The 31st Busan International Film Festival kicked off Tuesday night as Asia's largest film festival builds on its growing global stature.

The 31st Busan International Film Festival opened Tuesday night with a ceremony held at the Busan Cinema Center in the southeastern port city. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI UPI Actress Michelle Yeoh walks the red carpet at the BIFF opening ceremony. She later received the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI UPI Cinephiles line up to buy tickets on the opening day of the Busan International Film Festival Tuesday. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI UPI Movie fans pose for photos after buying tickets at BIFF. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI UPI Festival-goers walk past a row of digital posters outside the Busan Cinema Center Tuesday. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI UPI Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron (R) waves to the crowd as he enters the BIFF opening ceremony. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI UPI The Busan International Film Festival was designated as an “A-list festival" by a prominent global organization this year. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI UPI Film fans line up to enter a viewing area ahead of BIFF's opening ceremony Tuesday. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI UPI

BUSAN, South Korea, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- The 31st Busan International Film Festival kicked off with a star-studded opening ceremony Tuesday night as Asia's largest film festival builds on its growing global stature.

The annual event runs through Oct. 15 and features 247 films from 59 countries in its official selection, including 93 world premieres, marking its largest lineup since 2019.

The opening ceremony, hosted by actress Kim Min-ha, featured a who's who of Korean performers and filmmakers on the red carpet alongside international luminaries such as Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron and Chinese actress Fan Bingbing.

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Malaysian superstar Michelle Yeoh, who became the first Asian woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2023, received the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award.

The star power extends across the festival's 10-day run, with actress and director Maggie Gyllenhaal and French screen favorites Isabelle Huppert and Charlotte Gainsbourg also making the trip to Busan.

Following the launch of its flagship Competition section in 2025, BIFF gained recognition this year from the International Federation of Film Producers Associations as an "A-list festival."

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also designated the Busan Award for Best Film as a qualifying award for international feature film consideration, giving eligible winners a route to the Oscars.

BIFF joins Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Sundance and Toronto under the expanded eligibility rules.

This year's Competition brings together 13 films, including three entries from South Korea: Lim Hayeon's Beach Fictions, Kim Jung-hoon's horror film Shaving and Youm Kyubock's animated feature Long Long Night.

Other entries include Iranian director Majid Majidi's Midday Meal, Between Two Lovers by Japanese filmmaker Hirose Nanako and Chinese director Gu You's The First Taste of Loneliness.

A seven-member jury led by Chinese director Zhang Yimou will select the Busan Award winners across five categories.

Festival director Jung Hanseok told UPI that the success of last year's inaugural Competition quickly built confidence among leading Asian filmmakers.

"As we prepared this year's edition, we were pleased to see that the filmmakers behind the kind of top-level films we hope to attract were approaching the Competition much more proactively and positively than they did last year," Jung said.

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"These 13 films should not simply be a collection of titles," he said. "Together, they should represent the leading edge of Asian cinema today."

At the same time, the Busan fest is holding onto its roots as a showcase for emerging talent. Its Vision competition spotlights Asian independent cinema, with works by debut directors alongside new offerings from established filmmakers.

This year's Vision lineup features 24 films, divided equally between Asian and Korean selections, most of them world premieres.

The festival's opening film, The Table: Day and Night, by director Kim Jong-kwan, also reflects BIFF's long-established arthouse sensibility. The 80-minute feature, which had its world premiere Tuesday evening, is a quiet, character-driven romantic drama following four separate vignettes set in the same cafe.

Its ensemble cast includes Kim Min-ha, Joo Jong-hyuk, Han Sun-hwa, Shim Eun-kyung and Lee Hee-jun.

Away from the screenings, filmmakers and stars will meet audiences at open talks, master classes and "Actors' House" conversations. Participants include director Lee Chang-dong and the cast of his Possible Love, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Venice, as well as actresses Kim Go-eun, Kim Min-ha and Shin Min-a.

Highlights across BIFF's Korean lineup include July Jung's Dora, screening in Gala Presentation; the family drama Cattle Run; psychological crime thriller Sapiens; and Still Shining, marking actress Kim Hye-ja's return to the big screen after nine years.

The festival comes amid a recent box office resurgence in South Korea, driven largely by domestic films. Revenue rebounded in the first half of 2026 after several difficult years, rising 41.9% from a year earlier.

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Streaming series will also get their turn in the spotlight at BIFF. The festival's On Screen section features premieres of Netflix's Blue Road and Dead-end Job and the Disney+ romantic fantasy The Remarried Empress.

Competition winners will be announced at the closing ceremony, hosted by actor Yim Si-wan, on Oct. 15.