The 31st Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has confirmed Indian director Rima Das, Chinese producer Shan Zuolong and Korean actor Shim Eun-kyung as the three jurors for its New Currents Award, a prize that has served as a launchpad for emerging Asian directors.

Debut feature films screening in BIFF’s Competition or Vision sections are eligible for the award, which comes with a KRW20 million ($14,400) cash prize.

Das, a filmmaker based in Assam, India, is known for an intimate visual style built around themes of resilience and the human bond with nature. Her films have played at more than 150 festivals and picked up over 75 prizes internationally. Her credits include “Village Rockstars” (2017), “Bulbul Can Sing” (2018), “Tora’s Husband” (2022), “Village Rockstars 2” (2024) and “Not a Hero” (2026), titles that have found berths at festivals including Toronto and Berlin in addition to Busan. “Village Rockstars” took best feature film honors at India’s National Film Awards and went on to become the country’s Academy Awards submission in 2018. “Village Rockstars 2” was honored with the Kim Jiseok Award during BIFF’s 2024 edition, while “Not a Hero” received a Crystal Bear special mention in Berlin’s Generation KPlus section this year. Das belongs to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and has sat on festival juries before.

Shan’s credits as a producer trace back to “Kaili Blues” (Bi Gan, 2015), which took the best emerging director prize at Locarno, and “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” (Bi Gan, 2018), an Un Certain Regard selection at Cannes. His later slate includes “Love Is a Gun” (Lee Hong-chi, 2023), honored with Venice’s Lion of the Future for best debut feature; “The Botanist” (Jing Yi, 2025), a Grand Prix winner in Berlin’s Generation section; and “Resurrection” (Bi Gan, 2025), which took the Special Prize at Cannes and also received BIFF’s Busan Award for Artistic Contribution when it played in the festival’s inaugural Competition section last year. He joined the Producers Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2026.

Shim swept best actress honors at several of Korea’s top ceremonies for “Sunny” (2011) and “Miss Granny” (2014); her “Miss Granny” performance specifically earned wins at the Baeksang Arts Awards and the Chunsa International Film Festival, along with the Buil Film Awards. She went on to build a career in Japan as well, becoming the first Korean actor to claim the Japan Academy Film Prize for best actress, for her role in “The Journalist” (2019). Her latest credit, “Two Seasons, Two Strangers” (2025), took the Golden Leopard at Locarno, a run that also brought her the Kinema Junpo Best Actress Award.

The 31st BIFF will run Oct. 6-15 at the Busan Cinema Center and other venues throughout the city. The 21st Asian Contents & Film Market will take place Oct. 10-13.