All roads lead to Bucheon Arts Center in Bucheon City, South Korea today at 7:00 (Korean time) tonight for the opening of the 28th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN), the first ever, the largest and cutting-edge genre fest in Asia.
International filmmakers, stars, investors, producers, distributors and other stakeholders will gather once more to explore the limitless possibilities of the wonders and triumphs of genre filmmaking that includes fantasy, horror, thriller, sci-fi, supernatural and other audio-visual contents of the bizarre.
Two Filipino filmmakers are joining in this year’s event: award-winning director and storyteller Kenneth Dagatan (“Ma,” “Sanctissima,” “In My Mother’s Skin,” etc.) and emerging filmmaker Jaime Morados.
Dagatan’s new project in development, “Molder” is selected from the “It Project” section of the Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF), a major program of BIFAN, where Kenneth and his producers will have a rare chance in pitching their work to international producers, investors, distributors and other film professionals.
Meanwhile, Morados (“Ang Pagliligtas sa Dalagang Bukid,” a short film screened at the 2022 Quezon City International Film Festival) is one of the thirty-one international mentees who will undergo a film training with the Fantastic Film School (FFS) where new and deserving students are trained in the rigors of genre mode of production.
World prominent celebrities to participate in this year’s BIFAN are international producer Roger Garcia, popular hallyu actress Son Ye-jin, Variety Asia Editor Patrick Frater, Japanese theater artist Mitani Koki, Hong Kong film director Johnnie To, Korean film artists Kim Sungho and Steven Choe, international film festival programmer Evrim Ersoy, Hollywood producer Chris Lee (“Philadelphia,” “Jerry Maguire,” “As Good As It Gets,” among others); professor, film historian and producer Barry Sabath, among others.
This year’s central discussion at the BIFAN conferences is the advent of AI and its future in the global filmmaking industry.
Tonight’s opening film is Rose Glass’ “Love Lies Bleeding,” a US and UK co-production.
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