Busan Film Market has added a new documentary unit, and Im Si-wan will host the closing ceremony

The Asian Content and Film Market, a subsidiary of the Busan International Film Festival, announced the arrangements for the documentary section in 2026.The event called Doc Square will be held from October 10 to 13 and will involve eight partner organizations from five countries. The goal is to allow Asian documentary creators to communicate directly with film festival selectors, distribution companies and industry figures.

This program was launched last year to provide creators with production support and distribution strategy assistance for Asian documentary projects that are still in production.The core part of this year is the exhibition of documentary projects in production, which is arranged within the Asian Documentary Network Fund system under the Asian Film Fund.

Institutions from South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines will join the collaboration.Newstapa Foundation and Japan's J-Docs Hub are new partners this year, while Taiwan Documentary Agency, Taiwan Creative Content Agency, Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Agency, Docs by the Sea and the Philippine Film Development Council continue to participate.

A total of 16 documentaries still in production will be proposed to film festival selectors, sales companies and distributors on October 10th and 11th.For the project team, these two days are mainly about establishing the industry contacts needed to complete the work and subsequent distribution. The market has not announced a detailed list of each work.

Two new prizes will be added next to the showcase event.The Impact Asia Awards will be awarded to three projects, each receiving US$5,000.The Newstapa Award selects a project, provides 10 million won in funding, and gives the winner the opportunity to produce a 60-minute version, which will be broadcast on the Newstapa Foundation website and YouTube channel.

The results of the awards will be announced at the Asian Content and Film Market Awards Ceremony on October 13.The market will also host Impact Day for the first time, where the event will focus on discussing the impact that the documentary will have on society.Cases from South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan will be compiled into an 80-page report and provided on site.

The Korean part of the study covered approximately 2,800 works from 1988 to 2025, and also collected questionnaires from 88 creators and interviews with 19 industry professionals.The Taiwan case will look back at the process of a documentary moving from theatrical screening to education and public screening, while the Japanese case will study how a documentary with outstanding box office performance built audience relationships through small theaters, film festivals and independent screenings.

The event also features sessions on co-production, film festival strategy and fundraising.A documentary film festival fund dialogue will be held on October 10, inviting film festival selectors and fund directors from different regions to participate.The current status of documentary co-production is divided into Asian topics and Korean topics, scheduled for October 10th and 11th respectively.

The Busan International Film Festival also confirmed that Im Si-wan will host the closing ceremony of the 31st Film Festival alone, and the Busan Awards will be presented on site.Im Si-wan made his debut in the TV series "The Moon Embracing the Sun" in 2012. The following year, he entered the big screen through the movie "The Defender", and then appeared in "Misheng" - "The Buhan Party" - "Running" - "Boyhood" and other film and television works.

The 31st Busan International Film Festival will be held at the Busan Film Center and various locations across the city from October 6 to 15, with the Asian Content and Film Market scheduled from October 10 to 13.The documentary unit, display of projects in progress, new awards and arrangements for the closing ceremony host constitute several major updates that have been made public this time.