Busan International Film Festival부산국제영화제

The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) is Asia’s best-known film festival, held in Busan every autumn. The 31st edition ran Oct 6–15, 2026 with 247 films from 59 countries, and opened at the Busan Cinema Center with Kim Jong-kwan’s ‘The Table: Day and Night’.

It was the first festival since FIAPF, the international film producers’ federation, listed BIFF as an ‘A-list’ festival alongside Cannes, Berlin and Venice.

It closed on Oct 15 with 277,027 attendees, about 40,000 more than last year, and The Fact reported that audiences topped 200,000 for the first time in ten years. Films played on 31 screens in 8 theaters, with 304 audience Q&As.

This year the festival also opened a day early, on a Tuesday, for the first time.

The 2026 festival has ended, and next year’s dates haven’t been announced yet, so keep an eye on the official site, biff.kr. Its main home, the Busan Cinema Center, is in Haeundae-gu.

You can still visit BIFF Square in Nampo-dong, where the festival began: a public street open all year, known for ssiat hotteok (seed-filled pancakes) and fish-cake stalls. It’s about a 5-minute walk from Jagalchi Market (Jagalchi Station, Line 1, Exit 10), and Line 1 reaches Busan Station, where the KTX from Seoul arrives, in about 10 minutes.