Three Jurors to Discover Talented Directors to Lead the Asian Film Industry
The Kim Jiseok Award was established in 2017 to honor the late Kim Jiseok, who devotes his life to discovering new Asian directors and supporting the growth of the Asian film industry. Two films will be selected from A Window on Asian Cinema section that introduces new and breakout films by Asian directors; each film will be awarded USD 10,000.
The jurors for the Kim Jiseok Award at the 25th Busan International Film Festival are Zhao Tao, Jung Sung-il and Mouly Surya.
Zhao Tao is a Chinese actress and producer. Zhao won David di Donatello for Best Actress for her performance in Shun Li and the Poet (2012), the first Asian actress to do so. Zhao also produced Useless (2007), which won the Horizons Award for Best Documentary at the 64th Venice International Film Festival, and Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue (2020) which competed at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival.
Jung Sung-il, the film critic and director, launched a monthly film magazine Kino in 1995 and served as the editor-in-chief, in addition to publishing two volumes of film criticism. His debut film Cafe Noir (2009) premiered at the 14th Busan International Film Festival and the 66th Venice International Film Festival.
Mouly Surya won numerous awards locally and internationally on her directorial debut Fiksi (2008). Her latest film Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (2017) premiered at the 70th Cannes Film Festival at the Directors’ Fortnight and theatrically released in 14 countries including the United States and Canada.
[Kim Jiseok Award Jurors Biography]
■ ZHAO Tao
Actress / China
Zhao Tao is a Chinese actress and producer. Graduating from the Folk Dance Department of Beijing Dance Academy, Zhao started her acting career with Jia Zhang-ke’s Platform (2000). In 2006, she starred in Still Life (2006), which won the Golden Lion at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival. Zhao won David di Donatello for Best Actress for her performance in Shun Li and the Poet (2012), the first Asian actress to do so. She appeared in most of director Jia Zhang-ke’s works, such as A Touch of Sin (2013), Mountains May Depart (2015), and Ash is Purest White (2018). She served on the jury for the 7th Rome International Film Festival and the 22nd Shanghai International Film Festival. Zhao also produced Useless (2007), which won the Horizons Award for Best Documentary at the 64th Venice International Film Festival, and Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue which competed at the 2020 Berlinale.
■ JUNG Sung-il
Critic, Director / Korea
Jung Sung-il is a South Korean film critic and director. He launched a monthly film magazine Kino in 1995 and served as the editor-in-chief, in addition to publishing two volumes of film criticism. His debut film Cafe Noir (2009) premiered at the 14th Busan International Film Festival and the 66th Venice International Film Festival, while his documentary following the Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing, Night and Fog in Zona (2017), screened at the 20th Busan International Film Festival and the 45th International Film Festival Rotterdam. Jung’s two documentaries on filmmaker Im Kwon-taek entitled Gravity of the Tea (2018) and Cloud, Encore (2018) were invited to the 23rd Busan International Film Festival.
■ Mouly SURYA
Director / Indonesia
Mouly Surya has won numerous awards locally and internationally on her directorial debut Fiksi (2008). Her latest film Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (2017) premiered at the 70th Cannes Film Festival at the Directors’ Fortnight and theatrically released in 14 countries including the United States and Canada. The film was also Indonesia’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards.
[Kim Jiseok Award Nominees from A Window on Asian Cinema Selection]
| Title | Director | Country |
| 18 Kilohertz | Farkhat SHARIPOV | Kazakhstan |
| A’hr | Sanal Kumar SASIDHARAN | India |
| All the Things We Never Said | ISHII Yuya | Japan |
| BITTERSWEET | Ananth NARAYAN MAHADEVAN | India |
| Drowning in Holy Water | Navid MAHMOUDI | Afghanistan/Iran |
| The Slaughterhouse | Abbas AMINI | Iran |
Press release provided by Busan International Film Festival.
VIEW OF THE ARTS 