Busan Film Festival Unveils 23 Independent Titles for Vision Section
The 31st Busan International Film Festival has revealed the 23 films selected for its Vision section, split into 12 Korean titles and 11 from across Asia, with directors spanning ten countries and regions. Variety reported the full lineup on 24 August 2026.
Vision is BIFF's curated showcase for what the festival calls groundbreaking independent films from Korea and Asia — a window onto emerging film-makers rather than established names. The section grew out of an earlier programme called Korean Cinema Today – Vision and expanded last year into a standalone strand covering the whole continent. Vision-Asia debuted as a competition at the 30th edition in 2025, screening 11 world premieres. Deadline That first Vision-Asia competition was the inaugural competitive section in the festival's history.
This year's edition carries 10 Vision-Asia awards and nine Vision-Korea awards across a range of categories. The festival itself runs 6–15 October 2026 in the southern South Korean port city of Busan.
The Vision-Korea slate brings back several film-makers already recognised at Busan and beyond. Kim Miyoung, whose A Lonely Island in the Distant Sea won the DGK Megabox Award at BIFF in 2023, returns with Some Detective. Sohn Hyun-lok, whose debut That Summer's Lie took the Fipresci Prize at Busan in 2023, follows a string of student fall accidents in The Birds. Park Songyeol, a past winner of the Critic b Award and the KBS Independent Film Award for Hot in Day, Cold at Night, explores family and mortality in Beyond Love's Horizon.
Jang Woojin, previously recognised at both BIFF and the Berlin Film Festival, examines love, loss and chance in Cosmic Trace. Park Kun-young, behind To My River and A Distance Place, presents Things I Left at the Theater. Two of the Korean titles — Not For You, tracing two brothers reuniting a decade after their father's departure, and Some Detective — received backing from the Asian Cinema Fund, a BIFF industry programme that supports films in post-production.
Animation features prominently in Vision-Korea. Kim Hyomi makes her animated feature debut with Earbug, about an aspiring novelist confronting her own trauma. Kim Si-jin's first feature, The Flower, centres on an aging crematorium director. Park Hong-min continues a recurring cinematic world in Space, while Shin Sun returns with Nothing Has Happened Yet after No Surprise and Maze. Oh Sehyeon's Baler, a follow-up to 2022's Usu, follows a woman through a month of seasonal farm work. Jeong Jihye's Full Moon tracks a girl hiding her parents from public view.
Vision-Asia casts a wide net. Vietnam's Nguyễn Hoàng Điệp presents 1982, following a filmmaker's search for a missing parent. Mongolia's Sakhya Byamba, who took the New Currents prize at Busan in 2013 for Remote Control, returns with the satirical Zogsool. Iran's Mani Moghaddam makes his feature debut with Slumber, using magical realism to address the country's oppressive realities.
Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, India and Kazakhstan round out the section. Japan's Kumamoto Ryohei, coming from commercials and music videos, debuts with After the Song. Hong Kong's Isabella Lam Lok-hin debuts with Dead End, about a man confronting long-buried family history. The Philippines' Arvin Belarmino presents Ria, centred on a folk-punk musician fighting to hold onto his music and home. Thailand's Bua is the directorial debut of actor Inthira Charoenpura, co-directing with Phensiri Klangsurin. India is represented twice: Sailesh Rathnakumar's debut Selvi, produced by and starring Anjali Patil, and Shashank Walia's Birds in the Dark. Kazakhstan's Darkhan Tulegenov presents The Cord, about a mother fighting to prove her son's innocence.
All source details come from Variety and the BIFF official website.
