BIFAN set to open for 11-day run with record 321 films

The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN), Korea's largest genre film fest, will kick off its 11-day run Thursday with a record 321 films, organizers said. BIFAN, which marks its 30th anniversary this year, will take place in venues across Bucheon, west of Seoul, through July 12, according to the organizers. Under the slogan "New era, new skin," this year's event will showcase features and shorts from 50 countries, including 93 films that will make their world premiere. Opening the film fest will be prominent Hong Kong filmmaker Yuen Woo-ping's "Blades of the Guardian," an action film starring martial arts icon Jet Li. To celebrate its 30th anniversary, the film fest will launch a new section called "Asian Genre Films 99," a three-year project to map the landscape of Asian genre cinema. A special section will be dedicated to French sci-fi films to mark both the film fest's 30th anniversary and the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Korea and France this year. Reflecting the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the film fest wi