Filipino films continue to grace international red carpets and film festivals. The latest is multi-award-winning director Brillante Mendoza's Moro, which is the only Filipino film selected to compete in the Busan International Film Festival this October.
Moro is one of 10 international movies selected for Jiseok, a category launched in 2022 to honor the late director and co-founder of the BIFF.
Apart from Moro, the movies selected for the Jiseok category are Yosep Anggi Noen's 24 Hours with Gaspar (Indonesia), Ahn Sunk-kyoung's At the End of the Film (South Korea), Lee Sang-cheol's Blesser (South Korea), Mirlan Abdykalykov's Bride Kidnapping (Kyrgyzstan), Nontawat Numbenchapol's Doi Boy (Thailand/Cambodia), Toda Akihiro's Ichiko (Japan), Prasanna Vithanage's Paradise (Sri Lanka/India), Mostofa Sarwar Farooki's Something Like an Autobiography (Bangladesh) and Ishii Yuya's The Moon (Japan).
Mendoza is no stranger to the BIFF. In 2021, the acclaimed director won the Kim Jiseok Award for his film Gensan Punch.
With 16 films under his belt since 2005, Mendoza is the only Filipino filmmaker to earn nominations in the Cannes, Berlin and Venice Film Festivals. He is also the first Filipino filmmaker to win the Cannes Best Director award for the 2009 crime thriller Kinatay.
The New Currents category, the main competition section at BIFF, highlights new and rising filmmakers' debut or sophomore films. Two films will be the recipients of the New Currents Award.
The 10 films in the New Currents category are the following: Yamamoto Akira's After the Fever (Japan), Choy Ji's Borrowed Time (China), Lee Jong-su's Heritage (South Korea), Chia Chee Sum's Oasis of Now (Malaysia/Singapore/France), Mori Tatsuya's September 1923 (Japan), Patiparn Boontarig's Solids by the Seashore (Thailand), Sohn Hyun-lok's That Summer's Lie (South Korea), Rajesh S. Jala's The Spark (India), Biplob Sarkar's The Stranger (Bangladesh) and Iqbal H. Chowdhury's The Wrestler (Bangladesh/Canada).
The BIFF will run from 4 to 13 October.