MANILA, Philippines — Korean stars Park Eun Bin and Lee Je Hoon have been tapped to host the opening ceremony of this year's Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in South Korea, the festival's 28th edition.
The two actors previously worked together on the 2014 television series "Secret Door," with Je Hoon as the young Crown Prince Sado and Eun Bin as his wife Lady Hyegyeong.
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Following their collaboration, Je Hoon went on to appear in other successful series such as "Signal" and "Taxi Driver," as well as films like 2020's "Time To Hunt," which earned him a nomination for Best Actor at that year's Baeksang Arts Awards.
Eun Bin meanwhile broke through in the sports drama "Hot Stove League" and the series "The King's Affection." But she is now best known as the titular character in "Extraordinary Attorney Woo," a role that garnered her this year's Baeksang Arts Awards Grand Prize in Television.
The BIFF confirmed Eun Bin and Je Hoon's involvement to inaugurate the festival on October 4 in BIFF Theater, Busan Cinema Center.
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The festival will run until October 13, and in between the 18th Asian Contents & Film Market will be held from October 7 to 10.
Three special premieres for Korean films will be held at BIFF this year: Baek Jong Yul's sequel to "Believer," Lee Choong Hyun's "Ballerina" starring Jeon Jeong So and Kim Ji Hoon, and Kim Chang Hoon's "Hopeless" starring Song Joong Ki.
Also highly-anticipated at BIFF this year is the directorial debut of the Oscar-winning co-writer of "Parasite" Han Jin-won in the television series "Running Mate."
Filipino producer Bianca Balbuena — whose credits include "That Thing Called Tadhana," "#WalangForever," "Gusto Kita With All My Hypothalamus," "Mina-anud," and "Fan Girl" — serves on the jury for the Sonje Award alongside Korea's Jang Kun Jae and China's Wei Shujun.
The Sonje Award is given to the best Korean and Asian short films in the BIFF's Wide Angle section, with each victorious director also winning KRW 10,000,000 (almost P430,000) for their next project.
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