13th Busan International Film Festival

The 13th Pusan International Film Festival took place on October 2 to 10, 2008 in Busan, South Korea. A total of 315 films from 60 countries were screened at the festival.

The event opened with The Gift to Stalin by Kazakh director Rustem Abdrashev. South Korean Yoon Jong-chan's I Am Happy closed the festival. The event held 827 screenings and was attended by 198,818 people.

New Currents

 * Anna Karina, Danish-French actress, Head Juror
 * Samira Makhmalbaf, Iranian director
 * Santosh Sivan, Indian director
 * Lee Hwa-si, South Korean actress
 * Karl Baumgartner, German film producer

BIFF Mecenat Award

 * Ahn Jung-sook, former director of Korean Film Council
 * Jean-Pierre Rehm, head of Marseille Festival of Documentary Film
 * Zhang Xian-min, Chinese film professor

Sonje Award

 * Kim-Jho Gwangsoo, Korean film producer
 * Roger Gonin, French director
 * Calida Uabumrungjit, Thai project director

NETPAC Award

 * Mohamed Atebbai, Iranian film critic
 * Jeannette Paulson Hereniko, former Hawaii International Film Festival director
 * Edward Delos Santos Cabagnot, programmer of Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival

FIPRESCI Award

 * Elise Domenach, French film critic
 * Hynek Pallas, Swedish film critic
 * Dubravka Lakić, Serbian film critic
 * Bitopan Borborah Rinju, Indian film critic
 * Shin Kang-ho, South Korean film critic

Awards

 * New Currents Award: Land of Scarecrows by Roh Gyeong-tae (South Korea/France) and Naked of Defenses by Masahide Ichii (Japan)
 * Special Mention: Members of the Funeral by Baek Seung-bin (South Korea) and Er Dong by Jin Yang (China)
 * BIFF Mecenat Award: Mental by Soda Kazuhiro (Japan/United States) and Old Partner by Lee Chung-ryoul (South Korea)
 * Sonje Award: Andong by Rommel Tolentino (Philippines) and Girl by Hong Sung-hoon (South Korea)
 * NETPAC Award: Members of the Funeral by Baek Seung-bin (South Korea) and Treeless Mountain by So Yong Kim (United States/South Korea)
 * FIPRESCI Award: Jalainur by Zhao Ye (China)
 * KNN Award: 100 by Chris Martinez (Philippines)
 * The Asian Filmmaker of the Year: Gulnara Sarsenova
 * Korean Cinema Award: Richard Peña