The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) is set to mark its 30th anniversary with a grander scale and an expanded budget, promising an impressive lineup of 230 films.
In celebration of this milestone year, BIFF has increased its budget and broadened the scope of the event compared to last year.
According to the BIFF office, a regular general meeting was held on February 27th at the Busan Cinema Center to finalize the festival’s budget and business plans.
The allocated budget for this year is 13.09 billion won for the film festival and 3.5 billion won for the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM), marking an increase of approximately 1 billion won from last year.
The 2025 edition of BIFF will take place over ten days from September 17th to 26th.
The festival’s schedule has been adjusted to accommodate the Chuseok holiday and the National Sports Festival, both falling in October.
The number of official film invitations has risen to 230, up from last year’s 224.
One of the most notable changes this year is the introduction of the tentatively named ‘Main Competition’ section, which aims to showcase an ‘Asian Premiere’ category. This section will have more flexible regulations compared to global film festivals like Cannes and Berlin, which prioritize World Premieres.
BIFF is also considering reviving ‘Forum BIFF,’ an event that was discontinued at the end of 2022. Originally launched as the ‘Busan Film Forum (BCF)’ in 2011, the event invites local and international experts and filmmakers to engage in discussions on various industry topics.
Before finalizing detailed plans for pre-events, awards categories, and festival programs, BIFF is prioritizing the selection of a new executive committee chairperson, a position that has been vacant for two years.
A recruitment process in January failed to find a suitable candidate, leading to a re-recruitment effort that began on January 17th.
BIFF aims to finalize the selection through a temporary general meeting and proceed with the appointment.
