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Jury Members Announced for Jiseok & BIFF Mecenat & Sonje Awards for the 29th BIFF

The 29th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), held for 10 days held for ten days from Oct 2 (Wed) to Oct 11 (Fri), has confirmed the juries for Jiseok, BIFF Mecenat, and Sonje Awards.

Kim Jiseok Award, the competition of new features from leading Asian directors, will be juried by:

Christian JEUNE, Prasanna VITHANAGE, and SHIN Suwon

Kim Jiseok Award was created to remember and honor the late BIFF Program Director Kim Jiseok, who devoted his whole life to discovering and supporting the growth of Asian cinema. The competition category features new works by veteran Asian directors selected for the Jiseok section. Two best films are selected and each awarded a prize of USD 10,000.

The jury for the Kim Jiseok Award at the 29th Busan International Film Festival has been appointed as follows: Christian Jeune, Director of Film Department at the Cannes Film Festival, who has contributed greatly to discovering and promoting Asian films to the world for the past 30 years; Prasanna Vithanage, an influential South Asian director and film educator, and the winner of Kim Jiseok Award at BIFF 2023 for his film Paradise (2023);

and Shin Suwon, who won the Canal+ Award at Critics’ Week of the Cannes Film Festival 2012 for her short film Circular Line (2012), and has been invited to major international film festivals for all of her works including Pluto (2013), Madonna (2015), Glass Garden (2017), and Hommage (2022).

The documentary competition section BIFF Mecenat Award will be juried by:

Mohsen MAKHMALBAF, FUJIOKA Asako, and Jéro YUN

(From left) Mohsen MAKHMALBAF; FUJIOKA Asako, and Jéro YUN

The Asian short film competition section Sonje Award will be juried by: Yamanaka YOKO, Constance TSANG, and LIM Daehyung

The Sonje Award is given to two best Korean and Asian short films in the Wide Angle section, and each winner is awarded KRW 10,000,000.

The jury for the Sonje Award has been appointed as follows: Director Lim Daehyung of Moonlit Winter (2019), which was selected as the closing film of the BIFF 2019; Director Constance Tsang, who won the French Touch Prize of the Jury at Cannes Critics' Week with her debut feature Blue Sun Palace (2024); and Director Yamanaka Yoko, who won the FIPRESCI Award in Directors’ Fortnight section at the Cannes Film Festival for Desert of Namibia (2024).

The 29th Busan International Film Festival is building up anticipations with the announcement of the jury line-up for main competitions, and will be held for ten days from Oct 2 (Wed) to Oct 11 (Fri) at the Busan Cinema Center.

Kim Jiseok Award Jury

■ Christian JEUNE | France | Director of Film Department, Cannes Film Festival

Christian Jeune’s career at the Cannes Film Festival began in 1983, where he worked first locally at the press office. He then joined the Paris office at the Film Department in 1991, where he is now the Director of the Film Department and works as a programmer and the Deputy to the General Delegate. Since 1995, Jeune has been in charge of the pre-selection and official selection of Asian films, frequently travelling to destinations such as South Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong to select works to introduce at the Cannes Film Festival. As a translator Jeune has worked on more than 100 films, including the Jason Bourne series, the three Kingsman films and Park Chan-wook’s Stoker (2013). He continues to play a key role in the discovery and promotion of Asian films worldwide.

■ Prasanna VITHANAGE | Sri Lanka | Director

Widely regarded as one of the most talented and influential filmmakers in South Asia, Prasanna Vithanage is known for his thought-provoking films that often deal with social, political, and cultural themes. Vithanage’s films have been praised for their compelling storytelling, garnering numerous accolades locally and internationally, including the Kim Jiseok Award at Busan International Film Festival 2023. Vithanage is a passionate educator of cinema who has fought against censorship in Sri Lanka and conducted numerous masterclasses for young filmmakers. He is also an activist and works for human rights and peace initiatives.

■ SHIN Suwon | Korea | Director

Shin Suwon gained international recognition for her debut feature film Passerby #3 (2010), which won the JJ-STAR award at Jeonju International Film Festival 2010 and Best Asian-Middle Eastern Film Award at Tokyo International Film Festival 2010. Her short film Circle Line (2012) won the Canal+ Award at Critics’ Week of the Cannes Film Festival 2012, and her second feature Pluto (2013) received a Special Mention in the Generation 14plus at the Berlin International Film Festival 2013. Madonna (2015) was the nominee for Cannes Film Festival 2015’s Un Certain Regard Prize, Glass Garden (2017) was selected as the opening film of Busan International Film Festival 2017, and her recent feature film Hommage (2022) was invited to multiple international film festivals including Tokyo International Film Festival 2021 and Tribeca Film Festival 2022.

 BIFF Mecenat Award Jury

■ Mohsen MAKHMALBAF | Iran | Director

Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf is one of the world’s most influential filmmakers and founders of the Iranian New Wave Cinema. He has received over 50 awards at international film festivals for his work, including Gabbeh (1996), A Moment of Innocence (1996), The Silence (1998), Kandahar (2001), and The President (2014). His film Kandahar was chosen as one of ‘All-TIME 100 Movies’ by TIME Magazine, and A Moment of Innocence (1996) was selected as one of 10 best films of the 1990s amongst directors of international film festivals. As a filmmaker with great influence over Iranian cinema, Makhmalbaf has dedicated the last decade working for the growth of Afghan and Tajikistani cinema and continues to do so tirelessly.

■ FUJIOKA Asako | Japan | Director, DD Center

Fujioka Asako has worked at Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival since 1993. After working as a programmer she became the Director of the Tokyo Office, and is now serving as the vice-chair of the Board. Since 2009 Fujioka began organizing film workshops around Asia as the head of Documentary Dream Center (DD Center), and in 2018 launched a filmmakers’ residency program called Yamagata Documentary Dojo. As a producer Fujioka Asako has worked on multiple documentaries including Nude at Heart (2021), and continues to support documentary filmmaking practices, global conversations around Japanese films, and audience outreach.

■ Jéro YUN | Korea | Director

Born in Busan, Jéro Yun studied art, photography, and film at the Fine Arts School in Nancy, the National Decorative Arts School in Paris, and Le Fresnoy in Tourcoing, France. In 2011, he directed Promise (2011), a short film, and won a Grand Prize in the Asiana Short Film Festival 2011. He then participated in the Cannes Film Festival’s residence program and wrote screenplays for feature films. His documentary film Mrs. B., A North Korean Woman (2016) and short film Hitchhiker (2016) were invited to Cannes Film Festival 2016, and his debut feature Beautiful Days (2018) was selected as the opening film of Busan International Film Festival 2018. His second feature film Fighter (2020) was invited to Berlin International Film Festival 2021. He also directed Song Hae 1927 (2021), a documentary film about the late entertainer Song Hae, which was invited to Busan International Film Festival 2020.

Sonje Award Jury

■ LIM Daehyung | Korea | Director

Lim Daehyung is a Korean director whose work includes Merry Christmas Mr. Mo (2016), Moonlit Winter (2019), and the TVING original series LTNS (2024) which he wrote and directed. His debut feature Merry Christmas Mr. Mo won the NETPAC Award at Busan International Film Festival 2016, Best New Director award at Busan Film Critics Association Award 2018, and Best New Director Award at Wildflower Film Awards 2018. His sophomore Moonlit Winter was selected as the closing film at Busan International Film Festival 2019, and received Best Screenplay and Best Director at Korean Association of Film Critics Association Awards 2020 and Best Screenplay and Best Director awards at Blue Dragon Film Awards 2021.

■ Constance TSANG | USA | Director

Constance Tsang is a Chinese American filmmaker based in New York. She graduated from Columbia University with an MFA in Screenwriting and Directing. Her first feature film Blue Sun Palace (2024) premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week 2024, and won the French Touch Prize of the Jury.

■ YAMANAKA Yoko | Japan | Director

Born in 1997 in Nagano, Japan, Yamanaka Yoko self-taught herself filmmaking after dropping out of Nihon University’s Film Department. Her debut feature Amiko (2017) won the Audience Award at Pia Film Festival 2017, and the following year, at the age of 20, Yamanaka became the youngest ever feature film director to be invited to Berlin International Film Festival. Yamanaka’s sophomore feature Desert of Namibia (2024) was selected as part of the Directors’ Fortnight section at Cannes Film Festival and won the FIPRESCI Award.

▶ The 29th Busan International Film Festival | Oct 2 (Wed) – Oct 11 (Fri)

▶ The 19th Asian Contents & Film Market | Oct 5 (Sat) – Oct 8 (Tues)