- 3 selected projects including 'Fortunately' confirmed for ACFM 2026 Co-production Support Fund
- Support expanded from 1 project last year to 3 this year… Partnerships built across 13 countries including South Korea
- Final stage funding injected into projects with over 60% financing completed… World premiere screenings to be pursued
- Total support of 140 million KRW with up to 70 million KRW per project… Falls short of practical scale to drive major co-productions
Three multinational co-production projects infused with Korean film capital and planning capabilities are entering the final stages of production with the goal of premiering at next year's Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). Despite the positive intent to promote international collaboration within the Asian film industry, the support scale of merely tens of millions of KRW per project remains pointed out as an institutional limitation in the multibillion-won film financing market.
The Asian Cinema Fund (ACF) under the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM), the official market of the Busan International Film Festival, finalized and announced three selections for the 2026 Co-production Support Fund: 'Fortunately', 'Rhizome', and 'Trinity'. A total of 15 submissions were received for this year's review, and the number of supported projects expanded significantly from one last year to three. The total support fund also increased from 65 million KRW to 140 million KRW, with each project receiving up to 70 million KRW.
The three selected feature-length projects involve a total of 13 countries, including South Korea, as main or co-producing nations. 'Fortunately', a Korea-Japan co-production joined by director Koji Fukada, has South Korea as its main producing country. 'Rhizome', led by Thailand, and 'Trinity', led by Taiwan, France, and Singapore, also saw South Korea participate as a key co-producer, proving the network solidarity among Asian filmmakers.
The fund provides grants exclusively to projects that have secured over 60% of their net production costs through financing, and funds can only be executed as actual production costs after the crank-in. The completed works are scheduled to make their debut as world premieres at a future Busan International Film Festival.
The ACFM stated, "Even if the scale is not massive, we hope this support will serve as practical momentum to fit the final puzzle pieces together."
