The Busan International Film Festival marked its 31st edition Tuesday with one of its most star-laden opening ceremonies in recent memory, drawing Fan Bingbing, Michelle Yeoh, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alfonso Cuarón, Kore-eda Hirokazu, Lee Chang-dong, Na Hong-jin, and a roll call of Asian cinema’s finest to the port city for a night that mixed Hollywood glamour with homegrown pride.

Busan Mayor Park Chun Jae-soo declared the festival open, delivering his first opening-night address as mayor. “I declare the opening of the 31st Busan International Film Festival” he said, after urging international guests to catch what he called “Busan sickness” – the irresistible desire, he said, to keep returning to the city.

Festival director Jung Hanseok, in his second year leading the event, framed the edition around a single question the programming team kept returning to during selection: “What does Busan call a good film?” The answer, he said, was 13 competition titles chosen from thousands of submissions as the most honest portraits of contemporary Asian life. The stakes are considerable: BIFF is the only Asia-based festival among the six worldwide whose competition Grand Prize winner qualifies for Academy Award consideration in the International Feature Film category, joining Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Sundance, and Toronto in that designation. Jung also took time to thank the festival’s staff, Busan’s citizens, and filmmakers worldwide for their support through what he described as a period of difficult challenges.

Zhang Yimou – who once spent seven years as a factory worker before submitting a self-made photo album to win a place at film school despite being over the age limit – is serving as jury president of the competition. Jung welcomed him to the stage to address the audience. “In an age of rapidly advancing AI and increasingly democratized filmmaking, making a good film is becoming more and more difficult,” Zhang said. “To put it in terms of Chinese philosophy, filmmaking depends on hard work, but even more on luck.”

Joining Zhang on the seven-member jury are Chinese director Bi Gan, Japanese director Kei Ishikawa, South Korean actor Moon Choi, South Korean director July Jung, Vietnamese producer Tran Thi Bich Ngoc, and Kazakh actor Samal Yeslyamova. Zhang said: “As you can see, four of our seven jurors are outstanding women working in film. That represents a step forward. I’m sure working together will spark many exciting exchanges.”

Ann Hui received the Camellia Award, an honor established in 2024 by BIFF in partnership with Chanel that recognizes film professionals who push boundaries and advance the status of women in cinema. “From my first visit to BIFF in 1996 to standing on this stage today receiving such a meaningful award, this gives me even more motivation to keep making films,” Hui said.

Michelle Yeoh received the Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award, presented with an introduction by Choi Min-sik that recalled her history-making 2023 Academy Award win for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – the first Asian performer to claim the best actress prize. In her acceptance speech, Yeoh said: “It is a tremendous honor to receive the Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award here at the Busan International Film Festival.” She addressed Hui in her remarks: “You have spent nearly five decades capturing the quiet dignity of ordinary lives, while forging a path for generations of women behind the camera. Congratulations on the Camellia Award. It is so deeply deserved.”

“A story can travel across the world, and I especially want to thank the films that have changed me,” Yeoh said. “Busan has become an important global gathering for cinema, bringing East and West together.”

“Above all, I want to thank every member of the audience,” she added. “Each of you who sits in the dark, gives your time and a little piece of your heart – you complete the film.”

The evening also saw founding figure Kim Dong-ho receive the Korean Cinema Award from festival chair Park Kwang-su and festival director Jung. Kim, who co-founded the festival in 1996 and raised nearly the entire budget for its inaugural edition single-handedly, also secured the abolition of censorship for films screened at that first edition. “I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the citizens of Busan and the filmmakers both across Korea and internationally who, over the past 31 years leading up to where I stand today, have actively participated in, cherished, and supported the Busan International Film Festival,” Kim said.

On the red carpet, Fan Bingbing’s arrival generated some of the night’s loudest buzz, while Gainsbourg represented European art-house credibility alongside Cuarón and Jonas Cuaron. Lee Chang-dong walked the carpet alongside the four lead cast members of his new film “Possible Love.” Other talent present included “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae, director Fukada Koji presenting “Nagi Notes,” Dileesh Pothen for “Soul Whisperers,” and Anjali Patil for “Selvi.”

“Pachinko” star Kim Minha, who is also in the festival opening film “The Table: Day and Night,” hosted the evening’s proceedings.

The 31st Busan International Film Festival runs through Oct. 15.