Netflix Korean period film ‘Uprising’ to open 29th BIFF

Asia’s largest film festival to screen 279 films from 63 countries

Gang Dong-won (up) and Park Jung-min star in Netflix period flick “Uprising.” (Netflix)

Netflix original Korean period film “Uprising” will open the 29th Busan International Film Festival on Oct. 2, the first time for a streaming platform movie to open Asia’s largest film festival.

“Uprising,” directed by Kim Sang-man (“Midnight FM”), gained attention as award-winning director Park Chan-wook’s first-ever project with Netflix. Park has participated as a co-screenwriter and producer.

The period film stars Gang Dong-won, in the role of Cheon-young, Jong-ryeo’s (Park Jung-min) servant. Set in the Joseon era, Cheon-young later becomes a military officer in King Seonjo’s (Cha Seung-won) army and encounters Jong-ryeo. The film will portray the friendship between Jong-ryeo and Cheon-young, which transcends their social positions.

Singaporean filmmaker Eric Khoo’s fantasy drama movie “Spirit World” will close the festival on Oct. 11. It is Khoo’s eighth feature film.

Khoo, the first-ever Singaporean filmmaker to have been invited to Cannes, Berlin and Venice film festivals, explores the afterlife of an iconic French singer Claire (played by Catherine Deneuve) following her sudden death while on a tour in Japan. The movie, written by his son Edward Khoo, features dialogues in French and Japanese.

Busan International Film Festival Chairperson Park Gwang-su speaks during a press conference held in Seoul on Tuesday. (Yonhap)

The BIFF organizer said a total of 279 movies from 63 countries will be screened during the 10-day-long festival at seven movie theaters in Busan. The figure represents an 8 percent increase from the number of movies screened last year.

“After going through internal conflict last year, we decided to focus on taking an in-depth look into the film festival, asking what we have lost in the meantime and answering those questions,” BIFF Chairperson Park Gwang-su told reporters during a press conference in Seoul on Tuesday.

Park took the top position at BIFF in June after the former chairperson Lee Yong-kwan abruptly resigned in May 2023 after coming under fire for a string of leadership changes that exposed internal differences over how the festival should be run.

For this year’s special program, Portuguese filmmaker Miguel Gomes will meet with the audience in Busan and explore the joyful yet melancholic elements in his works.

Some of Gomes’ early works such as “The Face You Deserve (2004),” “Our Beloved Month of August (2008)” and “Tabu” (2012) will be screened at Busan. Gomes was the winner of the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

The 29th BIFF will also present another special program entitled “In Memory of Lee Sun-kyun” in honor of the late actor Lee Sun-kyun.

Six of Lee’s films will be screened and a special talk event will be held as part of the program that sheds light on Lee’s work.

“RM: Right People, Wrong Place,” a documentary film on BTS member RM, will also be screened as part of the open cinema program. The film will portray RM’s eight months before his enlistment in the military in December last year.

On the sideline of the festival, Asia Content & Film Market will present the first-ever AI conference and networking platform Producer Hub, to offer market insiders an opportunity to have in-depth discussions on the rapid changes in the film industry as well as IP content.

The 6th Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards, which is another major event held during BIFF, will take place Oct. 6. A total of 41 dramas from 10 countries will compete for 15 awards.

The 29th BIFF takes place from Oct. 2 to 10.

By Kim Da-sol(ddd@heraldcorp.com)