Busan International Film Festival - New Currents Award
by SimonaIn | created - 08 May 2019 | updated - 22 Oct 2022 | PublicThe New Currents Award is given to the two best feature films selected from the first or second works of new Asian directors introduced in the New Currents section (a competitive section of BIFF for Asian films). A grand prize of $30,000 is awarded to each film.
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1. Wu Shan Yun Yu (1996)
96 min | Comedy, Drama
Mai Qiang is a 30-year old bachelor, withdrawn, with little in his life besides his job at an isolated signal station along the Yangtze River and his ink drawings he uses as toilet paper. ... See full summary »
Director: Ming Zhang | Stars: Xiu Jiang, Bing Li, Shengguo Wang, Wenqiang Wang
Votes: 178
2. Motel Cactus (1997)
91 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Motel Cactus consists of four episodes, all of which take place in Room 407 of Motel Cactus, a love hotel in Seoul: (1.) A girl celebrates her birthday with her boyfriend, because it is the... See full summary »
Director: Ki-Yong Park | Stars: Lee Mi-yeon, Jin Hee-kyung, Jung Woo-sung, Shin-yang Park
Votes: 309
3. Pickpocket (1997)
Unrated | 108 min | Drama
A small town pickpocket whose friends have moved on to higher trades finds himself bitter and unable to adapt.
Director: Zhangke Jia | Stars: Hongwei Wang, Hongjian Hao, Baitao Zuo, Ma Jinrei
Votes: 3,298
4. Timeless Melody (1999)
95 min
Kawamoto works and lives in a dilapidated pool hall which also serves as a rehearsal space for him and his friend Chikako. They seem contented to while away their hours doing nothing much ... See full summary »
Director: Hiroshi Okuhara | Stars: Takuji Aoyagi, Mikako Ichikawa, Rei Fuchigami, Manabu Hamada
Votes: 24
5. The Day I Became a Woman (2000)
74 min | Comedy, Drama
A film comprised of three interconnected vignettes that depict women at three stages of life in Iran. The first part centers on a young girl on her ninth birthday who is told that she can ... See full summary »
Director: Marzieh Makhmalbaf | Stars: Fatemeh Cherag Akhar, Hassan Nebhan, Shahr Banou Sisizadeh, Ameneh Passand
Votes: 1,992 | Gross: $0.34M
6. Flower Island (2001)
115 min | Drama
Three women journey to an island rumored to have healing powers.
Director: Song Il-gon | Stars: Ju-hie Seo, Yu-jin Lim, Hye-na Kim, Son Byung-ho
Votes: 225
7. Jealousy Is My Middle Name (2002)
124 min | Drama, Romance
This award winning debut film from director Park chan-ok tells the story of a young graduate student who takes a job under false pretenses in order to get close to an editor at a magazine. ... See full summary »
Director: Chan-ok Park | Stars: Park Hae-il, Bae Jong-ok, Moon Sung-Keun, Seo Yeong-hie
Votes: 248
8. Tiladaanam (2002)
Not Rated | 89 min
The story of a poor Brahmin who is forced to take alms from so-called lower castes and the impact it has on him and his family from those around him.
Director: Sastry K.N.T. | Stars: H.G. Dattatreya, Jaya Sheela, Brahmaji, Tanikella Bharani
Votes: 26
9. The Missing (2003)
82 min | Drama
A grandmother is looking for her grandson, a teenager for his grandfather.
Director: Kang-sheng Lee | Stars: Yi-ching Lu, Chieh Chang, Miao Tien, Shiang-chyi Chen
Votes: 345
10. Tiny Snowflakes (2003)
80 min | Drama
Two men ward off loneliness and boredom while guarding a mine in rural Iran.
Director: Alireza Amini | Stars: Madjid Bahrami, Mohsen Tanabandeh
Votes: 58
11. Yeoja, Jeong-hye (2004)
99 min | Drama
This film is a restrained, yet thoroughly engaging, study of a female post office worker's emotional life.
Director: Yoon-ki Lee | Stars: Kim Ji-Soo, Hwang Jung-min, Kim Kkobbi, Kim Mi-seong
Votes: 602
12. Mang zhong (2005)
109 min | Drama
Cui, a young Korean mother living on the outskirts of Chinese society, has a husband in jail and a son to support. She barely makes a living selling kimchi to workers along the side of a ... See full summary »
Director: Lu Zhang | Stars: Lianji Liu, Bo Jin, Guangxuan Zhu, Tonghui Wang
Votes: 129
13. Binglang (2006)
112 min | Drama
Along a sleepy Hunan riverside, two delinquent boys experience a summer of love and violence. Ali and Xiao Yu are two teenage rebels idling away their days along the banks of a river in ... See full summary »
Director: Heng Yang | Stars: Qi Dai, Yi Gao, Yu Liang, Li Tian
Votes: 43
14. Love Conquers All (2006)
90 min | Drama, Romance
Ping leaves her hometown for Kuala Lumper to work with her aunt. During the counteless days of boredom, her niece shares with her conversations with a pen pal during the day, while a young ... See full summary »
Director: Chui Mui Tan | Stars: Coral Ong, Stephen Chua, Ho Chi Lai, Jiun Jiun
Votes: 133
15. Wonderful Town (2007)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama, Romance
After the tsunami struck the coast town of Takua Pa, young architect Ton moves in town to develop a construction project and settles in a small hotel run by Na, a young sensitive local girl... See full summary »
Director: Aditya Assarat | Stars: Anchalee Saisoontorn, Supphasit Kansen, Dul Yaambunying, Prateep Harnudomlap
Votes: 936
16. Life Track (2007)
99 min | Drama
A story about the relationships between the disabled man Xiangshu and a deaf-mute girl on the run from the police who takes refuge on his land.
Director: Guang-Hao Jin | Stars: Jing-Hu Chui, Su-yeon Jang
Votes: 21
17. Flower in the Pocket (2007)
97 min | Comedy, Drama
Two boys, Li Ahh and Li Ohm, grow up motherless. Their father, Sui, is a workaholic who shuts himself out of the world. The boys' quest to reach out to their father leads them to adopt a ... See full summary »
Director: Seng Tat Liew | Stars: Zi Jiang Wong, Ming Wei Lim, James Lee, Amira Nasuha
Votes: 192
18. Heosuabideuleui ddang (2008)
Not Rated | 80 min | Drama
(Korean with English subtitles) A loner, a gypsy-like character, Jiyoung Jang, is an amateur sculptor that lives a very isolated life. Rein, a Filipina, comes to Korea to earn money. She ... See full summary »
Director: Gyeong-tae Roh | Stars: Nellisa Arnado, Adelyn Bacon, Jocelyn Baculi, Phuong Thi Bich
Votes: 79
19. Naked of Defenses (2008)
88 min | Drama
Director: Masahide Ichii | Stars: Sanae Konno, Yûki Asama, Hayate Ichii, Naoko Kakinuma
Votes: 22
20. Kick Off (2009)
81 min | Drama
Inside a beat up stadium in Kirkuk, Iraq, live many refugees trying to escape Sadam Hussein's administration. Asu lives with his younger brother who has lost his legs from a landmine. Next ... See full summary »
Director: Shawkat Amin Korki | Stars: Shwan Attoof, Hamed Diyar, Hamajaga Hilin, Anwar Sako
Votes: 175
21. Nanneun gonkyeonge cheohaetda! (2009)
98 min | Drama
The main character's incessant loving and breaking up clearly illustrates the nature of a third rate poet. He is destined for predicaments, and we watch his journey. This paradox provides a true comedy hard to find nowadays.
Director: Sang-min So | Stars: Lee Eun-joo, Lee Hee-joon, Sang-kyeong Hwang, Seong-hyeon Hwang
Votes: 38
22. The Journals of Musan (2010)
Not Rated | 127 min | Drama
Jeon Seungchul's citizen registration number brands him as a North Korean defector. It is difficult to find a good job and it's hard to get along with people at church. He is not an ... See full summary »
Director: Park Jung-bum | Stars: Park Jung-bum, Jin Yong-wook, Eunjin Kang, Park Young-deok
Votes: 201
23. Bleak Night (2010)
PG-13 | 116 min | Drama
Three best friends, Ki-tae, Dong-yoon, and Hee-june; they thought their friendship would last forever. A few tiny cracks of distrust start to develop among these best friends. Ki-tae and ... See full summary »
Director: Yoon Sunghyun | Stars: Lee Jehoon, Park Jeong-min, Seo Jun-yeong, Shin Woon-seob
Votes: 1,310
24. Mourning (2011)
85 min | Drama
A violent quarrel breaks out between a couple at midnight. Being at a relative,s house in the north of Iran, they depart for Tehran in the middle of the night, but they do not bring along ... See full summary »
Director: Morteza Farshbaf | Stars: Kiomars Giti, Sharareh Pasha, Amir Hossein Maleki, Sahar Dolatshahi
Votes: 402
25. Niño (2011)
100 min | Drama
The Lopez-Aranza family are having hard times. The Villa Los Reyes Magos (The House of the Three Kings), their ancestral mansion which is the only remaining emblem of the past wealth and ... See full summary »
Director: Loy Arcenas | Stars: Fides Cuyugan-Asensio, Shamaine Buencamino, Tony Mabesa, Raquel Villavicencio
Votes: 13
26. 36 (2012)
68 min | Drama
A young location scout meets the art director of her project in a day they will keep in their memories for a while, each for their own reasons.
Directors: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, Ter Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit | Stars: Vajrasthira Koramit, Wanlop Rungkumjad, Puangpaka Aksornsawang, Puangsoi Aksornsawang
Votes: 645
27. Kayan (2012)
85 min | Drama, Music
Set in the heart of the Middle-Eastern community in modern-day Vancouver, Kayan is a multifarious story of belonging, loyalty and love. Hanin, a Lebanese independent single mother of two, ... See full summary »
Director: Maryam Najafi | Stars: Kayan Bennett, Seyhan Demir, Pirouz Ebadypour, Ghazal Emaminia
Votes: 21
28. Pascha (2013)
97 min | Drama
If a woman in her forties loves a 17-year old male that could also be forbidden.
Director: Sun-Kyeong Ahn | Stars: Ho-Jun Sung, Shin Yun-sook
29. Remote Control (III) (2013)
90 min | Drama, Family
A runaway living on a rooftop in Ulaanbaatar, Tsog survives by selling milk and retreating into his vivid imaginary world. When he notices a lonely woman living in the building next door, ... See full summary »
Director: Byamba Sakhya | Stars: Yondonjamts Bayan Ochir, Sodbileg Bayarsanaa, Ganbaatar Chagnaadorj, Baasandorj Enkhtaivan
Votes: 108
30. End of Winter (2014)
102 min | Drama
Upon the retirement of the father, who has been a teacher at Cheorwon Technical High School, mother, two sons and daughters-in-law gather in Cheorwon. The retirement ceremony is rather ... See full summary »
Director: Dae-hwan Kim | Stars: Moon Chang-gil, Yeong-ran Lee, Min-hyeok Kim, Lee Sang-hee
Votes: 47
31. Mamiroo (2015)
90 min | Comedy, Drama
Ayaz, a lonely seventy-year-old man, detests his life. He's constantly in search of ways of ending his life. Some years back, on the way back from a family wedding party, the minibus which ... See full summary »
Director: Hadi Mohaghegh | Stars: Yadollah Shadmani, Meysam Farhoumand, Fatemeh Bahador
Votes: 159
32. Walnut Tree (2015)
81 min | Comedy
A young couple from southern Kazakhstan plan to get married. But according to the local tradition, the groom ought to steal the future bride.
Director: Yerlan Nurmukhambetov | Stars: Balnur Asyl, Asylbek Musabekov, Rustem Zhanyamanov, Nurzhan Zhumanov
Votes: 37
33. The Donor (II) (2016)
105 min | Drama
A soon to be homeless, financially destitute, owner of a tire repair shop with many medical expenses turns for help to a rich man in need of an organ donor.
Director: Xichuan Zang | Stars: Zhang Chen, Zhang Han, Dahong Ni, Dao Qi
Votes: 6
34. Knife in the Clear Water (2016)
92 min | Drama
Ma Zishan (Yang Shengcang) is an aging Muslim farmer, part of the Hui minority. He and his family eke out an existence farming on an arid moonscape in China's northwest Ningxia province. ... See full summary »
Director: Xuebo Wang | Stars: Shengcang Yang, Shengcang Yang, Chenghua Li, Chengyou Li
Votes: 162
35. After My Death (2017)
113 min | Drama
My close friend is dead, and people swam around me for answers.
Director: Kim Uiseok | Stars: Jeon Yeo-been, Seo Young-hwa, Go Won-Hee, Taekyung Lee
Votes: 499
36. Blockage (2017)
82 min | Drama
A municipality employee uses his position to put his hands on other people's money to collect enough to buy a truck, while his wife threatens to abort their child if he does not buy a house with their savings.
Director: Mohsen Gharaie | Stars: Hamed Behdad, Baran Kosari, Mohsen Kiayee, Nader Fallah
Votes: 1,063
37. Clean Up (2018)
101 min | Drama
After losing her son, Jungjoo loses all hope in life, drinking and smoking her life away. She tries to overcome the pain by attending church and praying diligently to no avail. Then one day... See full summary »
Director: Manki Kwon | Stars: Yun Ji-hye, Kim Dae-geon, Su-hyeon Kim, Ga-young Kim
Votes: 109
38. Savage (2018)
Not Rated | 112 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Buried by treacherous conditions at the top of Mt. Baekdu, a policeman must brave the extreme weather until his transfer comes through. When a group of thieves stumbles into the station, both sides must fight for survival.
Director: Siwei Cui | Stars: Chang Chen, Ni Ni, Fan Liao, Jue Huang
Votes: 533 | Gross: $0.07M
39. Sharie Hayfa (2019)
79 min | Drama, Romance, War
2006, Baghdad is ravaged by sectarian violence. Haifa Street is the epicenter of the conflict. Ahmed gets dropped off there by a taxi on his way to his beloved Suad's home to ask for her ... See full summary »
Director: Mohanad Hayal | Stars: Asaad Abdul Majeed, Rudhab Ahmed, Marmar Alhilali, Iman Abdel Hassan
Votes: 181
40. Rom (2019)
79 min | Crime, Drama
Movie story revolves around the life, fate of street children, homeless, specializing in selling lottery results every afternoon.
Director: Tran Thanh Huy | Stars: Tran Anh Khoa, Anh Tu, Jayvee Mai The Hiep, Mai Tran
Votes: 635
41. Yûko no tenbin (2020)
153 min | Drama
While documenting a controversial tragedy that shook her community, a filmmaker must put her morals to the test when a perverse secret in her own life is revealed.
Director: Yûjirô Harumoto | Stars: Ryô Ikeda, Yumi Kawai, Yôta Kawase, Tomoki Kimura
Votes: 423
42. Three (2020)
112 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Soviet Kazakhstan in 1979. Sher becomes an intern in a team led by the competent Soviet investigator Snegirev. The team is chasing a cannibalistic serial killer. The authorities order the ... See full summary »
Director: Ruslan Pak | Stars: Zhandos Aibassov, Askar Ilyasov, Sherkhan Pirnazarov, Nurzhan Sadybekov
Votes: 79
43. The Apartment with Two Women (2021)
140 min | Crime, Drama
Yi-jung is in her late twenties and still lives with her mother. Having raised her daughter alone, Su-kyung is now ready to start a new life with her fiancé and leave the past behind. Not ... See full summary »
Director: Kim Se-in | Stars: Ji-ho Lym, Yang Mal-bok
Votes: 92
44. Zai jian, le yuan (2021)
83 min | Drama
The difficult lives of the three generations of women are overlapped in lyrical and poetic images.
Director: Erzhuo Wang | Stars: Yu He He, Wang Xi Yao, Feng Jie Zeng
Votes: 10
45. A Wild Roomer (2022)
136 min | Drama
Gi Hong is a carpenter who makes his living by taking on small interior work. He has become close to the young landlord and his wife and spends more time hanging out with them. Meanwhile, small but strange things happen to Gi Hong.
Director: Jeong-Hong Lee | Stars: Gi-hong Park, Joomin Ahn, Jeon-gil Kim, Kyung-June Choi
Votes: 54
46. Shivamma (2022)
104 min | Drama
Shivamma (46) is a mid-day meal cook in a village government school and the sole breadwinner. Her family is in the process of finding a groom for her daughter. Shivamma has her own affair running alongside.
Director: Jaishankar Aryar | Stars: Sharanamma Chetti, Chennamma Abbegere
Votes: 25
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