Actress Jang Mi-hee has been appointed as the chairperson of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN), leading the development and leap of the festival alongside Bucheon Mayor Cho Yong-ik.
BIFAN (Chairpersons Cho Yong-ik and Jeong Ji-young, Executive Chair Shin Cheol) held a general meeting on the 20th and appointed Jang Mi-hee, Honorary Professor at Myongji University, as the new chairperson. Director Jeong Ji-young, who has led BIFAN for nine years, has been appointed as Honorary Chairperson. Director Jeong is set to begin filming the Jeju 4.3 film "My Name Is" on April 3.
New Chairperson Jang Mi-hee debuted in 1976 with the film "Seong Chun-hyang Jeon" and has been acclaimed for her roles in 92 films, dramas, and plays. Her notable works include the films "Winter Woman," "Home of the Stars 2," "Hwang Jin Yi," "Land of Fire," "Praise of Death," and TV dramas "Haenyeo Dang-sil," "Mother's River," "Cheongshil Hongshil," "Eulhwa," "Dal-dongne," "Six Siblings," "Life is Beautiful," and "Shall We Live Together."
She has received numerous awards, including the Korean Film Critics Association Award, Baeksang Arts Awards, Blue Dragon Film Awards, Chun-Sa Film Festival, Daejong Film Awards, Asia-Pacific Film Festival Best Actress, TBC and KBS Acting Awards Best Actress, Daejong Film Awards Contribution Award, and several awards for her contributions to Seoul.
In addition, Chairperson Jang Mi-hee has been dedicated to nurturing future generations as a professor and department head of the Department of Theater and Film at Myongji University, as well as the director of the Institute of Arts and Physical Education (1989-2021). She has published translated works such as "Making Films with Masters" (1998), essay collections "My Life Has the Right to Be Beautiful" (1998), and "Women Filmmakers' Portrait" (co-authored with Joo Jin-sook and Byeon Jae-ran, 2001). She has served as a member of the Film Rating Classification Subcommittee of the Film Rating Board (1999-2001), Vice Chair of the Korean Film Council (2002-2005), Chair of the Independent Art Film Recognition Subcommittee (2004-2008), member of the Korean Film Council (2005-2008), member of the Knowledge Information Resource Management Committee of the Ministry of Science and ICT (2005-2007), Executive Chair of the Goyang International Children's Film Festival (2005-2007), Deputy Chair of BIFAN (2017-2018), and co-chair of the 100th Anniversary of Korean Cinema Committee with Director Lee Jang-ho (2018-2019), contributing to the development of Korean cinema for 50 years.
Chairperson Jang Mi-hee stated, "A wind of change is blowing in the film and film industry and international film festivals," and added, "I will do my best to achieve BIFAN's tradition and vision of supporting and sharing creative cinematic imagination while leading the era of transformation."
The 29th BIFAN will be held for 11 days from July 3 to 13 in the Bucheon area.
