Top stars were out in force for the opening of the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival on Thursday night, which is now in its 18th edition. Over 100 stars and filmmakers hit the red carpet, including award recipients HYUN Bin, SON Ye-in, KIM Woo-bin, SHIM Eun-kyoung and CHO Jin-woong. The ceremony was hosted by SHIN Hyun-joo and YOO In-na.

 

Following the red carpet, Bucheon City mayor KIM Man-soo declared the festival open and was followed by festival director KIM Young-bin. Also going up on stage to offer her welcoming remarks was Miss Granny’s SHIM Eun-kyoung, this year’s PiFan lady who was also honored with one of the evening’s Fantasia Awards for rising stars, along with Friend: The Great Legacy star KIM Woo-bin. Honored with the Producer’s Choice Awards, which are bestowed by PiFan and the Korean Film Producers Association (KFPA) were HYUN Bin, who returned to the big screen this year with The Fatal Encounter, and SON Ye-jin, who will hit screens next month in summer swashbuckler The Pirates. Finally, this year’s IT Award was presented to A Hard Day’s CHO Jin-woong.

 

After the ceremony was a screening of the opening film Stereo, a German thriller from director Maximilian Erlenwein that premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year. The festival’s awarding ceremony will take place on Friday, July 25th, with an additional two days of screenings over the weekend. In total, the 18th PiFan will screen 210 films from 47 countries.