​At the 39th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF), Director Kim Kwangbin’s The Closet won the Silver Raven, the second prize of the International Competition.

A panel of judges in the International Competition Section led by Mike Mendez, the master of fantasy and horror films, announced why they chose the film The Closet: “The film properly mixed fear and fantasy with the social messages such as child abuse, etc. Directing that maintains constant tension was great. And especially, all the actors, including the child ones, performed magnificently.”

The Closet has won the 7th victory in the history of the major international competition awards at the BIFFF. The Isle, directed by Kim Kiduk won the Golden Raven in 2001, Saved the Green Planet by Jang Junwhan’s in 2004, The Host by Bong Joonho in 2007, I Saw the Devil by Director Kim Jiwoon in 2011, etc., Korean films have always been at the center of the BIFFF.

Since then, Korean films have been particularly strong in the thriller genre at the BIFFF. And this year, Director Kim Kwangbin's The Closet won the Silver Raven in the International Competition once again, reaffirming that Korean films are still highly regarded internationally in the fantasy genre as well as thrillers.

The Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF), which closed on April 18, is one of the world’s top three fantastic film festivals and the largest in Belgium. The Korean Cultural Center in Belgium has been officially working together since 2014 to support the screening of all Korean films introduced during the BIFFF, invite directors, interpret media interviews, and expand the local market for Korean films. Through this cooperation, more than 10 Korean films are introduced every year through the BIFFF, and especially under the COVID 19 situation this year, the festival was downsized by its half, but the proportion of Korean films remained the same, accounting for 20 percent of all screenings based on feature films.