Zhang Yimou to Head Busan Film Festival Jury

As of September 17, 2026, Busan International Film Festival has officially unveiled the seven-member jury who will lead its competition section. Chinese director Zhang Yimou takes the helm, joined by six other film professionals including South Korean director Jung Joo-ri and actress Choi Hee-seo. Together they'll pick winners from this year's 13 competition entries.

13 filmsFilms in this year's competition lineup

7 membersSize of the competition jury

110M KRW (~$81,000)Total prize money across the Busan Award categories

10 daysLength of the 31st festival

Key points

Busan's competition jury numbers seven in total, chaired by Zhang Yimou.
Zhang Yimou has won the top prize at all three major European festivals — Berlin, Venice, and Cannes.
South Korea is represented by director Jung Joo-ri, whose films — including new release 'Dora' — have all been invited to Cannes, plus actress Choi Hee-seo, who also directs and produces.
The festival opens in early October and runs for ten days across venues in Busan.

The Busan International Film Festival office has confirmed the lineup of judges who will decide this year's competition winners. Chair Zhang Yimou made his name on the world stage early in his career, and his filmography includes top prizes from all three major European festivals. His task now: assess the 13 films vying for honors in competition.

The jury draws evenly from across Asia's film industry. Chinese director Bi Gan previously won an arts prize for an earlier work, Kazakh actress Samal Yeslyamova holds a Cannes Best Actress win, and Japanese director Ishikawa Kei has swept multiple categories at Japan's Academy Awards.

Two Korean figures round out the panel. Director Jung Joo-ri has an unusual distinction: every film she's made, from her feature debut through new release 'Dora,' has been invited to Cannes. Choi Hee-seo has built a career spanning acting, short-film directing, and producing, including a film she produced that's screening this year. Vietnamese producer Tran Thi Bich Ngoc, who runs a program discovering emerging Southeast Asian filmmakers, completes the lineup.

Organizers say the mix of directors, actors, and a producer is what defines this jury. The Busan Award they'll decide is split into five categories including the grand prize, with total prize money in the hundreds of millions of won (roughly $81,000). The competition section, which launched last year, is now in its second edition as part of the festival's 31st edition overall.

The festival itself opens in early October and runs about ten days around the Busan Cinema Center. After a smooth debut year for the competition section, there's a sense among observers that this year's lineup has stepped up in quality.

In Korea right nowIn Korea, attention is focused on having both a homegrown director and actress named to an international jury. Fans have responded warmly to the selection of Jung Joo-ri, a Cannes regular, and Choi Hee-seo, who's expanded well beyond acting. The fact that Asian cinema titan Zhang Yimou is coming to Busan is generating buzz in its own right.