The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) wound down its 19th edition this past weekend following an 11-day celebration of genre cinema that welcomed guests from all around the world. The Bucheon Gymnasium set the stage for the fest’s closing ceremony on Friday night (July 24th), during which the festival’s prizes were doled out.

 

Triumphing in the event’s signature Bucheon Choice competition was Philip YUNG’s real-life murder case story Port of Call, which took home the top Best of Bucheon Prize, as well as the Best Actress accolade for Jessie LI and a special mention for Michael NING in the Best Actor category.

 

Best Director went to Turbo Kid helmers Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell, Best Actor prize was snagged by Chino Darin for Death in Buenos Aires and local thriller Coin Locker Girl by HAN Jun-hee was awarded the Jury’s Choice Prize. The Master Plan from Sweden took home the NH Nonghyup Citizen's Choice Award while House of Shadows performer Fiona Glascott also received a special mention in the Best Actress section.

 

This year’s EFFF (European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation) Asian Award was given to HASUMI Eiichiro for Assassination Classroom, while Anurag KASHYAP's Bombay Velvet also earned a special mention. KASHYAP previously won the Best Director prize in 2013 for Ugly. TAKE Masaharu won the NETPAC Prize for 100 Yen Love and HUH Eun-hee’s ended the night with the LG HiEntech Prize for Best Korean Film for her feature Alice: Boy from Wonderland.

 

Meanwhile the Bucheon Choice: Short jury awarded its top prize to Iddo Soskoline and Janne Reinikainen for Reunion and their Jury’s Choice prize to Steven Baker’s A Love Story, while they also bestowed a special mention to Alejandro Suarez Lozano’s The Fisherman. Best Korean Short was awarded to AHN Seung-hyuk’s The Scoundrels and the Citizen's Choice prize went to PARK Joong-ha’s Sweet Family.

 

Directly after the awards ceremony, KIM Hwi’s shamanist horror The Chosen: Forbidden Cave, starring KIM Sung-kyun and YOO Sun, was presented as the closing film of this year’s BiFan.

 

 

Award Winners of the 19th BiFan:

 

Bucheon Choice: Feature
Best of Bucheon: Port of Call (Directed by Philip YUNG)
Best Director: Turbo Kid (Directed by Francois SIMARD, Anouk WHISSELL, Yoann-Karl WHISSELL)
Best Actor: Chino Darin of Death in Buenos Aires (Directed by Natalia META)
※ Special Mention: Michael Ning of Port of Call (Directed by Philip YUNG)
Best Actress: Jessie Li of Port of Call (Directed by Philip YUNG)
※ Special Mention: Fiona Glascott of House of Shadows (Directed by Rossella de VENUTO)
Jury's Choice: Coin Locker Girl (Directed by HAN Jun-hee)
NH Nonghyun Citizen's Choice: The Master Plan (Directed by Alain DARBORG)

 

Bucheon Choice: Short
Best Short Film: Reunion (Directed by Iddo SOSKOLNE, Janne REINIKAINEN)
Jury's Choice for Short Film: A Love Story (Directed by Steven BAKER)
※ Special Mention: The Fisherman (Directed by Alejandro SUAREZ LOZANO)
Best Korean Short Film: The Scoundrels (Directed by AHN Seung-hyuk)
Citizen's Choice for Short Film: Sweet Family (Directed by PARK Joong-ha)

 

European Fantastic Film Festival Federation (EFFFF) Asian Award
EFFFF Asian Award: Assassination Classroom (Directed by HASUMI Eiichiro)
※ Special Mention: Bombay Velvet (Directed by Anurag KASHYAP)

Netpac Award
100 Yen Love (Directed by TAKE Masaharu)

LG HiEntech Award
Boy from Wonderland (Directed by HUH Eun-hee)