Thirteen Films by School of Film, TV & Multimedia Alumni and Students Invited to the 30^th BIFF

Productions by current students and alumni of the School of Film, TV & Multimedia were officially invited to various sections in the 30^th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).

Filmmaker Han Chang-lok’s first feature film and graduation work, Funky Freaky Freaks (2025), was selected for the newly created Competition Section. Han, who holds a master’s degree in filmmaking, depicts the realities of teenagers through an indifferent yet unembellished lens, posing thought-provoking questions to society. His earlier short film, Peeper (2023), was also recognized internationally, having been screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the New York Asian Film Festival, and the Jeonju International Film Festival.

Director Oh Seyeon, a senior student in the Department of Filmmaking, was invited to the Wide Angle: Korean Short Film Competition, with her first narrative short, Poetry Syndrome (2025). The film explores whether poetry can become cinema or the other way round. Oh previously debuted with the feature documentary, Fanatic (Sungdoek, 2021), which was screened at BIFF, the Udine Far East Film Festival, and the UK Asian Film Festival. She is also the author of the film essay Sungdeok Diary, published in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. In addition, alumnus Jung Dabin was invited with his graduation film, Into the Night (2025), a lyrical story about love that quietly finds its way into everyday life. Another invited work, Journey There (2025), was written by Lee Kyeongmin under the pen name Lee Gahong, and selected for the Vision Korea Section.

Marking its 30^th anniversary this year, the School of Film, TV & Multimedia demonstrated its distinctive and unparalleled position in the Korean film industry, with numerous filmmakers featured at BIFF. Notable directors included Lim Sun-ae, whose Seven O’Clock Breakfast Club for the Brokenhearted (2025) was screened in the Competition Section, Shin Suwon with The Mutation (2025), Kim Kyungrae with Two Voices Into an Echo (2025), Lim Junghwan with The Observer’s Journal (2025), and Yu Eun-jeong with The Second Child (2025) in Vision Korea. Also featured were Lee Jongpil and Yoon Ga-eun with Time of Cinema (2025), Yang Jong-hyun with People and Meat (2025) in Panorama: Korean Cinema Today, and Yoo Jong-seok with Be My Baby (2025) together with Ma Minji’s Grounding (2025) in Wide Angle: Documentary Showcase.

Choi Yongbae, Dean of the School of Film, TV & Multimedia, commented, “It was meaningful for the School of Film, TV & Multimedia to celebrate its 30th anniversary alongside BIFF, which was also celebrating its 30th year. While we take pride in the achievements of our graduates, as demonstrated at the festival, we will continue striving to become the world’s leading institution in visual education, nurturing the next generation of global K-content creators over the next thirty years.”