The 24th South Korean Busan International Film Festival kicked off on October 3rd and is set to run till October 12th, 2019. The festival showcases around 300 films from nearly 85 countries, including an exceptional selection of Arab films that gained world-wide acclaim this year.

The program includes Elia Suleiman’s latest film It Must Be Heaven which had its international premiere as part of the official competition of the 72nd Cannes Film Festival, where it won the FIPRISE award. Saudi director Haifa Al Mansour’s The Perfect Candidate, which premiered as part of the main competition of the 76th Venice Film Festival. Also, Venice Film Festival’sLion of The Future and El Gouna Film Festival’s (GFF) Golden Star winner You Will Die at Twenty,Amjad Abu Alala’s first cinematic experience.

The program will also feature the world premiere of Haifa Street by director Mohanad Hayal, and Jordanian director Dina Naser’s documentary Tiny Souls, which had its MENA premiere at the 3rd edition of GFF. 44th Toronto International Film Festival’sAudience Award Winner The Cave by Syrian director Feras Fayyad, which tells the story of a group of Syrianfemale doctors treating war victims in an underground hospital.

In addition, the festival's screening program includesThe Truth by Hirokazu Kore Eda. The Say Nothing Stays The Same by Joe Odagiri, winner of the Palme d'Or at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival. Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You, Ladj Ly’s Les Misérables, as well as Jan Kumasa’s Corpus Christi, winner of El Gouna Silver Star for Feature Narrative, and whose star Bartosz Bielenia won El Gouna Star for Best Actor Award at the 3rd edition of GFF.