Jung Su-jeong and Jang Dong-yoon Selected as Hosts for Next Month's Bucheon Film Festival Opening Ceremony

Jung Soojung (left) Jang Dongyun [Photo by Beasts and Natives, BH Entertainment]

Actors Jung Soo-jung and Jang Dong-yoon have been selected as hosts for the opening ceremony of the 28th Bucheon Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN), which will be held at the Bucheon Art Center at 7 p.m. on the 4th of next month, the festival office announced on the 25th.

Jung Soo-jung began her acting career with the sitcom Bolseuro Aegyo Manjeom (2010) and has appeared in dramas such as The Heirs (2013), Prison Playbook (2017), Search (2020), and films including Zombie for Sale (2020), Sweet & Sour (2021), and Spiderweb (2023). Jang Dong-yoon debuted with the web drama Game Company Female Employees (2016) and has acted in dramas like Dance Sports Girls (2018), Joseon Romantic Comedy Nokdujeon (2019), Search (2020), and films such as Wolf Hunting (2022) and Long-Distance Relationship (2023). His directorial debut, Be My Ears (2023), will be screened in the BIFAN X-Large section.

'Accomplice' still image [Photo by Coupang Play]

This year, BIFAN will hold a special screening of the entire new series The Sympathizer by director Park Chan-wook. Released domestically on the online streaming service Coupang Play in April, The Sympathizer was written and directed by Park and produced with participation from Hollywood’s A24. Set in the 1970s after the fall of Free Vietnam, the story follows a Vietnamese-American mixed-race young man who struggles between two civilizations and two ideologies. The series will have its premiere screening at Bucheon CGV Sopung on the 11th of next month.

BIFAN explained, "We planned this as part of our efforts to break down boundaries between media and respond to the diversified demands of audiences by reintroducing a highly accomplished series on the big screen." They added, "Since 2022, with the introduction of the ‘Series Film Award,’ we aim to redefine cinema in response to the paradigm shifts in the media environment, envision the future of cinema being newly established, and closely connect this with the film festival’s programming."