Just as the 'number of core brands' symbolizes the competitiveness of a company, the 'number of world premiere movies' represents the prestige of a film festival. Compared to the 1st BIFF in which only ten movies held their world premieres (the very first public showing of a film in the world), the 19th BIFF saw 132 movies make their debut. This ten-fold growth shows how much confidence the world's famous directors have in the BIFF.

The Chinese film held its successful world premiere at this year's BIFF. This movie, a coming-of-age story of two girls, is Director Li Xiaofeng (李霄峰)'s debut film. The movie received an enthusiastic response and was invited to feature at other film festivals after only its first showing. BIFF's programmers obviously have highly discerning eyes and a sophisticated perspective in choosing films fit to make their world premiere, contributing to the ever-growing fame of the BIFF.

Although the number of world premiere at the BIFF is not yet as high as that of Cannes, it is expected to increase every year as the BIFF goes from strength to strength.

The BIFF is a non-competitive festival with very few competition sections. By contrast, all the official selections of the Cannes Film Festival are for competition and only some sections are not.

Although non-competitive film festivals attract less global media attention than competitive ones, they provide the audience with a better chance to be engaged actively. The BIFF is one of the film festivals where audience participation is the highest. The festival attracts not only people from Busan, but also movie lovers from across Korea as well as international visitors. It is quite different from competitive festivals, in which film screenings are restricted to limited participants.

Many directors and actors visit the BIFF to listen to the diverse feedback to the movies. The festival, being non-competitive, is free from the intervention of movie investors and the media. The growth of BIFF is in large part thanks to the support of audiences and that non-competitive nature allowed the general audience to participate actively.

The BIFF's Wide Angle section is dedicated to actively introducing documentary films, animations and short films. Since the BIFF focuses more on art films rather than mass-market films, it presents independent films frequently to support the directors who struggle to get investment. The BIFF has served as a gateway introducing Korean independent films that have had difficulties in finding distributors, such as Bleak Night/Pasuggun by Yoon Sung-hyun and The King of Jokgu by Woo Moon-gi.

Jung Sung-il, the film critic, once proclaimed Director Im Kwon-taek as the "young man with the most innovative production in Korea." Im's latest masterwork, , is based on the original novel by Kim Hoon. He depicts the anxiety and lust of a middle-aged man with a highly elaborate technique. Ahn Sung-ki plays the main character, a successful executive at a cosmetics company. You could also see the company scenes taken at innisfree office in Korea!

This film won the Palme d'Or at the 67th Cannes Film Festival, although it divided critics and the press. The movie is an insightful and mesmerizing portrait of human selfishness. Having said that, it can test the audience's patience with its three-hour long running time. Although there are some stunning scenes, the movie can be easily criticized for the way that most scenes are similar to the director's previous works.

While the movie is a biography covering his entire life, this film by Bertrand Bonello centers on several years when Yves' life deteriorated in a plethora of drugs and giving into temptation. The movie has an exquisite mise-en-scène and a stunning plot, just like the director's previous works. In addition, you can experience the master's artistic endeavor expanding the artist's finite life to an infinite scale.