Busan 2026: The Awards

Midday Meal (Ghazaye nimroz) from Iran took home top honors from the 31st Busan Intl. Film Festival, held Oct. 6 – 15, 2026. Veteran filmmaker Majid Majidi tempers the tale of a rural schoolteacher with the joie de vivre and explosive colors his films are known for, in a slow-burning bonfire of moral vanities unfolding in a land beset by poverty and bureaucracy. REVIEW

Busan Award – Best Film
Midday Meal (Iran)
directed by Majid Majidi

Busan Award — Special Jury Prize
Ibuku (Indonesia/Japan)
directed by Eddie Cahyono

Busan Award – Best Director
LEE Yun Chan
To Be Ordinary (Taiwan)

Busan Award – Best Actor
ZHOU Xun
for The First Taste of Loneliness (China)

ex-aequo
HIMENO Kashun
for Satoko Always (Japan)

Busan Award – Artistic Contribution Award
Sound director Li Danfeng
for The First Taste of Loneliness (China)

New Currents Award
Birds in the Dark (India)
directed by Shashank WALIA

Special Mention
Beach Fictions (Korea)
directed by LIM Hayeon

BIFF Mecenat Award (Asia)
Agaar
directed by YANG Bo (China/France)

BIFF Mecenat Award (Korea)
Can I Talk to You?
directed by YI Seungjun(Korea)

BIFF Mecenat Award (Special Mention)
A Woman Dancing on the Waves (Korea)
directed by CHOI Se-dam

Sonje Award (Korea)
Toe’s
directed by YUN Taerang (Korea)

Sonje Award (Asia)
Fatima
directed by Soroush SHAHPOURI (Iran)

Sonje Award (Special Mention)
The Boy Who Fell to Earth (Korea)
directed by JUNG Jaeseo

NETPAC Award
Zogsool (Mongolia/Germany)
directed by SAKHYA Byamba

FIPRESCI Award
Zogsool