Indian cinema is set to get a strong presence at the 31st Busan International Film Festival, with films from several Indian filmmakers selected across different sections of the prestigious event.
Indian Films Selected For A Window On Asian Cinema
Rima Das' Not A Hero, Anuparna Roy's Lovers in the Blue Light, Leo Thaddeus' The Soul Whisperer and Vishwendra Singh's Khoriya have been selected for A Window on Asian Cinema, a non-competitive section that showcases notable films from across Asia.
Sahil Shah's Birds on Ice and Sandeep Kumar Paul's About an Intimate Matter are also part of the section and will have their world premiere at the festival.
Rima Das, known for films such as Village Rockstars, Bulbul Can Singh and Tora's Husband, is returning to Busan with Not A Hero. The coming-of-age drama follows a young boy who moves from the city to a village. Her film Village Rockstars 2 previously premiered at Busan and won the Kim Jiseok Award.
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Anuparna Roy To Join Busan Jury
Anuparna Roy, who became the first Indian filmmaker to win the Best Director award at the Venice Film Festival for her debut film Songs of Forgotten Trees in the Orizzonti Competition, will present her new film Loves in the Blue Night at Busan. The film has also been selected for Venice.
Roy will also be part of the shorts jury at Busan.
Leo Thaddeus' Film To Have World Premiere
Thaddeus' Malayalam feature Chevittorma, also known as The Soul Whisperer, stars Dileesh Pothan and Pauly Valsan. Thaddeus said the film explores a slower and more intimate style of storytelling. It is produced by Stephen Zacharias, Aditya Grover and Harsh Agarwal.
Khoriya And Other Indian Films
Vishwendra Singh's Khoriya is a Nepali-Hindi drama about two half-brothers running a poultry farm near the NCR during a bird flu outbreak. Produced by Niharika Singh, Faraz Khan and Prayas Deepti, the film has Ashim Ahluwalia as executive producer and won a post-production grant at the NFDC Waves Film Bazaar 2025 Work in Progress Lab.
Selvi by Sailesh Rathnakumar and Shashank Walia's Birds in the Dark are selected for Vision Asia. Anjali Patil produces and stars in Selvi, while Birds in the Dark, titled Hanere de Panchi in Punjabi, is produced by Hansal Mehta and co-produced by Sahil Saigal, Reema Kaur, Mauli Singh and Gagan Deep Kaur. Mauli also stars in the film.
Promita Dhar's Salt Electric has been selected for the Wide Angle: Asian Short Film Competition.
Busan International Film Festival Dates
The 31st Busan International Film Festival will be held from October 6 to 15, 2026, at the Busan Cinema Centre in Busan, South Korea.
(With PTI inputs)
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