The Busan Cinema Center’s broad roof beneath a bright sky, with an intersection, crosswalks and pedestrians in the foreground

BIFF events draw 50,000 in five days, more actor talks ahead

Published Oct 5, 2026

The Busan International Film Festival said in its October 11 midpoint update that programme events had drawn 50,000 attendances by October 10, the festival’s fifth day. The festival runs through October 15, with actor conversations and a Shim Eun-kyung Cine Class scheduled for October 12–14.

What the 50,000 covers

The count covers October 6–10 and includes outdoor Open Talks, stage greetings and Talk-to-Talk sessions as well as indoor Cine Classes and Actors’ House events. It is separate from total screening admissions.

The release does not say whether people who attended several events were counted once.

Talk-to-Talk, Oct. 12–14

The Korean-language Talk-to-Talk series at Hanmac Smooth Lounge features Kim Guk-hee at 14:00 and Kim Jae-chul at 17:00 on October 12, and Gong Min-jeung at 14:00 and Park Ji-yeon at 16:00 on October 13.

Im Sung-jae appears at 16:00 and Kim Jun-han at 17:00 on October 14. Each conversation is scheduled for 30 minutes. All times are Korea Standard Time.

Shim Eun-kyung, Oct. 14

Shim will discuss her experience working in Korea and Japan from 19:00 to 20:00. The Korean-language session is in the fourth-floor Book Cafe Lounge at Dongseo University–Kyungnam College of Information & Technology’s Centum Campus. Tickets are KRW 10,000 under booking code 826.

Seating is unassigned, parking is not provided and only water in a capped bottle may be brought in. Availability and changes are posted by the official ticket service.

Red Thread screenings canceled

The film, withdrawn over a technical problem, has had its general screenings on October 12 at 15:30 (code 510) and October 13 at 10:00 (code 633) canceled. BIFF says those bookings are canceled automatically with full refunds.

The October 9, 23:59 Midnight Passion 2 slot (code 168) was replaced with Spirit Guardians: The Last Secret of The First Emperor, The Scar-Faced Cat: Way of Asura and L’Autre, with a full refund after the screening. Whether individual refunds have been paid was not confirmed.

Earlier schedule changes

Shin Min-a’s October 10 Actors’ House (code 806), at the ninth-floor Culture Hall in Shinsegae Centum City, was moved to 16:30–17:30 from 17:00–18:00.

For The Fire Within You, the October 10, 10:00 slot (code 273) and October 11, 15:30 slot (code 369) lost their audience Q&As, not their screenings.

Runs through Oct. 15

The 31st edition opened at 18:00 on October 6 at the Busan Cinema Center Roof Theater with its ceremony and The Table: Day and Night. The official overview lists 316 films: 247 official selections from 59 countries and 69 Community BIFF titles.

That programme size and the event-attendance figure measure different things. Changes for the remaining days are posted in festival notices.

EVENT INFO

DatesOct 6–15, 2026

HoursVaries by screening · Busan Cinema Center outdoor box office Oct 6–15 08:30–20:30

AdmissionOpening/closing ₩30,000 · standard screenings/Cine Class ₩10,000 · varies by program

Venues8 theaters total including Busan Cinema Center · 31 screens

ParkingBusan Cinema Center · 08:00–23:00 · first 30 min free, then ₩1,000/30 min · daily max ₩15,000

LOCATION

Busan Cinema Center · representative screening hub120 Suyeonggangbyeon-daero, Haeundae-gu, Busan

2Centum City StationExit 6about 5 min walk

OPEN MAP ↗

NEARBY

BEXCOA major exhibition and convention venue in Centum City, easy to combine with the Busan Cinema Center. · Photo M.M.Minderhoud / Michiel1972 · CC BY-SA 3.0

VIEW NEARBY ↗

Source Busan International Film Festival Checked 2026.10.05 02:00

Sources & context

2026-10-11T19:53:00+09:00

Photo credit

399scout / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Busan Cinema Center photographed during BIFF on October 4, 2023. This archival venue image does not depict the 2026 events or document their attendance.