A large French delegation at BIFAN, Asia's leading genre film festival

30 JUNE 2026

The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN), Asia’s largest genre film festival, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and has announced an ambitious lineup of 321 films from more than 50 countries. The festival will take place from July 2 to July 12, and its industry program, BIFAN+, will run from July 3 to July 7.

The French selection is extensive, with 23 works presented across all sections: 12 feature films, three short films, and eight immersive works.

Marion Le Corroller's film Sanguine, following its world premiere at a midnight screening in Cannes, will represent France in the Bucheon Choice World feature film competition. It is joined by two minority-French produced films: Nightborn and Zsazsa Zaturnnah (also presented at Annecy this year).

The new, non-competitive strand Signature will feature Stronger Than the Devil by Graham Guit (starring Melvil Poupaud, Asia Argento, and Marine Vacth, among others), as well as Full Phil by Quentin Dupieux and the minority-French co-production Sleep No More.

Also screening: Flush by Grégory Morin in the B Extrem strand, and, in Fanta-scape, The Better Me by Nicolas Charlet and Bruno Lavaine, along with No One Knows (a minority-French production).

Also worth noting is the first-ever special French Time in Philosophical Sci-Fi section, featuring screenings of classics of French genre cinema: The Fantastic Planet by René Laloux, Le Dernier Combat (The Last Battle) by Luc Besson, The City of Lost Children by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and After Blue (Paradis Sale) by Bertrand Mandico.

In the short film category, the selections include The Last Snow by Rodolphe Bouquet-Populus—also presentedd at the Gérardmer Film Festival and nominated for the 2026 Unifrance Short Film Awards—as well as The Spectacle and Bleat! (two minority-French co-productions).

In addition to feature films and short films, a major immersive strand—Beyond Reality—has also been included for several years. This year it features three selected works as well as a major retrospective of five immersive works by François Vautier.

Last but not least, this year, a new section has been launched, entirely dedicated to short-form works created using AI and featuring exclusively Asian films.

On the industry and delegation front

In addition, the Festival’s industry activities, Bifan+, consist of several components, including the Network of Asian Fantastic Films Project Market (NAFF, a pitch and WIP market), and the Fantastic Film School.

Three French projects will be presented at NAFF during a pitch session, and a French mentor will be guiding the students at the Fantastic Film School. The CNC will also present an award at NAFF on the evening of the 7th.

The French delegation, which has been growing in recent years, will be further strengthened this summer to mark the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and South Korea, thanks to the combined support of the CNC, the Ambassade de France, and Unifrance.

This year, the delegation will include about fifteen artists and professionals covering the festival’s various sections as well as BIFAN+.