hyun-sung, Lee Dong-hwi, Kwak Sun-young, Kwon Yuri, Lee Seol, Jin-young, Dahyun, Jo Woo-jin, Ji Chang-wook, Ha Yoon-kyung, Lee Joon-hyuk, Park Sung-woong, Kim Hyun-joo, Kim Sung-jae, Kim Min-ha, Choi Hee-seo, Noh Yoon-seo, Kim Min-joo, Jungwoo, Kim Dae-myung Director Kim Sung-soo and director Kim Sang-man walked on the red carpet and greeted the audience directly.

The number of official invitations to this year's Busan International Film Festival was 224, up 8% from 209 last year. Including 55 Community Beef screenings, the total number of screenings is 279. The opening film is Netflix historical drama "Jeon, Lan," starring Kang Dong-won and Park Jung-min, and the closing film is Singaporean director Eric Ku's "Soul Travel," who was invited to Cannes, Berlin and Venice International Film festivals for the first time in Singapore and received the Order of Culture Merit.

The 29th Busan International Film Festival will be held for 10 days from Oct. 2 to Oct. 11 around the Seoul Cinema Center.

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