Majid Majidi's 'Bread and Book' Wins Best Film as 31st Busan Festival Closes; Zhou Xun Named Best Actor
BUSAN, South Korea — The 31st Busan International Film Festival closed on October 15 at the Busan Cinema Center in the city's Haeundae District, where the Busan Awards were presented. Iranian director Majid Majidi's Bread and Book won the grand prize for best film, the Seoul Economic Daily reported. Starting this year, the grand prize winner automatically qualifies for submission in the Academy Awards' international feature film category, a first for the festival.
Chinese director Zhang Yimou chaired the competition jury, which, according to reports, reached a unanimous decision. It was Majidi's first time attending the Busan festival. Accepting the award, he thanked Zhang, dedicated the honor to his mother, who died a few months before filming began, and to his family, saying that the audience is the true protagonist of cinema and expressing his hope for a world without war.
In other top categories, Lee Yun-chan won best director for To Be Ordinary, the special jury prize went to Indonesian director Eddie Cahyono's My Mother, and the best actor awards were shared by Zhou Xun, for the Chinese film Loneliness at First Meeting, and Japan's Kashun Himeno, for Satoko Always. The artistic contribution award went to sound designer Li Danfeng for Loneliness at First Meeting, and the New Currents Award went to Shashank Walia's Birds in the Dark.
Organizers said the festival screened 316 films in total, including 247 official selections from 59 countries and regions, with 93 world premieres and 10 international premieres.
(Compiled from the Seoul Economic Daily and STARNEWS, October 15)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 左：本届最佳演员奖得主周迅（摄于2026年9月多伦多国际电影节）。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，K6ka 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0 授权；右：最佳影片《面包与书》导演马吉德·马吉迪在第31届釜山国际电影节背景板前留影（2026年）。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，Arielaortizb 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0 授权。 Left: Zhou Xun, winner of the Best Actor Award at the 31st Busan International Film Festival (pictured at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival in September 2026). Photo: K6ka / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Right: Majid Majidi, director of the Best Film winner “Bread and Book,” at the 31st Busan International Film Festival (2026). Photo: Arielaortizb / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
