The Storyteller, Hadinelentu to be premiered at Busan International Film Festival

Anant Narayan Mahadevan’s The Storyteller and Prithvi Konanur’s Hadinelentu (Seventeeners) will have their world premieres at the 27th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) being held from 5 – 14 October.

The two Indian films will compete in the newly introduced Jiseok section, alongside six other films. According to the festival, beginning this year, the Kim Jiseok award nominees have been sorted into a section of their own.

The program section, which also includes Korean films, “aims to both reinforce the spirit and determination of the late program director Kim Jiseok, who devoted himself to the growth and support of Asian films”. The winner of the Kim Jiseok award receives a cash prize of $10,000.

Based on the short story, Golpo Bolo Tarini Khuro, from legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray, Mahadevan’s The Storyteller stars Paresh Rawal, Adil Hussain, Revathi and Tannishtha Chatterjee. The Hindi feature tells the tale of an insomniac mogul who hires a storyteller to keep him occupied.

Konanur's Hadinelentu follows two teenagers Hari and Deepa who are called in front of the principal after an intimate video they make in a classroom after hours is leaked on the internet. As their parents are informed, the committee is formed to decide whether to expel them from school. Issues of caste, gender and social order come into play in this drama.

The Jiseok section also features director Anshul Chauhan’s Japanese film December about a family regrouping after the death of a daughter.