Korea’s largest international film festival will welcome stars from all over the globe as it celebrates its 20th anniversary.

The Busan International Film Festival will kick off Thursday with a ceremony hosted by Afghan actress Marina Golbahari and Korean actor Song Kang-ho. For the gala presentations, the festival will feature visits from Japanese actress Nagasawa Masami, who appears in “Our Little Sister” and British actress Tilda Swinton, from “A Bigger Splash.” 

Hong Kong actress Tang Wei will also be in Busan for her film “A Tale of Three Cities,” alongside her husband, Korean director Kim Tae-yong.

French actress Sophie Marceau will be in town to support her film “Jailbirds,” and will be attending events toward the end of the festival with French culture minister Fleur Pellerin. 

American actor Harvey Keitel will be making his first visit to Korea through BIFF, invited for the film “Youth.” Other actors making appearances include Taiwanese actors Chang Chen for “The Assassin” and Chen Bolin for “Bad Guys Always Die.” 

Directors from all over the world will also be present at BIFF, with notable names coming from Asia. Taiwanese giant Hou Hsiao-hsien, Hong Kong noir director Johnnie To and Chinese hit-maker Feng Xiaogang are on the guest list, as well as Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Chinese director Zhangke Jia and Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda, who are all offering gala presentations.

The stars attending BIFF will be able to meet and interact with moviegoers through outdoor talks, hand printing ceremonies and the Asia Casting Market taking place as part of the Asia Film Market, in addition to guest visits directly following screenings.

This year’s program includes two special programs: Asian Cinema 100 and My French Cinema. 

Asian Cinema 100 screens the top 10 of a list of the Top 100 Asian films curated by 73 specialists from all over the world, and is expected to be a part of BIFF once every five years to increase interest and understanding of Asian cinema. “My French Cinema” turns the spotlight on films from France, a traditional stronghold of cinema arts. 

The 20th Busan International Film Festival begins Thursday with “Zubaan,” the first feature-length film from Indian director Mozez Singh. The festival, featuring 304 movies from 75 countries including 94 world premieres, runs from Oct. 1 to Oct. 10, closing with “Mountain Cry” by Larry Yang.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)