Bucheon Fantastic Film Festival, NAFF Market Selects 29 Films from 18 Countries

The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) announced on the 31st the selection of 29 projects from 18 countries for this year's industry program (B.I.G) Asia Fantastic Film Production Network (NAFF) project market.

On this day, BIFAN revealed that it selected 17 IT projects, 5 Project Spotlight Japan, 4 Nordic Genre Invasion, 1 Blood Window, 1 Sitges Fanpitch, and 1 Cannes Fantastic 7 projects.

This year, the NAFF project market received 279 submissions from 40 countries worldwide. Compared to last year, there was an increase of 58 projects from 4 additional countries, with overseas projects reaching a record high of 222 submissions.

The progress of emerging Asian filmmakers also stood out. BIFAN stated, "In addition to traditional horror and thriller genres, projects addressing social issues and political situations in various Asian countries through action and SF genres attracted attention," adding, "The fact that numerous series projects were submitted alongside various feature films also reflected changes in the film and media industry."

The project evaluation was conducted by CEO Kim Dong-hyun (Yeonghwasabeoljip), CEO Park Dae-hee (Iron Package), CEO Choi Jeong-hwa (Korean Film Producers Association), CEO Han Seon-hee (Plain Pictures), along with BIFAN programmers Nam Jong-seok and Mo Eun-young, and Industry Program Team Leader Moon Sae-yeon.

The jury commented, "This year, above all, we selected projects that overcame conventionality and showed new attempts," and added, "The tendency of Korean projects to transcend genre boundaries gave hope for the future of Korean cinema that does not stagnate."

Launched in 2008 as Asia's first genre film project market, NAFF actively collaborates this year with overseas film festivals and platforms/institutions such as the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, the Visual Industry Promotion Organization (VIPO) of Japan, the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), and the Taipei Film Commission to introduce various overseas projects.

Japan was selected as the Project Spotlight country, highlighting overseas projects for the first time in four years. The 'Nordic Genre Invasion,' showcasing Nordic genre film projects, and the 'Sitges Fanpitch' section, held in conjunction with the Sitges Industry Program, have been resumed.

The 27th BIFAN will be held from June 29 to July 9 at Bucheon City Hall (Jandi Square, Eoul Madang, Fantastic Cube), the Korea Manhwa Museum, CGV Sopung, Megabox Bucheon Starfield City, and the online screening platform wavve. The B.I.G NAFF project market will take place both online and offline over four days from June 30 to July 3.