FEATURES AND CHANGES
A Film Festival Noted for Its Films
- Strengthening of festival program, in both quality and quantity
This year, BIFAN is screening the most number of films in its history with 320 titles, which are 85 more than the previous years.
Two new Programmers have joined to strengthen the quality of its programming, while three Program Consultants, who are film
experts of the Greater China and the Southeast Asian region, were added to help select the leading fantastic films from their
respective territories.
- Simpler Reconstruction of Screening Program Sections
To provide the audiences of various ages and tastes with easier and more convenient access, the categorization of the program
sections is reconstructed. ‘BIFAN Discoveries’, ‘Vision Express’, ‘The Masters’ and ‘Ani Fanta’ are all combined into a section named
‘World Fantastic Cinema’, and then the section is again divided into two, according to colors. ‘World Fantastic Red’ is for
BIFAN manias and ‘World Fantastic Blue’ is for the audiences looking for comedy, fantasy and drama genres. ‘Korean Fantastic’ is
newly established to discover and introduce Korean films, while ‘Family Zone’ is brought back for all family members including
children and adolescents alike.
- Various Special Programs to Celebrate the 20th Year
To celebrate the 20th Year, the special programs are richer and more various than those of any other year. ’20 Years, 20 Favorites’
presents the past 19 years’ major films voted by the audiences, and the major works by the film company Gaumont, which is
undisputedly the representative among French film industry, are screened in ‘Gaumont: 120 Years of Cinema’ to celebrate the
130 years of diplomatic ties between France and Korea. ‘A Black Star that Fell to the Earth: Tribute to David Bowie’ is to pay tribute
to David Bowie, who frequently crossed between music and film and was the icon of the pop culture in our times. In ‘I Confess,
Nakashima Tetsuya’, the audiences will be able to enjoy the collections of the films by Japanese director Nakashima Tetsuya who
has been attracting a lot of fans with his own original style. ‘Best of Asia’ is a part of BIFAN Industry Gathering (B.I.G) program
‘Made in Asia,’ featuring the selection of top 3 domestic box office hits from 10 different Asian countries.
Significant Expansion of Industry Programs
BIFAN combines new industry programs and the 9th NAFF, which established itself as the network platform for Asian genre films,
to launch BIFAN Industry Gathering (hereafter B.I.G). B.I.G is composed of four industry programs; NAFF which includes It Project
and Fantastic Film School; Korea Now featuring the cooperative plans with all the associations in Korean film industry; Made in
Asia providing an examination on major trends in Asian film industry; and New Media to introduce new trends of media. B.I.G will
be a new stepping stone for BIFAN to collaborate and to coexist with both Asian and Korean film industries.
- Korea Now - Solidarity with Associations of Korean Film Industry
With ‘Challenge’ and ‘Cooperation’ as the key topics, BIFAN launches ‘Korea Now’ as one of the industry programs to pursue
balanced growth of Korean film industry and ultimately, to spread the K-Movie craze out to the world. ‘Korea Now’ presents
numerous co-presenting programs that will bring tangible results, including BIFAN Scenario Showcase with Screenwriters Guild
of Korea, SF Fantastic Forum with Producers Guild of Korea, We, Korean filmmakers are laborers! with Federation of Korea Movie
Workers Union, K-Star Showcase with Korea Entertainment Management Association and Case Study: Korea-China coproduction
with Korean Film Producers Association. In addition, an invaluable pitching program entitled ‘Discovery of Young Filmmakers:
Shoot for Your Tomorrow!’ is presented to discover rising young filmmakers to bring fresh energy to Korean films.
- Made in Asia - To Capture Major Trends in Asian Film Industry
‘Made in Asia’ is a unique industry program from BIFAN, which offers networking programs to Asian producers and a forum to
examine trends among Asian film industries, including one of the festivals special programs ‘Best of Asia’. While BIFAN seeks to
‘discover’ new styles and future masters through its programs, ‘Best of Asia’ puts the current major trends among film audiences
and markets in each country on display. Not only does ‘Made in Asia’ bring recent hits in the Asian film industry in one place, but is
building a venue for Asia’s top producers to network.
- New Media - The pursuit of new technology towards its cinematic application
BIFAN intends to pay close attention and continuously introduce the new technology in the film industry through New Media,
a newly created program of B.I.G.
This year, the program has gathered the newest Virtual Reality (VR) contents to be experienced through the use of FXGear NOON
Goggles as well as the Vortex Immersion Fulldome, a 10mx10m semisphere structure that will be introduced for the first time in
Korea.
“A Midsummer Fantasia” for all Audiences
- Making the Festival Space That Will Take You Away from Everyday Life
A very special festival space will be set up in the streets stretching from the City Hall and the Grass Square, where the opening
/closing ceremony and other festival events takes place throughout the whole festival, to CGV Bucheon at UPLEX, focusing on the
area of the Bucheon City Hall station of subway line No. 7. In harmony with the surrounding commercial area, the space will
provide an atmosphere of “A Midsummer Fantasia” and captivate the audience with its fantastic space designs. What’s more,
CGV Bucheon Station and the nearby “wooden-floor plaza’ will become another major festival venue, while the screening venues
have expanded to include Solan Art Hall, Ojeong Art Hall in Ojeong-gu and Sohyanggwan in Sosa-gu to make the festival more
accessible for the people of Bucheon.
- Declaration of New Tradition through Rebranding the Festival Logo and Signature
Celebrating its 20th edition, Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival reinforces its visual identity through rebranding the
festival’s logo and signature. The new emblem is the combination of the letters of “BIFAN” and “Cell of Fantasy” which is the
recreation of the existing festival symbol “Kkaebi” with young touch. With the new emblem, the festival’s Korean and English
signatures, and festival colors are also changed. They will be used in various ways to give visual unity throughout the festival, f
rom promotional materials to space designs. The new festival identity fit for the twenty-year-old festival will impress the audience
more favorably and attractively.