Zhang Yimou to lead Busan festival Competition jury
Chinese director Zhang Yimou will lead the Competition jury at the 31st Busan International Film Festival, which has confirmed seven jurors for only the second year of its main contest, according to Variety.
The appointment was announced on Sept. 17, 2026. Zhang serves as jury president. The jury will judge 13 films in Competition, the festival's central selection for new work from Asia and beyond.
Zhang arrives with a rare sweep of festival honours. He won the Golden Bear at Berlin for his 1987 debut Red Sorghum, the Golden Lion at Venice twice for The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) and Not One Less (1999), and the Grand Prix of the Jury at Cannes for To Live (1994), according to Variety. His films have earned three Academy Award nominations and five Golden Globe nominations.
He is also known outside cinemas. He directed the opening and closing ceremonies for both the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. He has history with Busan. His Under the Hawthorn Tree opened the festival in 2010.
Joining him are six film-makers and performers from across the region. They are Chinese auteur Bi Gan, Korean actress Moon Choi, Japanese director Kei Ishikawa, Korean film-maker July Jung, producer Tran Thi Bich Ngoc and Kazakh actress Samal Yeslyamova, according to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.
Several have close ties to Busan and Cannes. Bi Gan's Resurrection (2025) played in Busan's first Competition and took the Artistic Contribution prize. His earlier Long Day's Journey Into Night (2018) premiered in Un Certain Regard, Cannes' sidebar for distinctive new voices. Moon Choi won Actor of the Year at Busan in 2018 for Our Body. Ishikawa Kei's A Man (2022) closed Busan and later won eight Japan Academy Film Prizes.
Two jurors connect directly to this year's programme. July Jung's Dora (2026) is in the lineup at this year's festival. Yeslyamova won best actress at Cannes for Ayka (2018).
What they decide is simple. The jury will present the Busan Award in five categories: best film, best director, special jury prize, best actor and artistic contribution. The total prize money is KRW110 million ($80,350), according to Variety.
The 31st Busan International Film Festival runs Oct. 6-15 at the Busan Cinema Center and venues across Busan. The 21st Asian Contents & Film Market, the festival's marketplace for buying and selling films and series, runs Oct. 10-13.
What makes this stand out is continuity. A second-year contest needs familiar faces and fresh titles. Busan has picked both.
