Busan Film Commission to Host ‘FLY Reunion 2026’ Inviting 11 ASEAN Filmmakers

The Busan Film Commission will hold ‘FLY Reunion 2026’, the first program of the Korea-ASEAN film cooperation project ‘FLY PLUS’, in Busan from October 9 to 14. This is a three-year project jointly hosted and organized by Busan Metropolitan City and the Busan Film Commission, with support from the Korea-ASEAN Cooperation Fund.

The event will feature 11 filmmakers from 11 ASEAN countries who completed the FLY program from 2012 to 2025. Attendees include director Kandalung Moni from Cambodia and director Pye Zaw Phyo from Myanmar, while director Betty Reis from Timor-Leste will participate as an observer. Director Betty Reis co-directed Timor-Leste's first feature film, ‘Beatriz’s War’.

Participants will attend the Busan International Film Festival and the ACFM, and will participate in a networking program on October 11 at the Busan Film Commission joint booth at ACFM. On the 13th, a Busan film and video location tour, an alumni roundtable, and a special lecture are scheduled. During the roundtable, they will discuss film industry trends, the production environments of each country, and ways to cooperate among alumni. Kim Young-woo, the Asia region programmer for the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, will give a lecture on the theme of international film festivals and the film industry.

This event focuses not only on alumni sharing their experiences and projects but also on establishing a foundation that leads to co-production cooperation. The actual cooperative results are expected to depend on whether the exchanges between participants lead to the development of follow-up projects.

The ‘FLY Creative Lab 2026’, an ASEAN feature film project development project, is also underway. In the open call held from August 23 to September 6, 109 entries were received, and judging is currently underway to select a total of 11 works, one from each country. The selected works will participate in ‘LAB1’ to be held in Brunei in December after undergoing online consulting from Korean and ASEAN film industry experts.