Alfonso Cuarón heads to Busan for first Korea visit
Alfonso Cuarón will visit Korea for the first time to headline the 31st Busan International Film Festival. The festival confirmed the trip on Sept 18, with the Mexican director expected at the opening ceremony, according to Variety.
He will also give a master class. Billed as an extended conversation with festivalgoers, the session will focus on camera language and the instincts behind his films, Variety reported. It is a rare public appearance in Asia for a director who seldom does festival talks.
Busan will mark the visit with an Imax screening of "Gravity." The 2013 space drama was co-written by Cuarón with his son Jonás Cuarón. It brought Cuarón the first of his two Academy Awards for best director. The second followed for "Roma" in 2018.
Family is part of the trip. Jonás Cuarón's new feature "Campeón Gabacho" will have its Asian premiere in World Cinema, the festival's sidebar for notable films from outside Korea. His father will attend to support the launch, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Busan is also showcasing "Europe! Voices of Women+ in Film," a programme organised with European Film Promotion. The strand spotlights nine officially selected films by women and non-binary directors working in Europe. Five of the directors will travel to Busan to present their work.
The anchor title is May el-Toukhy's "Woman Unknown," winner of the Golden Lion at Venice. El-Toukhy became the first Danish woman film-maker to take Venice's top prize. Her lead, Mathilde Arcel, won the Volpi Cup, the festival's best-actress award.
Another prize-winner in the line-up is Sandra Wollner's "Everytime," which won the Un Certain Regard Prize at Cannes. That section honours bold and original work outside the main competition. Directors el-Toukhy, Emmanuelle Godrèche, Laura Ferrari, Jacqueline Lentzou and Sofia Kotzamani are all due in Busan.
Korean stars will front the festival's Actors' House talks at Culture Hall on the 9th floor of Shinsegae Centum City. LEE Minho appears on Oct 7, KIM Goeun and KIM Minha follow on Oct 8, and RYU Seung-ryong, JU Jihoon and SHIN Mina close on Oct 9.
What makes this stand out is the mix. A first visit from one of cinema's best-known craftsmen sits beside new work from his son and a strong run of European prize-winners. For fans in Busan, that means big-room screenings and small-room conversations in the same week.
