BUSAN– As the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) returned to a pre-pandemic scale this year, the Busan Cinema Center, the festival’s main venue, was heated up again with enthusiastic fans who gathered to see their favorite actors and directors in person Thursday.

Fans attended a series of “Open Talk” events where filmmakers and actors take the stage of the center’s outdoor theater to chat about their latest or upcoming works with the audience. And all three sessions held Thursday were about upcoming TV series to be released on streaming platforms later this year.

To begin with, Korean director Jung Ji-woo stood before the audience with his debut on Netflix “Somebody,” a crime thriller series to be released next month, along with its actors Kim Young-kwang and Kang Hae-lim.
Then, Korean director Roh Deok took the stage with actor Jeon Yeo-bin and former girl group idol Nana to promote his first Netflix series “Glitch,” one day ahead of its streaming release.

Another attention-grabber was the iconic Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike, who teamed up with Disney+ for his first Korean-language series “Connect.” The horror series starring Jung Hae-in and Go Kyung-pyo will be available in December.

On Friday, Hong Kong legend Tony Leung Chiu Wai is set to have talks about his 40-year acting career as six of his movies, including “Happy Together” (1997), “In the Mood for Love” (2000) and “2046” (2004), will be screened during the 10-day festival.

On the same day, stars of local streaming platform Wavve’s new series “Weak Hero Class 1,” directed by Yoo Soo-min, and Tving original drama “Yonder,” directed by Lee Joon-ik, will also have chats about their works.

Source: Yonhap News Agency