Alfonso Cuarón is set for his first visit to South Korea, with the two-time Oscar winner joining the lineup of major international guests at the upcoming 31st Busan International Film Festival.
The director is expected to attend the festival’s opening ceremony and will take part in a master class focused on the artistic decisions and filmmaking techniques that have defined his work. Busan will also stage a special Imax screening of Gravity, the film that earned Cuarón his first Academy Award for best director in 2014. He later won a second directing Oscar in 2019 for Roma.
Cuarón’s Busan appearance adds another high-profile name to a festival edition already drawing a sizable international presence. His trip also carries a family and creative connection: he will be attending in support of his son and longtime collaborator Jonás Cuarón, whose latest feature, Campeón Gabacho, is headed to the festival for its Asian premiere.
A Cuarón family presence at Busan
Campeón Gabacho will screen in Busan’s World Cinema section, with a post-screening Q&A to follow. Jonás Cuarón co-wrote Gravity with his father and has since directed Desierto and the Netflix fantasy adventure Chupa.
The new film stars Juan Daniel García Treviño, Leslie Grace, Rubén Blades, Eddie Marsan, Rosario Dawson and Cheech Marin. It is described as a playful but pointed portrait of a Mexican immigrant trying to build a life in the United States.
Jonás and Alfonso Cuarón produce Campeón Gabacho with Gabriela Rodriguez through Esperanto Filmoj. Nicolás Celis is also a producer on the film.
For Busan, the appearance by Alfonso Cuarón gives the festival both a marquee filmmaker and a direct tie-in to one of its programmed titles. The special Gravity Imax presentation, the master class and the Asian premiere of Campeón Gabacho together position the director’s visit as one of the festival’s most visible filmmaker-focused events.
A packed international guest list
Cuarón joins a broad roster of guests expected at this year’s Busan International Film Festival. Michelle Yeoh will return to the festival for the first time in 15 years to receive the Asian Filmmaker of the Year honor.
Other international figures expected to attend include Maggie Gyllenhaal, Isabelle Huppert, Hirokazu Koreeda, Lee Chang-dong and Na Hong-jin. The festival’s prominent Asian guest list also includes Chinese stars Zhou Xun and Fan Bingbing, along with actor-director Shu Qi.
The Korean contingent is set to include Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung, Shin Min-a, Ju Ji-hoon, Lee Min-ho, Hyun Bin and Jung Woo-sung, among others.
The 31st Busan International Film Festival runs Oct. 6-15 at the Busan Cinema Center and venues across the South Korean port city. Chinese director Zhang Yimou will preside over the festival’s main competition jury, which also includes filmmakers Bi Gan, Kei Ishikawa, July Jung and others. The jury will select winners from 13 competition titles.
The Asian Contents & Film Market will take place alongside the festival from Oct. 10-13.