Busan Film Festival to Honor Founder Director Kim Dong-ho With Korean Cinema Award
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- Kim Dong-ho, founding festival director of BIFF, has been named the recipient of the 31st BIFF's Korean Cinema Award, which honors figures whose work has shaped Korean cinema and raised its profile abroad.
- In 1996, Kim became BIFF's founding director and broke with the standard practice of pre-approving films for censors, keeping programming free of government interference — a stance the source credits with helping turn BIFF into a central meeting point for Asian film.
- Kim previously served as president of the Korean Motion Picture Promotion Corporation (now the Korean Film Council), founding president of the Seoul Arts Center, and vice minister of the Ministry of Culture from 1992 to 1993.
- After leaving the director post, Kim served as dean at Dankook Graduate School of Cinematic Content, chair of the Presidential Committee for Cultural Enrichment, and chair of BIFF itself.
- Kim's documentary "Walking in the Movies" (2024) was selected for Cannes Classics, and his feature directorial debut "Mr. Kim Goes to Cinema" (2025) — featuring Lee Chang-dong, Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho, and Kore-eda Hirokazu — screened at the 30th BIFF.
- The 31st BIFF opens Oct. 6 and runs through Oct. 15 at the Busan Cinema Center, with the 21st Asian Contents & Film Market running alongside from Oct. 10-13.
Why it matters: Kim's award from the festival he founded closes a circle spanning nearly three decades — he launched BIFF in 1996 and now receives its honor at its 31st edition, in his late 80s, still attending more than 10 festivals a year to promote Korean cinema.
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