BISFF launched in 1980 as a domestic event under the name ‘Korean Short Film Festival’ with the aim of discovering talented film professionals and fostering a filmmaking-friendly environment. It has introduced various kinds of films, including 8mm and independent films made by students and general audience. It earned a reputation of fairness by selecting socially-conscious films during Korea’s military dictatorship era. Many of these young talents have grown into established filmmakers and leaders of the filmmaking industry.

Our festival evolved over the years and renamed itself ‘Busan Asian Short Film Festival’ in 2000 as it extended its horizon abroad, accepted entries from foreign countries and introduced excellent Asian filmmakers to local audiences — a first at the time in Korea.

Eventually, BISFF became the ‘Busan International Short Film Festival’ in 2010 and expanded to the world of films beyond Asia. It continues to present the latest tendencies in short-filmmaking from Korea and abroad, and to be a meeting place between short films, cineastes and audiences.

In recent years, BISFF has become a member of the Short Film Conference and of the NETPAC — Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema. In 2018, it became South Korea’s first Oscar®-qualifying festival, each year providing one Korean filmmaker and one foreign filmmaker with the opportunity to submit their films for consideration to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences.

In addition to the competitive sections, various curated sections lets the audience see the worldwide trends in short-filmmaking and guess its future. Furthermore, by showing experimental films, animations and documentaries, BISFF intends to break away from the viewing conventions of fiction-oriented movies and to satisfy those craving for more varied forms of story-telling.

A pioneer among International short film festivals in Asia, BISFF wants to remain a window for Korean and Asian shorts to the world, and vice-versa.