Korean titles Beach Fictions, Shaving and Long Long Night are in competition, while Kim Jong-kwan's The Table: Day and Night opens the festival.

BIFF Chairman Park Kwang-su delivers opening remarks at the press conference 

for the 31st Busan International Film Festival on September 1. <Yonhap News>

The 31st Busan International Film Festival opened on October 6 and runs through October 15. It is the first edition to be held since the festival was designated an A-list event by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). Starting this year, the winner of the Busan Award for Best Film, the top honor in the competition section, becomes eligible to be submitted for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film in the United States.

This year's edition has officially invited works from 59 countries, 95 of which will be unveiled as world premieres. The opening film is Kim Jong-kwan's The Table: Day and Night, which follows four couples who pass through a single café over the course of a changing season.

Korean films in competition: Beach Fictions, Shaving, Long Long Night

The competition section, introduced last year, is now in its second edition. Three Korean films are in the lineup: Lim Hayeon's Beach Fictions, Kim Jung-hoon's Shaving and Youm Kyubock's Long Long Night. Beach Fictions, Lim Hayeon's feature debut, follows Tae-ju (Park Han-sol), who has been dogged by unexplained rumors and takes a train to the seaside, encountering a series of people along the way.

Shaving is a thriller about Su-yeon (Roh Jeong-eui), a horror novelist who endures a horrific experience while spending time with her partner Shinji (Kasamatsu Sho). Long Long Night is the only animated feature in competition. Based on the children's book of the same title, which won the Grand Prize at the Munhakdongne Children's Literature Award, it follows a white rhinoceros named Noden and a baby penguin who come to depend on each other.

The three films will compete for the top prize alongside titles including Japanese director Hirose Nanako's Between Two Lovers, Okita Shuichi's Satoko Always, Iranian director Majid Majidi's Midday Meal and Indonesian director Yosep Anggi Noen's The Sea Speaks His Name.

Joining 17 A-list festivals, Busan is Asia's only Academy pathway

FIAPF restructured its festival accreditation system in March this year and designated the Busan International Film Festival as an A-list festival. The list comprises 17 festivals, including Cannes, Berlin and Venice.

In May, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences broadened the submission pathways for the Best International Feature Film category beginning with the 99th Academy Awards, adding the Busan Award for Best Film to its list of designated prizes. The six designated festivals are Busan, Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Sundance and Toronto, with Busan the only one in Asia. A film that wins the top prize may be submitted independently of a country's official national selection, though it must separately meet the Academy's theatrical release requirements and other conditions.

Last year's inaugural Busan Award for Best Film went to Zhang Lu's Gloaming in Luomu. This year's winner will be the first Busan competition title to take the newly opened Academy pathway.

Sources

• The Seoul Shinmun, 'Which Film Will Travel from Busan to the Academy Awards?', 2026.10.05

• The Herald Business (U.S. Edition), 'Shoulder to Shoulder with Cannes and Venice: The 31st BIFF Steps Up as a Global Festival', 2026.09.01

• British Cinematographer, 'Busan International Film Festival opens gateway to the Oscars for Asian cinema', 2026.05.07

• The Korea Economic Daily, 'BIFF's Ten Days Ran Hot Despite the Film Market Slump', 2025.09.28