July 12-22, 2018,
Bucheon, South Korea
BIFAN 2018 will be presenting a variety of films that will offer a glimpse into the latest trends in genre films and the direction that the industry is heading in. A total of 290 movies from 53 countries will be screened at the festival. This includes 163 features and 127 shorts. The theme of the festival is Love, Fantasy and Adventure.
As many as 19 feature films will be having their world premieres at the festival, which will also be the venue for the international premieres of 10 feature films
OPENING FILM
The Underdog
Directed by Oh Sung-yoon and Lee Chun-baek, this Korean animation film will have its world premiere at the festival. The story is about stray dogs abandoned by humans who find ‘a place without humans’. In the process, they find the meaning of freedom and discover their identities.
CLOSING FILM
Secret Superstar
Directed by Advait Chauhan, the film is about an Indian Muslim girl who aspires to be a singer but her father is against this. She hides her identity behind a niqab and goes on to become a sensation on YouTube. The film, featuring Zaira Wasin, Meher Vij and Aamir Khan, deals with feminism, gender equality and domestic violence.
BUCHEON CHOICE
Independent films that challenge conventional genres are chosen for this section. This edition of the festival has 12 feature films from 11 countries selected for the competition. The films shortlisted include:
Beast
The Limit Of Sleeping Beauty
Revenge
Tigers Are Not Afraid
The Dark
Ghost Walk
Look Up
Respeto
The Sacrament
Sad Beauty
Tower. A Bright Day
A Vigilante
WORLD FANTASTIC
World Fantastic Cinema, which shows the panorama of world fantastic films, was divided into two sections titled Red and Blue from the 20th year. World Fantastic Red is for genre film fanatics and is packed with action films gushing with blood, chilling, horror films and exciting thrillers. World Fantastic Blue presents a wide range of genre films including sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, romance and music films.
Some of the films in World Fantastic Red include:
The Axiom
The Blue Choker
Terrified
The Cannibal Club
Upgrade
Some of the films in World Fantastic Blue include:
Anna And The Apocalypse
Goodbye, Grandpa!
When Margaux Meets Margaux
Mayfair
Wizard
INDIA CONNECT
Quite a few Indian films will be screened at the festival. Hindi films Bhavesh Joshi Superhero and MOM and the Malayalam movie Ezra are part of World Fantastic Cinema. Secret Superstar will be the closing film of the festival.
Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane and featuring Harshvardhan Kapoor, Bhavesh Joshi Superhero is the story of a young man who turns vigilante to protect the city of Mumbai from the water mafia. MOM, starring the late Sridevi and directed by Ravi Udyawar, is about a mother who sets about to avenge her daughter’s rape. Ezra, directed by Jay K is a supernatural horror film featuring Prithviraj.
– Padma Iyer