The Asian Project Market, a key component of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), has announced a selection of 30 projects from 20 different countries for this year’s event.
Highlighting this year’s assortment are three projects from Japan, a nation currently enjoying a film industry boom. Notable among these are 13 by Mori Tatsuya, a previous recipient of BIFF’s New Currents Award for his film September 1923, alongside works by Hirose Nanako and Igarashi Kohei.
The market will also feature exciting new offerings from Central and South Asia, including projects by Kyrgyzstan’s Dastan Zhapar Ryskeldi; Sri Lanka’s Prasanna Vithanage, a recent Jiseok Award winner for Paradise; Eshah Shakeel from Pakistan; and several filmmakers from India such as Dominic Sangma, Tribeny Rai, Stenzin Tankyong, and Payal Sethi.
Representing China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are several filmmakers and their projects, including Tibetan female director Kangdrun with Orlo In The House; Unripe by Wang Zhiyi; Uncle, the feature debut from Taiwan’s Yen Hao-hsuan; and Whisper Of The Silence by emerging Hong Kong director So Chak Long.
From Southeast Asia, selected projects include works by Indonesia’s acclaimed director Mouly Surya (Trigger Warning, This City Is A Battlefield); Reza Rahadian, who bagged four awards at last year’s BIFF Vision Awards for On Your Lap; and Aditya Ahmad, presenting his feature debut after his short film won at the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti section in 2018. The selection also highlights works from Thailand’s Panu Aree, Cambodia’s Chheangkea, Malaysia’s Tan Seng Kiat, and the Philippines’ E Del Mundo.
The lineup includes seven Korean projects such as Park Deul-bi by Lee Sangcheol, known for his previous films Jesus Hospital, The Snob, and Blesser which were showcased at BIFF; All’s Well That Ends Well by Choi Hyunyoung, previously featured in Korean Cinema Today – Panorama; and The Family Table by Lee Hanju, whose debut feature The Waves Of Winter was invited to Korean Cinema Today – Vision.
The Asian Project Market will take place concurrently with the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) from October 10-13 at the BEXCO convention center. The BIFF itself runs from October 6 to 15 at the Busan Cinema Center and various other venues around the city.
Asian Project Market 2026:
13 (Japan)
Dir: Mori Tatsuya
Prods: Lee Bongwoo, Nagaki Mahiro
All’s Well That Ends Well (Korea)
Dir: Choi Hyunyoung
Prods: Jeon Jiseong, Kwon Mizy
*Asian Cinema Fund (ACF) Script Development Fund Recipients
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