The 27th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), which received much publicity after unveiling its Korean and international main guests, is generating a great amount of anticipation by further announcing the participation of sensational guests from other Asian countries including Japan, Thailand, and India.

First, the four actors who starred in Six Characters (2022), selected for BIFF’s newly established Jiseok section, will be visiting Busan.

Mario Maurer, who is known as “Thailand’s Won Bin” to Korean fans, will walk on the red carpet at the Busan International Film Festival this year. He has demonstrated a variety of charms in his many works and proved his influence as a top-grossing actor by recording Thailand’s first-ever 10 million viewers for his film, Pee Mak (2013). Maurer first visited Korea when he was invited to the 12th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival for his debut film, The Love of Siam (2007), and he was commissioned as an honorary ambassador of Korean tourism in 2011. This year, he will visit once again to meet the Korean audience.

Actresses of Six Characters (2022) are also garnering a lot of attention from their names being on the guest list; from Natapohn Tameeruks, one of the most popular actresses in Thailand, who gave exceptional performances in the Thai serial dramas Nakee (2016) and Rak Nakara (2017), to Thai model-turned-actress Khemanit Jamikorn and Thai drama star Taksaorn Paksukcharern who has 5.7 million followers on her social media account.

Furthermore, stars of Indian cinema will also visit Korea.

Adil Hussain, who is recognized by the Korean public for his roles in Life of Pi (2012) and English Vinglish (2012) as well as the drama series Star Trek: Discovery (2020), visited Busan in 2019 for his performances in Nirvana Inn (2019) and The Wayfarers (2019), which were invited to A Window on Asian Cinema at the 24th Busan International Film Festival. This year, he will revisit Busan for two selections, The Storyteller (2022) in the Jiseok section, and Max, Min and Meowzaki (2022) in the Open Cinema section.

Directors and actors of Zwigato (2022), another Indian film selected for A Window on Asian Cinema, are also preparing to meet the Korean audience. Nandita Das, an actress who has starred in more than 50 Indian films, made her debut as a director with the film Firaaq (2008). Her second film as a director, Manto (2018), was invited to the 71st Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard, and established her reputation and potential as a world-class director. Her third film, Zwigato (2022), was selected as an Asian Premier at this year’s Busan International Film Festival. She will come to Busan with Zwigato’s main actor, Kapil Sharma, India's representative stand-up comedian, television presenter, and actor.

Along with two famous and skillful Japanese actors, Tsumabuki Satoshi and Ando Sakura, both of whom are expected to visit Busan, the talented rookie actress Arashi Lina will meet the Korean audience as well. Arashi will expand her career spectrum from Japan to Asia through the film, My Small Land (2022), a selection for this year’s Special Program in Focus: Discovering New Japanese Cinema. As a rising star who started her career as a fashion magazine model, this is her first role as an actress in which she plays a Kurdish refugee girl in the film. While her real family starred in the same film to make it more immersive, Arashi Lina was acclaimed for her balanced acting performance, which is surprising for a newly-debuting actress.

The 27th Busan International Film Festival, which is garnering high expectations due to the invitation of various famous Asian guests, will be held from Oct 5 (Wed) to Oct 14 (Fri) at the Busan Cinema Center.

■ The 27th Busan International Film Festival: Oct 5 (Wed) – Oct 14 (Fri)
■ The 17th Asian Contents & Film Market: Oct 8 (Sat) – Oct 11 (Tues)

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