What animated film's BIFF competition debut means

Animation is no longer a peripheral genre in contemporary cinema, as it gains ground in the global film industry.

Across Asia, animated features topped the box office in both China and Japan last year. Globally, Netflix's "KPop Demon Hunters" became a cultural phenomenon. It proved that animated storytelling infused with Korean motifs can captivate worldwide audiences.

This global shift will be reflected at the upcoming Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), where animated works are prominently featured across various sections.

At the center of this trend is "Long Long Night," an animated feature adapted from a bestselling Korean children's novel. It made history as the first animated title ever selected for BIFF's main competition lineup since the section was established last year.

Jung Han-seok, director of the festival, said the selection caught even the festival's program committee by surprise.

"This is only the second year we have run the competition section, and an animated film has already made it in," Jung said during a press conference in Seoul on Monday. "This is something we did not predict ourselves."

Before its Asian premiere in Busan, the film will make its international debut at the Toronto International Film Festival, screening in the Centerpiece section from Sept. 10-20.

Jung emphasized that Busan's selection was made independently of Toronto. "We decided to program the film regardless of what was happening in Toronto," he said. "We judged that it had enough artistic value on its own."

According to the director, much of that value stems from how faithfully the adaptation channels the emotional weight of its original book.

"You probably already know how powerful the original book is. How well the animation captures that power is really the achievement here," Jung said.

He added that watching the film offered a deeply moving break from the committee members' busy festival preparations. "We were so busy preparing for the festival that our minds were running on autopilot, but watching this film made us cry."

The source material has already proven its commercial power. Written by Ru Ri, the novel follows Norden, the last northern white rhino on Earth. After losing his family to poachers, Norden lives in a zoo until a war destroys the facility's fences. Left with an abandoned penguin egg, Norden embarks on a journey toward the sea.

The book won the grand prize at the 21st Munhakdongne Children's Literature Award, one of the top-tier awards here, and sold more than 800,000 copies in Korea. It has also been adapted into pansori, which is a Korean genre of musical storytelling, and musical theater productions.

"Long Long Night" also highlights how the Korean animation industry has evolved from a subcontractor for foreign studios into a creator of its own original content.

Director Youm Kyu-bock, a former commercial director with nearly two decades of industry experience, led the production. His team built the film using Unreal Engine, a real-time 3D creation tool commonly used in video games, to bring delicate realism to natural landscapes. Singer and actor Suzy voices the young penguin narrator.

Overseas markets are already responding. On Wednesday, its distributors The Contents On confirmed a presale deal with Japan, with additional international distribution deals currently under negotiation. The film is scheduled for a domestic theatrical release early next year during the winter school break.