Asian Film Academy (AFA), celebrating the 15th anniversary this year, has embarked on an 18-day journey from Thursday, September 26th to Sunday, October 13rd starting with the AFA 2019 Opening event at the Busan Youth Hostel ARPINA.

In the midst of growing attention, the Asian Film Academy has begun with the participation of promising 24 filmmakers who have enormous potentials to become future leaders in Asian cinema. The AFA 2019 Opening event, which kicked off at 18:00 on September 26, was joined by festival director Jay Jeon, directing mentor Mouly Surya, cinematography mentor Karina Kleszczewska and cinematography mentor, Kim Young-Ro. Sung Jihae, the Director of BIFF Film Academy, delivered opening greetings, as a representative of a newly-established department in the Busan International Film Festival that will provide high quality and sustainable educational programs along with practical support to Asian filmmakers. Later, 24 fellows introduced themselves and gave a presentation about the short films that will be made during AFA 2019. AFA 2019 Opening event ended with a group photo of all participants. Under the close direct mentorship of cinematography mentors, fellows will join various programs including workshop, mentoring program, and clinic that are related to film production. After doing pre-production work which includes location hunting and creating the storyboard, fellows will shoot the short films for 3 days from Thursday, October 3rd. The two completed short films will be screened at the 24th Busan International Film Festival.

- Abundant Opportunities for Promising Asian Filmmakers

This year’s AFA faculty consists of Mouly Surya as the directing mentor along with Karina Kleszczewska and Kim Young-Ro as cinematography mentors. Mouly Surya has been widely praised at many prestigious film festivals around the world for her film Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts. Karina Kleszczewska has a name for herself in the Polish film industry as director of photography, in addition to working as the lighting director for theatre plays. Kim Young-Ro is a cinematographer, stereographer, and professor with an abundant experience in traditional and 3D films. The addition of one more cinematography mentor to the new faculty will provide enhanced opportunities for AFA participants to learn widely-used cinematography techniques.

AFA’s support to foster young Asian talent does not stop in the experience of making short-films but also continues with exceptional benefits after the training program. ARRI, the world’s leading manufacturer of professional motion picture equipment, will provide the ARRI Scholarship, to eligible participants in the ARRI training program. MPA Award lets winners have the opportunity to attend industry events including the Film Immersion Program in Los Angeles and the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Brisbane. This year, in particular, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Poland and Korea, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, under the Polish Culture Ministry will present an AMI Special Award for cinematography fellows to visit the prestigious Polish Lodz Film School and provide networking opportunities with Polish film industry figures. In addition, AFA graduates will become eligible to apply for the AFA category of Asian Cinema Fund’s Script Development Fund.

The AFA 2019 is co-organized by the Busan International Film Festival, Busan Film Commission and GKL Foundation.

The 24th Busan International Film Festival will be held from October 3 to October 12, 2019
Asian Film Market 2019 will be held from October 5 to October 8, 2019

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