Actor Son Ye-jin was selected as this year’s Actor Retrospective for the 28th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (Bifan), the festival organizer said Monday.

The 28th Bifan will hold its opening ceremony on July 4 at the Bucheon Art Center in Gyeonggi and be held in various parts of the city through July 14. The Actor Retrospective exhibition will run in tandem with the festival.

The retrospective, titled “One and Only Son Ye-jin,” will showcase Son’s 23-year career as an actor, including various events such as releasing a booklet to celebrate the actor’s career, a photo exhibition, a screening of the actor's films and a talk session.

“I am overwhelmed to be honored with the retrospective following my esteemed senior actor colleagues,” Son said in a press release Monday. “Thank you for creating such a glorious moment in my life as an actor.”

Bifan has been choosing actors who represent the contemporary Korean film scene for its Actor Retrospective since 2017. Actors Jeon Do-yeon, Jung Woo-sung, Kim Hye-soo, Seol Kyung-gu and Choi Min-sik were previously selected as the leading actors in the Korean film scene by Bifan for the actor retrospective exhibition.

“Actor Son is a representative actor of the 21st century with unrivaled charm who broke away from stereotypes and built her own character, covering all genres throughout cinema and TV," Bifan programmer Mo Eun-young said. "It will be an opportunity to discover the depth of her acting world, in which she has shown a new face every time through her passionate performance regardless of the type of film and genre."

This year, the festival plans to newly address the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in the filmmaking scene and explore future solutions for the industry, while maintaining its slogan “Stay Strange.”

Following its new initiative, the festival added a new competition section, dubbed “Bucheon Choice AI Film,” and will invite leading professionals in AI film production to speak at a conference, according to the festival.

"This year, Bifan will provide an informative, experiential platform for creators who have difficulty accessing funds for big productions to utilize AI to produce content with minimal budgets," the festival director Shin Chul said. “Based on Bifan's experience and international networking, which have supported the exhibition and production of new media such as VR, AR and XR for many years, we aim to expand opportunities for discovering and educating young talents.”

To find out more about Son Ye-jin, visit Celeb Confirmed!


BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]