“Busan International Film Festival: A Seoul-Run Event in a Regional Setting?”
The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), often celebrated as Asia’s premier cinematic event, has played a pivotal role in elevating Busan’s reputation on the global film stage. Every year, hundreds of films from across the world are screened, and filmmakers, critics, and tourists flock to the coastal city for this cultural spectacle. But behind the glamour and international prestige, a deeper issue lurks: Is BIFF truly benefiting the local economy and film industry, or is it merely a Seoul-operated festival hosted in Busan?
While the festival’s international stature continues to grow, much of the behind-the-scenes organization and operational control remain centered in Seoul. From staffing to logistics, key decisions are largely managed by Seoul-based professionals, with Busan’s involvement often limited to hosting duties. This centralization has sparked concerns about the limited long-term economic benefits for Busan, particularly in terms of job creation and industry growth.
From Humble Beginnings to Asia’s Premier Film Festival: The Rise of BIFF
The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) first launched in 1996, marking the beginning of South Korea’s ambition to establish Busan as a major cultural and cinematic hub. The festival, which began with a modest program of films and international guests, quickly gained recognition as a platform for introducing new Asian filmmakers to the world stage. Over the years, BIFF grew in scale and significance, expanding its programming and solidifying its status as Asia’s largest and most prestigious film festival. Its primary focus on promoting independent and experimental films—especially from Asia—set it apart from other international film festivals.
The vision behind BIFF was to use the festival as a vehicle to brand Busan as a film city. In the early years, there was optimism that the event could transform the city into a vibrant hub of film production, distribution, and exhibition, ultimately creating an ecosystem that would support local talent and attract global investments. Busan was envisioned as a city that would rival Seoul in terms of its cinematic and cultural importance, giving rise to a robust local film industry. The festival’s founders, along with the city’s government, were hopeful that the event would have a transformative impact, not only on Busan’s cultural landscape but also on its economy, providing a major boost to local businesses, tourism, and employment.
However, as the festival grew in prominence, so did the complexity of its organizational needs. Despite being held in Busan, much of the leadership and operational control remained centered in Seoul, where the bulk of South Korea’s film industry infrastructure and expertise is concentrated. Over time, this has led to a significant portion of the festival’s strategic decision-making and high-level functions being managed by Seoul-based professionals, rather than by local Busan stakeholders.
This evolution raises questions about BIFF’s role in fostering local economic growth and employment. While the festival undoubtedly brings international prestige and short-term economic benefits to Busan—such as tourism revenue and media attention—the long-term impact on the local film industry and workforce remains less certain. The festival’s operational model, heavily reliant on Seoul’s infrastructure and expertise, has, in many ways, limited the opportunities for Busan to develop a self-sustaining film industry that could rival Seoul’s dominance.
A Festival in Busan, Run by Seoul: The Imbalance of BIFF’s Operations
While BIFF generates a surge in temporary jobs during the festival season—particularly in areas like hospitality, logistics, and event management—these positions are largely seasonal and do little to foster long-term professional growth in Busan’s film industry.
While the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has become synonymous with cinematic excellence and international collaboration, its staffing and operational structure reveal a stark imbalance in local involvement. Despite being physically hosted in Busan, much of the festival’s key functions, including programming, logistics, and administration, are managed by professionals from Seoul. This reliance on external talent raises critical questions about the festival’s contribution to the development of Busan’s local workforce and its overall impact on the regional economy.
A significant portion of BIFF’s core operational roles, including high-level decision-making, is handled by Seoul-based professionals. These individuals are typically tasked with overseeing programming, international partnerships, marketing, and media relations—areas critical to the festival’s global reputation. This centralization of leadership in Seoul, despite the festival being rooted in Busan, has limited opportunities for local talent to take on influential roles in the festival’s operation. Local involvement is often confined to lower-level positions, such as administrative support, temporary staffing, or volunteer roles. This dynamic creates a clear divide, where Busan functions merely as the physical venue, while Seoul remains the intellectual and managerial hub of the festival.
One of the festival’s most criticized aspects is its failure to create sustainable, high-quality employment opportunities for the local workforce. While BIFF generates a surge in temporary jobs during the festival season—particularly in areas like hospitality, logistics, and event management—these positions are largely seasonal and do little to foster long-term professional growth in Busan’s film industry. In contrast, many of the festival’s strategic and operational functions, from film selection to festival direction, remain in the hands of experienced professionals from Seoul.
Local hiring is also often limited to volunteer or low-wage positions, such as ushering, event coordination, and administrative assistance. These roles, while necessary, do not provide the type of professional development or economic stability that would allow the local workforce to build meaningful careers in the film industry. As a result, while the festival provides some immediate economic benefits, its long-term contribution to Busan’s employment landscape remains minimal.
Another area of concern is the festival’s heavy reliance on external contractors and services, many of which are based in Seoul. From media production to marketing and logistics, much of the festival’s operational budget flows back to companies and professionals located in the capital. This outsourcing of critical services to Seoul-based entities limits the financial benefits that could otherwise be reinvested in the local economy, further exacerbating the festival’s limited impact on regional growth.
For example, large-scale technical operations such as film screenings, marketing campaigns, and digital media production are often outsourced to specialized firms in Seoul, which possess the resources and expertise necessary for such high-profile events. While this ensures the festival maintains a high standard of execution, it also means that Busan’s own businesses miss out on opportunities for growth and skill development in these areas.
The festival’s Seoul-centric operational model has profound implications for the growth of Busan’s local film industry. By relying heavily on external talent and services, BIFF has not significantly contributed to the development of Busan’s film infrastructure or professional workforce. Instead of fostering local expertise in areas such as film production, distribution, and festival management, the festival has become an event where external professionals showcase their skills, leaving Busan’s industry relatively underdeveloped.
This lack of local engagement perpetuates a cycle in which Busan remains dependent on Seoul’s film industry for expertise, resources, and leadership. Without a concerted effort to integrate local talent into the festival’s core operations, BIFF risks further entrenching this divide, limiting Busan’s ability to establish itself as a genuine film industry hub.
Short-Term Gains, Long-Term Questions: BIFF’s Limited Economic Impact on Busan
While BIFF provides short-term economic gains during its annual event, its long-term contributions to Busan’s economic landscape are limited. The festival’s operational and financial model, which heavily favors Seoul-based contractors and service providers, restricts the potential for Busan’s local industries to grow and thrive.
While the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) brings short-term economic benefits to the city, such as increased tourism, hotel bookings, and media attention, the long-term economic impact on Busan’s local economy remains limited. Despite its size and reputation, BIFF has yet to translate its international prestige into substantial regional development, leaving questions about whether it fully realizes its potential as a catalyst for local economic growth.
BIFF undeniably boosts Busan’s tourism industry during the festival period. Thousands of visitors, including filmmakers, critics, and cinephiles, flock to the city, filling hotels, restaurants, and tourist spots. This influx of tourists results in immediate economic benefits for the hospitality sector, with local businesses seeing a surge in demand. In particular, hotels and restaurants in the festival’s vicinity, such as Haeundae, experience a spike in revenue, as they cater to international visitors and media professionals covering the event.
Furthermore, local transportation services, from taxis to public transit, also see increased usage, contributing to the local economy. Temporary jobs, such as event coordination, security, and hospitality staff, also emerge during the festival season, offering employment opportunities for local residents. These gains, however, are primarily seasonal and short-lived, providing an economic boost that dissipates once the festival ends.
While the short-term benefits of BIFF are apparent, the festival’s contribution to Busan’s long-term economic development is much less clear. The bulk of the festival’s operational budget and high-level contracts are allocated to external companies, particularly those based in Seoul. This outsourcing of services, from media production to event management, significantly limits the economic benefits that could otherwise remain within the local economy.
For instance, large marketing campaigns and technical services, essential to running a high-profile international event like BIFF, are frequently handled by specialized firms in Seoul. This means that while Busan may gain immediate revenue from tourism, the festival’s more lucrative business opportunities—such as digital marketing, film production, and international partnerships—largely bypass the local business ecosystem. This reality stifles the growth of Busan’s media and film-related industries, which could otherwise benefit from closer involvement with the festival.
A critical issue is the festival’s failure to create sustainable, year-round economic opportunities for local businesses and the film industry. Ideally, BIFF could serve as a platform for nurturing local talent and businesses, helping Busan evolve into a major film production hub. However, this has not been the case. The city’s film production infrastructure remains underdeveloped, and its local workforce lacks the opportunities to participate in the more high-value aspects of the film industry, such as production, distribution, and post-production.
BIFF, despite its prestige, has not facilitated significant local industry growth. The festival’s impact is confined largely to short-term tourism benefits, with minimal spillover into broader economic sectors such as local film production, distribution networks, or digital media development. This is in sharp contrast to other major international film festivals like Cannes or the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which have played pivotal roles in developing their respective cities’ film industries and broader creative sectors.
Despite being internationally recognized as Asia’s premier film festival, BIFF’s operations seem disconnected from Busan’s long-term economic needs. Its prestige does not fully translate into tangible benefits for the city’s local economy or workforce. This disconnect is compounded by the fact that much of the festival’s leadership and technical expertise is sourced from Seoul, limiting the opportunities for local businesses and professionals to engage in higher-value roles. As a result, Busan’s aspirations to become a self-sustaining film city remain largely unrealized, with BIFF serving more as an event hosted in the city than as a driver of economic and industrial growth.
While BIFF provides short-term economic gains during its annual event, its long-term contributions to Busan’s economic landscape are limited. The festival’s operational and financial model, which heavily favors Seoul-based contractors and service providers, restricts the potential for Busan’s local industries to grow and thrive. For BIFF to truly fulfill its potential as an engine for regional economic development, it must find ways to integrate local businesses and talent into its core operations and foster more sustainable, long-term economic growth in the region.
A Film City Without a Film Industry: BIFF’s Missed Opportunity to Build Busan’s Local Talent
Despite the Busan International Film Festival’s (BIFF) role in promoting international cinema and attracting global attention to the city, its influence on Busan’s local film industry has been relatively limited. While the festival has successfully branded Busan as a “film city” on the global stage, the infrastructure necessary to support a thriving local film industry remains underdeveloped. The lack of significant, long-term investments in local talent, production facilities, and distribution networks has prevented Busan from capitalizing on BIFF’s prestige to establish itself as a serious competitor to Seoul in the national film industry.
Busan, despite being the host city for one of the largest film festivals in Asia, continues to lag behind in terms of film production infrastructure. The city lacks the necessary studios, production houses, and post-production facilities to attract large-scale film projects on a year-round basis. Most film production in South Korea remains centered in Seoul, which is home to the country’s major studios, production companies, and distributors. This centralized infrastructure in the capital leaves Busan largely reliant on external resources and expertise for any significant film-related activities.
The city’s film industry has yet to benefit from the kind of structural investments that would make it a viable hub for film production. While BIFF has undoubtedly put Busan on the international map, the local industry has not experienced the spillover effect one might expect from hosting such a high-profile event. Without the necessary infrastructure, Busan remains a venue for showcasing films, rather than a place where films are made, produced, or distributed.
One of the key challenges facing the local film industry is the minimal involvement of Busan-based filmmakers in the festival itself. While BIFF provides a platform for discovering new talent, the majority of filmmakers and industry professionals involved in the festival are from Seoul or other international markets. This has led to a situation where Busan’s local filmmakers struggle to gain visibility, both within the festival and in the broader film industry.
Local filmmakers, particularly those in Busan, face significant barriers to entry into the national and international film markets. The lack of strong production networks, financial support, and distribution channels in Busan means that local filmmakers often have to rely on Seoul-based resources to get their projects off the ground. This dependence on the capital city limits the opportunities for Busan’s filmmakers to grow and develop within their own region, further reinforcing the imbalance between the two cities.
BIFF does include some initiatives aimed at supporting new and emerging talent, such as its “New Currents” section, which focuses on showcasing films from less-established directors across Asia. However, Busan’s local filmmakers are often underrepresented in these programs, as the competition for slots is fierce and tends to favor directors with stronger industry connections or those based in Seoul. The lack of a robust local film industry means that Busan-based filmmakers struggle to compete on a national or international level, despite hosting one of the world’s leading film festivals in their city.
The failure to capitalize on BIFF’s international prestige for the development of Busan’s local film industry represents a significant missed opportunity. Ideally, the festival could serve as a catalyst for the growth of a thriving local industry by attracting investment in film production facilities, encouraging the establishment of local studios, and fostering connections between international filmmakers and Busan’s local talent. However, without the necessary infrastructure and support, Busan’s film industry remains underdeveloped, unable to leverage the festival’s influence for sustained growth.
In contrast to other cities that host major international film festivals—such as Cannes or Toronto, both of which have strong local industries that benefit directly from their respective festivals—Busan’s film industry has struggled to gain a foothold. The lack of investment in local production capabilities, coupled with the festival’s reliance on Seoul-based resources, has prevented Busan from becoming a true film production hub. This leaves the city dependent on the festival’s short-term economic boost, rather than reaping the long-term benefits of a thriving local film industry.
For Busan to truly benefit from hosting BIFF, there needs to be a concerted effort to develop the city’s film industry. This would require significant investment in local production infrastructure, including the establishment of film studios, post-production facilities, and distribution networks. Additionally, more support must be given to local filmmakers in the form of grants, mentorship programs, and opportunities to showcase their work within the festival itself. Without these measures, Busan risks remaining a venue for international filmmakers, rather than a breeding ground for homegrown talent.
Cannes and Toronto: Lessons for BIFF on Fostering Local Growth
The challenges faced by the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) are not unique, but they do highlight a missed opportunity for the city to maximize the festival’s potential. A comparative analysis with other major international film festivals, such as Cannes in France and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Canada, reveals key insights into how other cities have successfully leveraged their festivals to foster local industry growth, talent development, and long-term economic benefits. These examples demonstrate that BIFF could similarly evolve to more effectively support Busan’s local economy and film industry.
The Cannes Film Festival, one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world, offers a clear example of how a major event can stimulate local industry and economy. Cannes, despite being a small city, has become synonymous with film due to its commitment to integrating local resources into the festival. Cannes benefits economically not just from the influx of international visitors but also from its long-standing support for local businesses and its strong ties to France’s national film industry.
Cannes has invested heavily in its infrastructure to ensure that the festival serves as a year-round engine for the local economy. Local film production, distribution, and media companies flourish alongside the festival, with the city playing a critical role in hosting film markets, production companies, and post-production facilities. The festival also engages local talent by offering mentorships, funding, and showcasing opportunities, creating a pipeline from local talent to international recognition. This model has allowed Cannes to become both a cultural and economic powerhouse, and it exemplifies how a city can fully integrate a festival into its long-term development strategy.
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is another prime example of a film festival that has had a profound impact on its host city’s economy and film industry. TIFF has played a central role in establishing Toronto as a major North American film hub, helping to cultivate a local film industry that thrives both during and outside of the festival period. Unlike BIFF, which has yet to significantly impact Busan’s year-round film industry, TIFF has become integral to the local economy, generating both immediate and long-term benefits.
TIFF’s success lies in its year-round programming and its close ties to Toronto’s film production and distribution industries. The festival has spurred the growth of local film studios, production companies, and post-production facilities, transforming Toronto into a go-to location for film production. Moreover, the festival’s “TIFF Bell Lightbox” serves as a permanent cultural and production hub, providing the infrastructure and support necessary for local filmmakers to create, distribute, and promote their work throughout the year.
The economic impact of TIFF extends beyond the festival itself. The city of Toronto sees a direct boost from tourism, with an influx of filmmakers, critics, and fans descending on the city each year. But more importantly, TIFF’s ongoing commitment to supporting the local film industry has led to sustained growth in jobs, local businesses, and international investment in the city’s film sector. This has created a self-sustaining cycle where the festival both supports and is supported by Toronto’s thriving film industry, an outcome that BIFF has yet to fully achieve for Busan.
By examining the successes of Cannes and TIFF, it becomes evident that BIFF could do more to integrate itself into Busan’s local economy and film industry. Both Cannes and Toronto have effectively used their festivals as platforms to develop local infrastructure, nurture local talent, and create sustainable economic ecosystems around the film industry. In contrast, BIFF remains an event that, while prestigious, has not yet fully embraced these strategies.
Frustration and Policy Gaps: Local Businesses and Filmmakers on the Margins of BIFF
The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has undeniably elevated the city’s global reputation, but when it comes to its local impact, perspectives are mixed. Many local businesses, filmmakers, and residents have voiced concerns over the limited long-term benefits of the festival for Busan’s economy and cultural industries. This section explores the views of local stakeholders and the policy gaps that have prevented BIFF from fully integrating with Busan’s economic and industrial framework.
For many local businesses, especially those in the hospitality and tourism sectors, BIFF brings a welcomed boost in revenue during the festival period. Hotels, restaurants, and shops in districts like Haeundae and Nampo-dong report significant increases in foot traffic and spending, as thousands of visitors, including international filmmakers, journalists, and festival-goers, flock to the city. However, this surge is short-lived. Once the festival ends, the local economy returns to its usual rhythms, without seeing sustained growth from the festival’s international prestige.
There is also growing dissatisfaction among local businesses over the lack of opportunities to engage in more lucrative, long-term contracts associated with the festival. Much of the festival’s spending on media, logistics, and operational services flows to Seoul-based firms. Local companies that could potentially handle these services are often overlooked, leaving many business owners questioning whether the festival truly benefits the regional economy in a substantial way. This disconnect between local businesses and the festival’s operational needs is a critical issue that remains unaddressed.
Local filmmakers share a similar sense of marginalization. Despite the festival being physically located in Busan, many local directors, producers, and technicians feel sidelined in favor of filmmakers from Seoul and abroad. This reflects a broader issue within South Korea’s film industry, where the majority of production resources and industry connections are concentrated in the capital. Busan’s film professionals often find it difficult to break into the national and international markets, as they lack the access to the same networks and opportunities that their Seoul counterparts enjoy.
Moreover, while BIFF occasionally showcases works from local filmmakers, such opportunities are often limited to smaller, non-competitive sections of the festival. The local film community has expressed frustration at the lack of a structured pipeline connecting Busan-based talent with BIFF’s international platform. Without stronger efforts to include local filmmakers in the festival’s main programming and professional development initiatives, the local film industry will continue to face challenges in establishing itself as a major player in South Korea’s cinematic landscape.
The policy framework governing BIFF and its relationship with the city of Busan also reveals significant gaps. While local government officials regularly tout BIFF’s success in attracting international attention, there has been little strategic focus on ensuring that the festival generates lasting economic and cultural benefits for the region. One major issue is the lack of coordinated investment in Busan’s film infrastructure, which has left the city dependent on external resources for much of its film production and distribution needs.
There is also a gap in policy initiatives aimed at nurturing local talent. While Seoul boasts a wide range of government-funded programs to support filmmakers, including grants, workshops, and networking opportunities, Busan’s local industry has received relatively little support. This discrepancy has stunted the growth of the region’s film sector, leaving local professionals with fewer opportunities to develop their skills and showcase their work.
To address these issues, local policymakers must adopt a more proactive approach to integrating BIFF with Busan’s broader economic and cultural development strategy. This could include creating incentives for the festival to source more of its services locally, providing financial support for local filmmakers to participate in the festival, and investing in film production facilities that can attract year-round film projects to the city.
Another potential solution is the establishment of a permanent cultural and film center in Busan, similar to the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto. Such a facility could serve as a year-round hub for film production, exhibitions, and industry events, helping to develop a local film industry that is not solely dependent on BIFF for its survival. By addressing these policy gaps, Busan can ensure that BIFF not only brings short-term prestige but also creates lasting economic and cultural value for the region.
From Event to Engine: How BIFF Can Drive Busan’s Economic and Cultural Growth
The Busan International Film Festival has already established itself as a major player in the global film community, but its true potential for transforming Busan’s local economy and film industry has yet to be fully realized.
As the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) continues to grow in international stature, it faces increasing pressure to not only deliver a world-class event but also to meaningfully engage with the city of Busan and its local economy. The previous sections have highlighted several key issues: BIFF’s over-reliance on Seoul-based talent, its limited long-term economic impact on Busan, and the lack of robust local industry development. To fully capitalize on BIFF’s potential, several future directions and policy recommendations are necessary to bridge the gap between the festival’s global prestige and Busan’s local needs.
A significant first step in aligning BIFF more closely with Busan’s local interests is to shift more decision-making and operational control to the city. Currently, much of the festival’s core leadership and logistical planning is centralized in Seoul. By empowering local stakeholders—including Busan-based professionals and businesses—BIFF can become more representative of the region it seeks to promote. This decentralization should not only apply to administrative functions but also to key aspects such as programming, marketing, and event management.
For BIFF to serve as a true engine of economic growth and industry development, Busan must invest in the physical and logistical infrastructure necessary to support a thriving local film industry. This includes the creation of production studios, post-production facilities, and a regional film distribution network that can rival those in Seoul. Without this infrastructure, Busan will continue to depend on external resources to execute BIFF’s major projects, limiting the festival’s impact on local economic growth.
An investment in local film infrastructure would also encourage international filmmakers and production companies to consider Busan as a viable location for year-round projects. This, in turn, would generate more consistent employment opportunities for local professionals, rather than the seasonal work currently available during the festival period.
One of the most effective ways for Busan to strengthen its film industry is by establishing a permanent cultural and film center—similar to the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto. This center could serve as a hub for film production, exhibition, and education, hosting workshops, screenings, and networking events throughout the year. Such a space would provide local filmmakers with the resources and visibility needed to develop their careers, while also attracting international projects and collaborations.
By maintaining a year-round cultural presence, Busan could cultivate a vibrant, self-sustaining film industry, rather than relying solely on BIFF as its primary connection to the global cinematic community.
BIFF’s economic impact on Busan can be significantly enhanced by ensuring that more of the festival’s budget is spent on local businesses. This could involve encouraging the festival to source goods and services—from catering to event logistics—from local vendors, rather than outsourcing these needs to Seoul-based companies. Incentive programs could be established to encourage local businesses to become involved with the festival, creating a more symbiotic relationship between BIFF and the region’s economy.
Moreover, local businesses could be offered sponsorship opportunities, allowing them to become more visible during the festival and benefit from the global attention BIFF attracts. This would create a virtuous cycle in which both the festival and the local economy support each other’s growth.
Effective collaboration between BIFF and Busan’s local government is critical to realizing these changes. Policymakers must prioritize the development of the local film industry as part of the region’s broader economic strategy. This includes providing financial incentives for film production in Busan, investing in infrastructure, and ensuring that local filmmakers and businesses have access to the resources they need to participate in BIFF.
Incentivizing year-round film production through tax breaks or subsidies could attract filmmakers and production companies to the region, allowing Busan to establish itself as a viable alternative to Seoul. Additionally, the government could create partnerships with BIFF to offer training and professional development programs for local film professionals, helping to bridge the skills gap and ensure that the local workforce is equipped to meet the industry’s demands.
The Busan International Film Festival has already established itself as a major player in the global film community, but its true potential for transforming Busan’s local economy and film industry has yet to be fully realized. By decentralizing decision-making, investing in infrastructure, and actively supporting local talent, BIFF can evolve into a festival that not only showcases films but also drives long-term economic and cultural growth for the region. These steps will ensure that BIFF becomes a lasting engine for Busan’s development, rather than a once-a-year event with limited regional impact.
BIFF’s Potential to Transform Busan: Will Prestige Translate to Progress?
The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) stands as a global cinematic event, attracting international attention and solidifying Busan’s status as a cultural hub. However, despite its prestige, BIFF has not fully realized its potential in benefiting the local economy and film industry. The festival remains largely controlled by Seoul-based operations, limiting its economic contributions to short-term tourism rather than fostering long-term, sustainable growth for the region.
Throughout this analysis, several key challenges have emerged: BIFF’s over-reliance on external staff and contractors from Seoul, its limited engagement with local businesses and filmmakers, and the underdevelopment of Busan’s film infrastructure. These issues create a disconnect between the festival’s international success and its ability to meaningfully contribute to Busan’s regional economy and industry.
To address these gaps, BIFF and Busan’s local government must take proactive steps toward integrating the festival into the city’s broader economic and industrial strategy. By devolving more decision-making power to local stakeholders, investing in film production infrastructure, nurturing local talent, and encouraging local business participation, BIFF can become a more powerful engine for Busan’s long-term economic and cultural development. Learning from the successes of other major international festivals like Cannes and Toronto, BIFF has the potential to foster a vibrant local film industry that thrives both during and beyond the festival period.
As BIFF continues to grow, it must recognize the importance of aligning its operations with the needs and aspirations of Busan. By doing so, it can create a lasting legacy that not only elevates the global standing of the festival but also ensures that Busan reaps the full benefits of hosting Asia’s premier film event.
