The Disciple, Meel Patthar, Harami selected for the Busan film festival

Once again, India will be a strong presence at the Busan International Film festival in South Korea as a total of ten Indian titles, features and shorts, will be screened at the upcoming 25th edition that is scheduled to be held from 21 to 30 October.

Chaitanya Tamhane’s recent Venice winner The Disciple, Ivan Ayr’s Meel Patthar, Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s Kayattam, Anant Mahadevan’s Bittersweet, Suman Mukhopadhyay’s Captive, M Gani's Matto Ka Saikal starring Prakash Jha, and Prithvi Konanur’s Pinki Elli? will be screened in the A Window on Asian Cinema section which highlights the works of current talented Asian filmmakers.

Shyam Madiraju’s Harami, starring Emraan Hashmi, will compete in the New Currents section, while Apoorva Satish’s Kanya and Rajesh Prasad Khatri’s A Scarecrow will be screened in the Asian Short Film Competition.

The upcoming festival will be presented in a mix of in-person and online formats owing to a new wave of COVID-19 cases in South Korea. The opening and closing ceremonies, red carpet events, receptions and parties have all been cancelled.

Usually the festival selects more than 300 features and shorts; this year, it has been reduced to 192 entries. Only 50 people per screening will be allowed and each film will be screened only once. The judging of the film in competition will be held online.

The festival organizers also revealed that if the number of cases in the country rises further owing to the upcoming Chuseok holiday, the festival could be cancelled as well. The festival has already been pushed back two weeks to avoid clashing with the holiday.

The opening film is Septet: The Story Of Hong Kong, an official selection of the Cannes Film Festival, directed by filmmakers Sammo Hung, Ann Hui, Patrick Tam, Yuen Wo Ping, Johnnie To, Ringo Lam and Hark Tsui. The festival will close with Tamaru Kotaru's Japanese animated film Josee, The Tiger And The Fish.