South Korea's largest genre film festival, now in its 30th year, will showcase a record 321 films from about 50 countries, with an expanded lineup and a greater focus on artificial intelligence.
Among them, about 93 films will have their world premieres during the festival, which runs until July 12.
The curtain raiser is "Blades of the Guardian" directed by renowned Hong Kong filmmaker Yuen Woo-ping and starring martial artist and actor Jet Li.
Celebrating its three decades, the festival will also present a special program as part of a project to be continued for the next three years, highlighting the evolution and diversity of Asian cinema, with screenings of about a dozen films selected from 33 South Korean classics from the past 30 years.
Another section will showcase recent works by acclaimed filmmakers and internationally recognized stars including those that premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival in May such as "The Samurai and the Prisoner" by Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa and French comedy "Full Phil" by Quentin Dupieux.
Reflecting the growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) in filmmaking, more than 30 AI-related works including two feature films and 13 shorts, will compete for awards in the competition section.
Hong Kong actress Josie Ho, Chinese actress Fan Bingbing and French actress Isabelle Huppert are expected to walk the red carpet as they are set to receive awards in recognition of their contributions to filmmaking, according to the festival's organizers.
"This year's festival has the largest and most diverse lineup in BIFAN's history, offering films embracing new technologies and storytelling formats," said veteran actress Chang Mi-hee, one of the most iconic stars of the 1970s, who has served a three-year term as head of the festival's organizing committee since last year.
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