The night sky cleared over Busan Thursday after days of rain and wind as the city prepared to host Asia´s largest film festival and to welcome a glittering array of stars from across the movie world.
Local A-listers Jung Woo-sung and Lee Hanee took to the stage as hosts and welcomed international cinema heavyweights including Philippine screen queen Judy Ann Santos, who arrived in Busan for the world premiere of Mindanao with director Brillante Mendoza.
British Oscar nominee Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) was in town to head the jury for the festival´s main New Currents award, and said he was “excited by the journey ahead of us” over the next 10 days.
Host Lee urged guests—and the tens of thousands of fans who flock to the festival each year — to celebrate the “diversity on offer and discover unknown films.”
Other stars gracing this year´s festival across its run include Oscar-nominated Call Me By Your Name star Timothee Chalamet, Indian Oscar winner A.R. Rahman of Slumdog Millionaire, and France´s Ariane Ascaride, fresh from her best actress award at Venice for Gloria Mundi.