Asian Project Market: Jero Yun’s ‘Secret of My Father’ Wins Busan Award

“Secret of My Father,” by Busan-native filmmaker Jero Yun was announced Thursday as the winner of the Busan Award, the top prize at the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Project Market.

Calling the project, the “last story in a family trilogy,” Yun said: “I have been dealing with the essential questions of the meaning of family, through individual trauma, conflict and reconciliation, through documentaries and fiction, for over ten years. This will be the last question on this long journey.”

More from Variety

• Busan APM: Ray Yeung's Today.. Tomorrow...' Probes Society's Inconvenient Ambiguity Towards Lesbian Relationships

• ACFM Talk: Film Market Bosses Agree the Need for Change

• Park Chan-wook Talks 'Sympathizer,' 'Decision to Leave' and Virtual Production Technology

The long-running APM selects new film projects and facilitates meetings between the creatives and film investors, producers and distributors. This year’s edition ran for three days (Oct 12-14, 2021) and adopted a hybrid format that was mostly online, but also allowed the onsite participation of local participants. Organizers said that they had arranged some 500 meetings for the 25 projects (4 up from last year) that hailed from 14 countries and regions.

The seven winners variously earn cash prizes and sponsorship. New this year, are the KB Award and the Nutrilite Award, both offering cash prizes of KRW10 million ($8,400), and the Pop Up Film Residency Award, a three-week long dedicated project development program in Europe.

2021 Asian Project Market Winners

Busan Award ($15,000 cash prize from Busan Metropolitan City Council)
“Secret of My Father” dir. Director Jero Yun (Korea)

CJ Entertainment Award ($10,000 cash prize)
“Before, Now and Then” dir. Kamila Andini (Indonesia)

KB Awards (KRW10 million cash prize)
“Fixed Love, Fixed Girl” dir. Lim Sun-ae (Korea)

Nutrilite Award (KRW10 million cash prize)
“Lives of Crime” dirs. Hsieh Pei-Ju, Yang Chieh, Huang Dan-Chi and Lee I-Hui (Taiwan)

ArteKino International Prize (EUR6,000 cash prize)
“If Wood Could Cry, It Would Cry Blood” dir. Nguyen Phan Linh Dan (Vietnam)

Pop Up Film Residency Award (3-week residency program)
“Elephants in the Fog” dir. Abinash Bikram Shah (Nepal)

MONEFF Award ($20,000 in post-production services)
“Spectrum” dir. Kim Bora (Korea)

Best of Variety

• The Best Pop Culture Halloween Costumes for 2021: From 'Squid Game' to 'Cruella

• Best-Selling Celebrity Memoirs: Stanley Tucci and Dave Grohl Join the Ranks

• The Ultimate 'Sopranos' Gift Guide for The Wannabe Mobster

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.