We continue with our list of feature films you shouldn’t miss from the Busan International Film Festival which is taking place from September 17 – 26, 2025 in Busan, South Korea.

Last Samurai Standing by Fujii Michihito, Yamaguchi Kento, Yamamoto Toru – Japan | 2025 – 100 minutes | World Premiere

In 1878, 292 samurais gather for a battle royale lured by a 100 billion yen prize. Wooden tags are given, last survivor reaching Tokyo wins. Shujiro Saga participates to save his sick family. A dangerous game of survival unfolds on journey. (Mubi)

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Left-Handed Girl by Tsou Shih-Ching – Taiwan, France, USA, UK | 2025 – 108 minutes

A single mother and her two daughters return to Taipei to open a stand at a buzzing night market. Family secrets begin to unravel after the youngest daughter who’s left-handed is told by her traditional grandfather to never use her “devil hand”. (Mubi)

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Love on Trial by Fukada Koji – France, Japan | 2025 – 125 minutes

A rising J-Pop idol violates the “no love” clause in her contract. As her relationship is exposed, she finds herself entangled in a public trial, her life spiraling into chaos.

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Lucky Lu by Lloyd Lee Choi – USA, Canada | 2025 – 103 minutes

Lucky Lu follows a New York City delivery rider whose world is turned upside down when he loses his only source of income. With his family finally on their way from Asia, Lu is forced to navigate the unforgiving city and fight to protect the fragile life he’s spent all these years building.

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Magellan by Lav Diaz – Portugal, Spain, France, Philippines, Taiwan | 2025 – 164 minutes

Magellan is a navigator rebelling against the power of the King, due to his humanism and belief in justice. But once he is finally in command of the Spice Fleet, in which he will make the first circumnavigation of the Earth, what will his journey unravel about himself? (Mubi)

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Maze by Shin Sun – Korea | 2025 – 86 minutes | World Premiere

After dealing with her father’s death which was categorized as an ‘unclaimed body,’ Hee-mi quits her job working at a detective agency. That same day, a man who lost his wife in a traffic accident visits the office. He commissions the agency to find out how the man who caused the accident is living now, as he is curious. Intrigued, Hee-mi takes on the case. Don’t get the wrong idea. Maze is not a film noir. The requested job is investigated and reported back without much incident, well before the story is even halfway through. It is from there that the abyss of this tale begins to open little by little; in other words, it is only at the halfway point that the film truly begins. As it unfolds at an unhurried pace, moving quietly between the husband, the man who caused the accident, occasional flashbacks of the husband’s wife, and Hee-mi, audiences will find themselves savoring scenes that seem to capture the very air of grief. (JUNG Sung-il)

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Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk by Sepideh Farsi – France, Palestine | 2025 – 112 minutes

Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna documents life in Gaza during the Israeli military invasion, communicating daily with Sepideh Farsi, which relays her images. Fatima will be killed in a targeted Israeli airstrike along with nine members of her family on April 16, 2025. (Mubi)

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Relay Race by Ko Hyoju – Korea | 2025 – 88 minutes

A man runs through the crisp early morning air—through the woods, mountains, and roads of Jeju. He runs day and night, even in a marathon. Yet his heart remains trapped in the Sewol ferry on April 16, 2014. Kim Dongsoo, who survived the tragedy, became known as the ‘hero in blue pants.’ The nation watched his final rescue efforts, and later, the news of his self-harm during the Sewol ferry incident hearings. But he remembers nothing of the last five minutes of that day. A story about Kim and his family, Relay Race is a film about trauma. Though film is utterly inadequate to capture the invisible, Ko Hyoju’s camera remains like air by his family’s side, transparently reflecting their inner worlds as they struggle to live with their pain. This is a searing work that approaches the deepest wounds of the Sewol ferry tragedy, yet also a brilliant family drama that gently touches our aching hearts. (KANG Sowon)

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Renoir by Hayakawa Chie – Japan, France, Singapore | 2025 – 120 minutes

Suburban Tokyo, 1987. With a terminally ill father and stressed-out working mother, 11-year-old Fuki becomes fascinated by telepathy and falls ever deeper into her own fantasy world.

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Seven O′Clock Breakfast Club for the Brokenhearted by Lim Sun-ae – Korea | 2025 – 108 minutes | World Premiere

“I just got dumped. Will you have breakfast with me?” At a breakfast club, heartbroken Sa-gang and Ji-hoon stumble upon mysterious “breakup souvenirs.” Each item holds a secret pain, reflecting their own. Will they find the souvenir’s owner?

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The Gorals by Yoo Jaewook – Korea | 2025 – 107 minutes | World Premiere

High school seniors In-hye, Seo-hee, Jeong-ae, and Soo-min are four students who turn in blank papers for their assignment to write about their ‘thoughts on the future.’ It′s not that they don’t have plans. For In-hye, the most important thing is taking care of the ducks, rabbits, and chickens in the small breeding ground set up in a corner of the school. After discovering a campsite leading to the mountains on her way home from school, In-hye devises a plan to relocate the ducks, rabbits, and chickens when the school decides to tear down their enclosure. Seo-hee, Jeong-ae, and Soo-min join her in this endeavor. Naturally, a series of adorable incidents, both big and small, arise from this. However, this process is also about the four girls building their own utopia. As the shifting season from summer to fall seeps into every corner of the scenes, you will be filled with a sense of comfort, sharing in the joy of building a paradise within nature alongside the characters. (JUNG Sung-il)

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The Mutation by Shin Su-won – Korea | 2025 – 107 minutes | World Premiere

A native Korean man, born to Korean parents as a Black individual, and a lesbian woman still holding onto memories of her ex-lover embark on a journey together.

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The President′s Cake by Hasan Hadi – Iraq, USA, Qatar | 2025 – 106 minutes

While people struggle daily to survive under sanctions in Saddam’s Iraq, nine-year-old Lamia must use her wits to gather ingredients for the mandatory cake to celebrate President Saddam Hussein’s birthday or face the consequences—prison or death. (Mubi)

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The Second Child by Yu Eun-jeong – Korea | 2025 – 102 minutes | World Premiere

Weaves a mysterious narrative between a mother who encounters her deceased daughter’s doppelganger, and her second daughter who awakens from a coma.

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Two Seasons, Two Strangers by Miyake Sho – Japan | 2025 – 89 minutes

The story follows a scriptwriter named Lee who is processing what is happening in her life. She meets an innkeeper, who goes by the name Ben-zō, while traveling. (Mubi)

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