The 26th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) recently revealed its list of invited titles and Netflix titles are attracting a lot of buzz.
In particular, upcoming Korean drama series My Name and Hellbound have been selected as the first to be invited to the new On Screen program this year.
My Name, which will be released on October 15th, is directed by Kim Jin-min who previously shocked the world with the Netflix series Extracurricular. My Name centers on Jiwoo who joins a crime ring and becomes an undercover police officer to find her father’s killer. As she assumes a new identity, she faces the cold truth and exacts her revenge. You can look forward to a transformation from actress Han So-hee as she portrays the vengeful Jiwoo. Actors Park Hee-soon, Ahn Bo-hyun, Kim Sang-ho, Lee Hak-ju, and Jang Yull add on to the series’ suspense-filled story.
After being screened at the 46th Toronto International Film Festival, Hellbound has received much praise for director Yeon Sang-ho’s skillful directing, the explosive story, and the actors’ impressive performances. Through BIFF, the series will be unveiled in Korea for the first time. Hellbound tells the story of supernatural beings appearing and condemning people to hell resulting in a new religious group gaining prominence while others investigate the truth behind this strange phenomenon. Director Yeon Sang-ho and writer Choi Gyu-seok reunite to work on the series as creators of the original webtoon which the series is based on. The top-notch cast includes Yoo Ah-in, Kim Hyun-joo, Park Jeong-min, Won Jin-a, Yang Ik-june, Kim Do-yoon, Kim Sin-rock, Ryu Kyung-soo, Lee Re, and more. Following TIFF and BIFF, Hellbound will also be screened at the BFI London Film Festival.
Netflix will also have films from world-renowned creators showcased at BIFF. The Power of the Dog and The Hand of God, which separately won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize and the Silver Lion Award for Best Director at the 78th Venice Film Festival last week, have been invited to the BIFF Icons program. The Power of the Dog is legendary director Jane Campion’s new film in 12 years. Campion previously won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for the film The Piano. The Power of the Dog stars Benedict Cumberbatch and is based on a 1967 book of the same name. It tells the tale of sibling rivalry between two very different brothers who reside in Montana in the 1920s. The film is receiving much love from distinguished film festivals around the world such as Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival.
The Hand of God is the work of famed Italian director Paolo Sorrentino who won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival 2008 for Il Divo. The director also won the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 86th Academy Awards, the 71st Golden Globe Awards, and the 67th British Academy Film Awards with The Great Beauty. The Hand of God shows the coming-of-age tale of a teenager growing up in Naples in the 1980s. Paolo Sorrentino tells his most personal story interweaving fate, family, sports, film, love, and loss. Furthermore, Filippo Scotti, who plays the main character, won the Best Young Actor award at the Venice Film Festival.
Receiving much love at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, Passing will be a part of the World Cinema section at BIFF. The film is based on the 1929 book of the same name by Nella Larsen. The title refers to African-Americans pretending to be white, the practice of passing. Rebecca Hall who is known for having acted in The Prestige, A Rainy Day in New York, and Godzilla vs. Kong, makes her directorial debut through the black-and-white film. Tessa Thompson, who received much love through Thor: Ragnarok and Ruth Negga of Loving and Ad Astra, star as mixed-race childhood friends who have identified themselves differently as adults. The film examines the deep roots of racism in the United States and takes a sharp look at skin color prejudice.
Space Sweepers and Night in Paradise, which received much love all over the world, will be featured in the Korean Cinema Today – Panorama section at BIFF. Directed by Jo Sung-hee and starring Song Joong-ki, Kim Tae-ri, Jin Sun-kyu, and Yoo Hai-jin, Space Sweepers made the Netflix Top 10 chart for about 80 countries. Night in Paradise, which is directed by Park Hoon-jung and starring Um Tae-goo, Jeon Yeo-been, and Cha Seoung-won, contrasts beautiful Jeju Island with a sad and gruesome story. The film received much attention for being invited to the 77th Venice International Film Festival’s out-of-competition section.
Roma, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and The Other Side of the Wind were the first Netflix films to join BIFF in 2018. The King, Marriage Story, and I Lost My Body were invited the following year in 2019. In 2020, Time to Hunt received a warm response at the film festival.