Busan Announces New Currents, Jiseok Line-ups With Strong Showing From Bangladesh, Japan

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Oscar-winning Korean actor Youn Yuh-jung (“Minari,” “Pachinko”) will headline the Actors’ House section of the upcoming Busan International Film Festival, it was announced on Thursday. Introduced in 2021, Actors’ House is a special series that connects audiences and film enthusiasts with iconic actors from the current generation through its in-depth discussions. “There’s much anticipation to hear her words of wisdom, as she’s known for her insightful observations,” said the festival. Others this year include: Han Hyo-joo, Song Joong-ki and Korean-American actor and author John Cho.

Disney’s Korean superhero thriller Moving heads the nominations for this year’s Asia Content Awards at Busan International Film Festival with nods in six categories, followed by Tencent Video’s The Long Season with five nods. 

Japan’s Visual Industry Promotion Organization (VIPO) and Japan Film Commission have announced details of a new incentives program for offshore film and TV productions shooting in the country. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Identity, incomplete understanding and urban poverty are among the many themes touched upon in “Oasis of Now,” which is set to make its debut next month in the prestigious New Currents competition section of the Busan International Film Festival. The story revolves around a mother and a daughter who inhabit the invisible corners of an old apartment block in Kuala Lumpur. They meet in the stairwells, play furtive games and snatch moments of shared happiness, before slinking off to their separate homes.

WOODZ has announced his 2023 ‘OO-LI And’ world tour.The K-pop musician is set to kick off his ‘OO-LI And’ tour with a two-night concert in Seoul, South Korea on October 28 and 29. WOODZ will then play three shows in Japan in early-November, as well as one concert in Taiwan.At the start of end of November, the singer kick off the US leg of his tour, which will feature six shows over two weeks in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and more.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Indonesian production firm is setting its sights on becoming a diverse studio operation with the injection of high-profile management and the acquisition of a significant new animated series “Nussa.” It will also display its credentials at next month’s Busan International Film Festival where two of its feature films are selected. Its “24 Hours with Gaspar,” directed by Yosep Anggi Noen, will compete for the Kim Jiseok Award.

Ballerina, starring Jeon Jong-seo. Watch it above.Ballerina will star Jeon Jong-seo (of Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area fame) as Ok-ju, a former bodyguard who sets out on a path of revenge after the death of a friend.

The 2023 MTV Video Music Awards (aka the VMAs) are coming up!

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief An investigation into allegations of sexual harassment by a former director of the Busan International Film Festival has not reached a conclusion, several months after it began, the festival said on Tuesday. The festival has said that it is urging former director Huh Moonyoung to cooperate with an external investigator. The festival held its annual lineup presentation on Tuesday in an online format, announcing the bulk of its film selections, juries, anticipated guests, honorary prize-winners and technical arrangements such as screening venues and ticketing. As part of the presentation, current management again apologized for several months of turmoil, which it admitted had scared off sponsors and caused its operating budget to shrink. The turmoil began in May when the festival appointed Cho Jongkook, a close friend of chairman Lee Yong-kwan, to a power-sharing position with festival director Huh Moonyoung. That move was opposed by certain Korean industry guilds, which threatened to boycott the festival in support of Huh.

Mitski is bringing a string of intimate acoustic shows across North America this September.The shows, dubbed ‘Amateur Mistake’, will see Mitski put on a small, intimate and acoustic performance during which she will preview her upcoming album ‘The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We’.On September 11, Mitski will perform at the Teatro De La Ciudad in Mexico City before performing at Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles on September 20. On November 26, she will perform at New York’s Town Hall before ending the North American ‘Amateur Mistake’ show series at the Trinity Church in Toronto, Canada.A post shared by @mitskileaksTickets to the Mexico City show are already sold out.

Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, October 4-13) has unveiled its full line-up, including opening and closing films, and announced that Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat has been named as Asian Filmmaker of the Year. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Busan International Film Festival put aside many of its recent internal and local political problems to Tuesday unveil a large selection ranging from bleeding edge art titles to international festival favorites. “The difficult times are not behind us, but hard work has made this year’s festival better than ever,” said programmer and interim festival chief Nam Dong-chul, speaking at an online press conference. International guests expected to attend the festival include Luc Besson, Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing, Japanese directors Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Kore-Eda Hirokazu, Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and Korean Americans Justin Chon (“Gook”) and Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”). Hong Kong-based superstar Chow Yun-fat has been named as Busan’s Asian Filmmaker of the Year and will be in person to receive the award.

Though Labor Day is upon us domestically — and its somewhat equivalents in many overseas markets to mark the end of summer — the hits keep coming as holds this session were strong on the season’s leaders while a new entry surprised. To wit, and starting with the latter: Sony/Escape Artists’ The Equalizer 3 blazed to a $60.6M global start this weekend, to clock the franchise’s best opening ever. Of that, the $26.1M debut in 49 international box office markets was also a new record bow for the Denzel Washington-led series.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Ten Korean independent films will have their world premiere in the Busan International Film Festival’s Korean Cinema Today section. Selectors said on Friday that this year’s crop are films that “delve into profound themes of life, agony, family affection, and personal introspection, inviting audiences to contemplate their meaning.” They add that, “the imaginative depiction of a diverse array of stories, free from the typical rules of genre, adds anticipation.” Delivery presents a “suspenseful irony” as an affluent couple deal with infertility and a young, financially struggling couple face an unplanned pregnancy. “FAQ” is a comic fantasy where an elementary schoolchild innocently picks up a bottle of Korean rice wine or makgeolli at a field camp and then gets to know the secrets of the world through alcohol.

Jane McDonald has announced that she's coming back to Loose Women, much to the delight of her fans. However, it's for a one-time visit rather than to resume her spot on the panel.

Mitski has announced listening parties for her upcoming LP ‘The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We’, along with film screenings.The music and film double features will occur next week on Thursday, September 7. These events will be presented in movie theatres in eight international cities, including Chicago, Dallas, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Nashville, Sydney, and New York — plus one planetarium in Tokyo, Japan — with the US events co-presented by Spotify.Fans will be able to gather together in an intimate setting for an early preview of ‘The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We’ in its entirety.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The main competition section of the Busan International Film Festival is set to showcase two new features from Bangladeshi directors, the feature debut of Japanese documentary maker Mori Tatsuya and ruminations on Hong Kong by mainland Chinese director Choi Ji. The festival on Wednesday unveiled its New Currents competition section, reserved for films by directors making their first or second works of fiction, as well as its Jiseok section, a showcase for somewhat more established Asian auteurs. In addition to the Bangladesh duo, New Currents includes two films from Japan, two from Korea and one each from China, Thailand, Malaysia and India. From Bangladesh, Iqbal H. Chowdhury’s “The Wrestler” sees an old fisherman challenge a wrestling champion to combat, and in “The Stranger” Biplob Sarkar tells a coming-of-age, gender-identity tale. From Japan, Mori recounts the events of the Great Kanto earthquake in “September 1923,” while Yamamoto Akira delves into profound and shocking love in “After the Fever.” New Currents’ Korean contributions come from Lee Jong-su, whose “Heritage” tracks a man who opts out of military service and his supervisor, and Sohn Hyun-lok, whose “That Summer’s Lie” blurs truth and fiction in memories of a past romance. India’s Rajesh S.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean actors Lee Je Hoon and Park Eun-bin, star of “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” are set as hosts of the opening ceremony at the Busan International Film Festival. The event will take place on the evening of Oct.

Angelina Jolie has gotten some interesting ink. The 48-year-old actress and director visited popular celebrity tattoo artist Mr. K to get two small tattoos on the inside of her middle fingers.

Angelina Jolie has gotten some interesting ink. The 48-year-old actress and director visited popular celebrity tattoo artist Mr. K to get two small tattoos on the inside of her middle fingers.