Two film festivals will be held back to back at the Busan Cinema Center in September. The 5th Only One Earth Film Festival runs from Sept. 3 to 7, and the 4th Busan International Disability Human Rights Film Festival from Sept. 10 to 12. The 31st Busan International Film Festival runs from Oct. 6 to 15 at the same venue. The two festivals come a month earlier.
The Only One Earth Film Festival is co-hosted and co-organized by the Rights of Nature Korea and the Busan Cinema Center Foundation. It is sponsored by the city of Busan, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, BNK Financial Group, the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education and the Gyeongsangnam-do Office of Education. It began in 2022 and is in its fifth edition this year, under the slogan "Earth Again, Earth and Us."
Screenings are spread across four venues: the Outdoor Theater, the Small Theater, the Cinematheque and the Middle Theater. The opening ceremony takes place at 7 p.m. on Sept. 3 at the Outdoor Theater, and the awards ceremony follows on Sept. 6 at the Cinematheque.
The opening film is director Jin Jae-woon's new work "Song of the Trees" (2026). It is a documentary about an 88-year-old woman who bought land more than seven times the area of Yeouido in Nicaragua, Central America, and planted one million trees. In May it won three prizes at the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards, including the gold medal in the feature documentary category. Director Jin is the festival's executive committee chair.
This year's competition call drew 2,764 entries from 148 countries. That is about 400 more than last year's 2,303 entries from 138 countries. Of these, 17 films from 10 countries were selected for competition, and with invited films included, 58 films from 29 countries will be screened during the festival. Thirty-two are world, Asian or Korean premieres shown for the first time in Korea.
Alongside the screenings, the "Only One Earth Conference" runs from Sept. 4 to 6. It takes the form of a discussion with experts from various fields following a screening of a film on climate issues. Actor Kim Seok-hoon, Ministry of Foreign Affairs special adviser Chung Nae-kwon and Climate Change Center chairman Choi Jae-chul will take part as speakers.
Admission is 6,000 won for general screenings and 3,000 won at the discounted rate. The discount applies to viewers at the first screening of the day, to students in high school and below, to those aged 65 and over, and to people with disabilities. The opening ceremony, the conference and the awards ceremony are free. All foreign-language films carry Korean subtitles.
Tickets are sold both online and on site. Online booking runs from Aug. 20 to Sept. 7 on the festival website, and on-site booking runs from Sept. 3 to 7 at the box office on the sixth floor of the Cinema Center's Cine Mountain. Online bookings are fully refundable up to 20 minutes before a screening, but tickets issued on site are not refundable.
Three days after the Only One Earth Film Festival closes, the 4th Busan International Disability Human Rights Film Festival opens in the same building. It is hosted by Busan DPI of Disabled Peoples' International Korea and the Sarangsaem Welfare Association. The opening ceremony is held on Sept. 10 at the Middle Theater, invited films are screened on Sept. 11 at the Haneulyeon Theater, and on Sept. 12 invited films and the closing ceremony take place at the Haneulyeon Theater and the Outdoor Theater.
There is no admission fee here. The organizing committee said all films will be screened free of charge and admission will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Group viewings are applied for through institutions. Inquiries are handled by Busan DPI (051-905-2678) and the Sarangsaem Welfare Association (051-525-2688).
Accessibility is an item this festival has made a requirement from the submission stage. Films selected in the short film call are remade as barrier-free versions with audio description explaining the screen in words, subtitles and sign language. Prizes in the call are 3 million won for the grand prize, 2 million won for the gold prize, 1 million won for the silver prize and 500,000 won for the bronze prize.
The two festivals falling within ten days of each other in September is a change in this year's schedule. Last year the Only One Earth Film Festival was held in August, and the 3rd Busan International Disability Human Rights Film Festival opened on Oct. 13. The two events, two months apart before, have moved into the same month this year.
The Busan International Film Festival organizing committee will unveil the full lineup of invited films for the 31st edition on Sept. 1. Two days later, the Only One Earth Film Festival's opening ceremony is held at the same venue.
