Busan festival names juries for documentary, short and Vision prizes
Busan International Film Festival has finalised the juries for four of its prizes, Variety reported on Sept. 16. The panels will decide the BIFF Mecenat Award, the Sonje Award, the Netpac Award and the Fipresci Award. All four winners will be named during the festival's 31st edition in October.
The Mecenat jury is Rintu Thomas, Kim Taeil and Zhou Hao. They will work in the Wide Angle Competition, the section for documentaries and short films. The Mecenat Award goes to a standout Korean or Asian documentary in that line-up. It carries KRW10 million ($7,300). Three viewers, one winner. That is the whole job.
The Sonje jury is Anuparna Roy, Abinash Bikram Shah and Lee Ranhee. They will work in the same Wide Angle Competition. The Sonje Award honours an outstanding Korean or Asian short film. It carries the same money: KRW10 million ($7,300). Shorts get their own spotlight here, separate from longer documentaries.
The Netpac jury is Nina Kochelyaeva, Matthew Poon and Lee Dongha. The Netpac Award is presented by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema. It goes to an outstanding film in the Vision section. In practice, that means an outside body devoted to Asian cinema hands out its own prize inside the festival.
The Fipresci jury is Ma Xingxu, Teresa Vena and Roh Chul-hwan. The Fipresci Award is given by the Federation Internationale de la Presse Cinematographique, the worldwide organisation of film critics. It goes to a film in the Vision section for artistic achievement. In short, critics pick the film they rate highest on craft.
The 31st Busan International Film Festival will run Oct. 6-15 at the Busan Cinema Center and venues throughout Busan, Variety reported. The run lasts ten days. The industry market held alongside it, the 21st Asian Contents & Film Market, will run Oct. 10-13.
For audiences, this means the programme is close to locked. Juries are named late, when screenings are set and panels can start watching. The next news from Busan will be the winners themselves.
