BISFF Event
While Busan is widely recognized as a city of film, it continues to grapple with structural challenges and policy limitations within its film industry. The Busan Film Policy Forum serves as a platform to amplify the voices of local film professionals and explore future policy directions grounded in real-world experience. This year’s forum aims to propose practical strategies and recommendations to support the growth of the regional film industry and further solidify Busan’s identity as a leading film hub. To achieve this, professionals from across the film industry will gather to share insights, assess the current policy landscape, and engage in dialogue on meaningful and sustainable alternatives.
| Date | April 25 (Fri) 10:00 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Conference Hall, 11F, Busan Visual Industry Center |
| Moderator | KIM Yiseok (Professor of Dong-Eui Univ, Department of Film Studies) |
| Panelist |
KIM Chaehee (Researcher of Pusan-Univ Film Institute) PARK Baeil (Filmmaker) LEE Namyeong (Filmmaker) SEONG Songi (Former CEO of CINESOPA) JO Dabin (Busan Film and Video Production Association) |
As a major player in the global film, video, and OTT industries, Korea continues to produce, distribute, and screen a diverse range of content both domestically and internationally. A recent example is Bogotá: City of the Lost (2024), a Korean film that explores the history of Korean emigration and is set in Colombia — a country on the opposite side of the world. The production of this film has opened the door to meaningful cultural and industrial exchange between Korea and Colombia in cinema and media, with numerous future collaborations on the horizon.
To foster this ongoing collaboration, the 2025 Busan International Short Film Festival has organized Roundtable 2, aimed at facilitating dialogue between Colombia — this year’s guest country — and the film and media industries of Korea and Asia. The discussion will explore how One Source Multi Use (OSMU) marketing strategies can link film content with tourism and urban branding to create high value-added industries. This roundtable seeks to spark dialogue on collaborative possibilities between Colombia, an emerging powerhouse in South American cinema, and Korea, a key player in Asia’s film market. It also presents an opportunity to reflect on Busan’s growing potential as a central hub for Asian film and media.
| Date | April 25 (Fri) 14:00 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Conference Hall, 11F, Busan Visual Industry Center |
| Moderator | LEE Sanghoon (Artistic Director of BISFF) |
| Speaker | Alejandro Peláez Rodríguez (Ambassador of Colombia to South Korea) |
| Panelist |
KANG Sungkyu (Director of Busan Film Commission) / Korea Nishtani Koaru (Short Film Programmer of Kitakyushu International Film Festival) / Japan KIM Youngjin (CEO of ROCKET) / Korea Sergio Cabrara (Director, International Competition Jury) / Colombia |
The rapid growth of OTT platforms and immersive media technologies is transforming how content is created and experienced, offering audiences deeper and more varied forms of engagement. Roundtable 3 at this year’s Busan International Short Film Festival brings together industry experts to examine current technological advancements and market dynamics. Through case studies on digital innovation and technological convergence, the session will explore strategic directions for the future. Special focus will be placed on the convergence of immersive, interactive content with OTT platforms, and the evolving relationship between immersive media and cinema.
| Date | April 25 (Fri) 17:00 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Conference Hall, 11F, Busan Visual Industry Center |
| Moderator | KIM Sunghoon (ETRI Principal Researcher) |
| Panelist |
KWON Ohjoon (DM STUDIO CEO) PARK Jieun (PULSE9 CEO) Jeanne Dubresson (Content Manager of KFTV) |
Roundtable 4, presented under the 2025 BISFF theme “Cinema & Sound”, examines the role of sound in short films as a fundamental aspect of cinematic language. While cinema began in the late 19th century as a silent medium, the introduction of sound in the early 20th century marked a turning point, adding a dimension absent from other visual arts such as painting and photography. While technological developments in film imagery — such as 3D, VR, and XR — have sparked active discourse, the significance of sound in cinema has often been overlooked. In short films, where production budgets and technical resources are often limited, sound is frequently undervalued or treated as an afterthought. This roundtable offers a vital opportunity to reframe that perspective, emphasizing sound and music not as mere additions to the image, but as essential components of cinematic expression — comprising half of the cinematic experience.
| Date | April 28 (Mon) 14:00 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Indieplus, B1F Biff Hill, Busan Cinema Center |
| Moderator | LEE Sanghoon (Artistic Director of BISFF) |
| Panelist |
SHIM Hyunjung (Music Director) KIM Sawol (Music Director) Jaime E. Manrique (Director of Bogotá International Film Festival) Bernard Payen (Programmer of Cinémathèque Française) George Hiraoka Cloke (Filmmaker) |
