Documentary filmmakers will compete for a new honor at this fall’s 29th . The influential South Korean festival said Monday that its upcoming edition will inaugurate an audience award for feature documentaries. The fest described the decision as an effort to cultivate deeper interest among the local audience for the documentary form.
The prize will be given to a single documentary feature competing within the festival’s long-established “Wide Angle – Documentary” section. It will be decided by a popular vote — “in recognition of popular and artistic appeal” — and comes with a 10 million Korean won cash prize. Busan previously featured just two audience awards, one in the New Currents category and another in the Flash Forward section, which showcase the first or second features of filmmakers from Asian and non-Asian backgrounds, respectively.
“By bringing the audience closer to documentary films, this award hopes to promote and popularize documentary filmmaking and further support Korean and Asian filmmakers in pursuing their creative endeavors,” the Korean festival said in a statement. The 29th Busan Film Festival will take place Oct 2-11, with the industry-focussed 19th Asian Contents & Film Market running in parallel Oct. 5-8.
Long considered ‘s most influential film festival, the event is trying to turn the page on a prolonged period of behind-the-scenes turmoil. The past two years have seen a sweeping set of leadership changes, including the resign.