Canadian Films at Busan International Film Festival

27 • 09

Canada’s got some exciting Asian premieres and several international premieres at the upcoming Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), whose 24th edition is coming up from October 3 to 12, 2019! With 299 films being showcased from 85 countries, it’s no wonder BIFF is regarded as a leading festival in Asia!

Let’s take a closer look at what Canada’s up to at BIFF this year, shall we?

International premieres

  • Fresh from its Toronto International Film Festival world premiere is Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas’s White Lie, screening in the World Cinema section.
  • Also in the World Cinema section is Sophie Deraspe’s Antigone. (Side note: In other news, this feature was recently announced as Canada’s Oscar submission for the Best International Feature Film category.)
  • Mélanie Charbonneau’s Fabuleuses (Fabulous) in one of 13 first and second narrative features in competition in the international Flash Forward section.

Asian premieres in the Icons section

  • Following its international debut at the Venice International Film Festival and its North American premiere at TIFF is Atom Egoyan’s latest feature Guest of Honour. (For more on the renowned Canadian filmmaker, revisit our spotlight!)
  • Xavier Dolan’s feature Matthias & Maxime.This marks its Asian premiere, following its world premiere at Cannes earlier this year.
  • Finally, a coproduction with Canadian connections is also showing in this section: Elia Suleiman’s It Must Be Heaven. At Cannes, this France-Qatar-Germany-Canada-Palestine-Turkey coproduction took home a Special Mention as well as the FIPRESCI prize for Best Film in Competition. (And in other news, the film is also Palestine’s Oscar submission for the Best International Feature Film category.)

More Asian premieres

  • Following its premiere at TIFF is François Girard’s The Song of Names. Screening in the fest’s World Cinema section, this Canada-UK-Hungary coproduction stars Clive Owen, Tim Roth, and Catherine McCormack.
  • Showing in the Midnight Passion section is Jeff Barnaby’s Indigenous horror flick Blood Quantum.
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