South Korean Film 'A Quiet Dream' to Commence 2016 Busan International Film Festival

by YuGee / Sep 07, 2016 06:29 AM EDT

BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA - OCTOBER 04: Honorary BIFF director, Kim Dong-Ho speaks during Im Kwon-Taek's 102nd Film 'Hwajang' Press Conference during the 18th Busan International Film Festival on October 4, 2013 in Busan, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Ge

South Korean movie "A Quiet Dream" will commence the 2016 Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), the largest film festival in Asia, which will be held in South Korea's southeastern port city of Busan.

On Tuesday, the festival announced its lineup in two news conferences administered by Kang Soo Youn, BIFF Executive Director, in Busan in the morning and Seoul in the afternoon.

Based on a report from Yonhap News, the 21st edition of the festival will showcase 301 feature and short films from 69 countries around the globe. The festival organizers also confirmed that the event also includes 96 world premieres and 27 international premieres. This year's lineup is a bit lower in number compared to last year's 304 movies from 75 participating countries.

"A Quiet Dream" is directed by Korean-Chinese filmmaker Zhang Lu. The film humorously shows the story of a young woman who manages a bar and takes care of her unconscious, paralyzed father and the three men who are courting her.

It would be the first Korean opening movie of the BIFF after "Always," a romance movie by Song Il Gon five years ago.

There will also be special programs that include retrospectives for veteran Korean director Lee Doo Young and the multi-award winning Iranian filmmaker who died in July, Abbas Kiarostami, and a highlight on Colombian cinema.

Following the various difficulties ahead of the festival's 21st edition, Kim Dong Ho, the festival's founding director and chairman of the festival said during the news conference in Seoul, "As a chairman, I feel sorry for causing trouble to the people and film industry at home and abroad over the past two years. I vow not to have this kind of thing happen again and express thanks, at the same time, to all those who supported the Busan film festival during that period. We will do our best to turn the past two years of conflict into blessings so the Busan film festival can revamp itself for another 20 years ahead."

BIFF Executive Director Kang also said, "This year's festival will serve as an opportunity to find the path for the next 20 years. We will redouble our efforts to make it a festival to lead the new currents of Asia and Korean films."