Alfonso Cuarón to make first Korea visit at Busan International Film Festival this October
The Oscar-winning Mexican director will present “Gravity,” lead a master class and join a star-packed festival lineup.
Director Alfonso Cuaron poses with the awards for best director, best foreign language film and best cinematography for his film "Roma" in the press room at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Feb. 24, 2019.
AP/YONHAP
Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón will attend the 31st Busan International Film Festival as his first visit to Korea.
“Cuarón will attend the opening ceremony on Oct. 6 and hold a conversation with the audience following an IMAX screening of his film ‘Gravity’ [2013] and a Master Class lecture,” the Busan International Film Festival organizing committee said Friday.
The Mexican filmmaker won the Academy Award for best director twice, for “Gravity” (2013) and “Roma” (2018). “Roma” also won the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival.
Cuarón also directed the globally popular franchise film “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (2004), the third live-action installment in the Harry Potter series. Unlike the first two films, which director Chris Columbus made largely faithful to the original books, Cuarón brought a darker palette and a more auteur-driven approach to the third installment.
Cuarón's son, director Jonás Cuarón, who co-wrote “Gravity” with his father, will also visit Busan. Jonás Cuarón's new film “Campéon Gabacho” will be screened in the festival's World Cinema section. The film follows a Mexican immigrant struggling to survive in the United States.
A host of prominent international directors will attend this year's festival. Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou has been appointed jury president for the competition section. Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, known in Korea for films including “Monster” (2023), Japanese animation master Rintaro and acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi will also travel to Busan.
Actor and director Maggie Gyllenhaal, who served as jury president at this year's Venice International Film Festival, will make her first visit to Korea for the Busan festival.
International actors confirmed to attend include France's Isabelle Huppert, Indonesia's Christine Hakim and Chinese-language cinema stars Zhou Xun, Fan Bingbing and Shu Qi. Japanese actors Masami Nagasawa, Tasuku Emoto, Haru Kuroki, Ryusei Yokohama, Erika Sawajiri and Shunsuke Michieda will also attend.
A total of 315 films will be screened at this year's festival. The official selection comprises 246 films from 59 countries, the largest lineup since the Covid-19 pandemic. Of those, 95 will have their world premieres at the festival.
BY JEONG EUN-HYE [[email protected]]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
