The 24th edition of Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) closed off on Thursday in limited capacity, finishing up the first fully-hybrid film festival in the world. Unlike many of its peers this year, BIFAN hosted screenings in-theaters (at 35% capacity) alongside its online program on local streaming service WATCHA. Because of the in-person offering, BIFAN unwittingly witnessed the world premiere of more films than originally intended, including Annecy contender “Beauty Water” (Cho Kyung-hun, 2020). The famous genre film festival has stood as a monumental alternative to the popular online festival format.
Among this year's winners, German production “Pelican Blood” (Katrin Gebbe) won Best of Bucheon with raving reviews. Pouya Aminpori's Iranian short “The Third Person” championed the Best Short Film, and regularly sold-out screenings “Saint Maud” (Rose Glass, UK) and “Sheep Without a Shepherd” (Sam Quah, China) carved out their own fair share of recognition. Perhaps the most stand-out feature in the festival, however, is Kim Lok-kyong's first feature, “Festival.” With four awards from the Korean Fantastic Film section alone, “Festival” clearly touched both audience and judges' hearts in its heart-wrenching, slice-of-life drama of a father's funeral. The film also saw its world premiere at BIFAN.
But without further ado, here's the list of winners – both features and shorts combined.
Bucheon Choice: Features
Best of Bucheon
Pelican Blood (Directed by Katrin GEBBE)
Best Director Choice
Saint Maud (Directed by Rose GLASS)
Jury's Choice
Lapsis (Directed by Noah HUTTON)
Audience Award
Sheep without a Shepherd (Directed by Sam QUAH)
Korean Fantastic: Features
Techcross Envirommental Services Best Korean Fantastic Film
Festival (Directed by KIM Lokkyoung)
Korean Fantastic Best Director
Zombie Crush in Heyri (Directed by CHANG Hyunsang)
Watcha's Pick for Feature Film
There is an Alien Here (Directed by CHOI Eunjong)
Fantastic Best Actor
HA Jun of Festival (Directed by KIM Lokkyoung)
Fantastic Best Actor
PARK Hasun of Go Back (Directed by SEO Eunyoung)
Fantastic Best Actor Special Mention
GONG Minjeong, LEE Minji, PARK Sojin of Zombie Crush in Heyri (Directed by CHANG Hyunsang)
Fantastic Best Audience Award
Festival (Directed by KIM Lokkyoung)
Distribution Award
Festival (Directed by KIM Lokkyoung)
Go Back (Directed by SEO Eunyoung)
Super Nova (Directed by BAEK Seungkee)
Zombie Crush in Heyri (Directed by CHANG Hyunsang)
Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF) Award for Best Asian Film
Impetigore (Directed by Joko ANWAR)
NETPAC Award
I WeirDo (Directed by LIAO Mingyi)
NETPAC Special Mention
Nosari: Impermanent Eternity (Directed by YAMAMOTO Tatsuya)
Bucheon Choice: Shorts
Best Short Film
The Third Person (Directed by Pouya AMINPOURI)
Jury's Choice for Short Film
The Arctic Syndrome (Directed by Borja ECHEVERRIA LAMATA)
Special Mention
The Well (Directed by Neal DHAND)
Audience Award for Short Film
The Creature (Directed by LEE Gwanju)
Korean Fantastic: Shorts
Best Korean Short Film
Digital Video Editing with Adobe Premiere Pro: The Real-World Guide to Set Up and Workflow (Directed by HONG Seongyoon)
Audience Award for Korean Short Film
Digital Video Editing with Adobe Premiere Pro: The Real-World Guide to Set Up and Workflow (Directed by HONG Seongyoon)
Watcha's Pick for Short Film
Blood Ties (Directed by WANG Heesong)
