Busan International Kids and Youth Film Festival (BIKY)

Overview

The Busan International Kids and Youth Film Festival (BIKY) is Asia's leading film festival dedicated to films made by and for children and teenagers. Held annually in July in Busan, South Korea, the 21st edition will take place July 8-14, 2026. The festival's sole competitive section, "Ready~Action!", is reserved exclusively for short films directed by children and teenagers between the ages of 6 and 18.

BIKY is free to enter for filmmakers under 18. For professional filmmakers whose work targets young audiences, there is a non-competitive section with a $10 USD submission fee. The festival accepts submissions via FilmFreeway and through its official website.

The festival brings school groups to screenings during the festival week, giving young filmmakers direct engagement with peer audiences. Winners of the Ready~Action! competition are invited back as jury members for the following year's edition.

Submission Details

• Submission platform: FilmFreeway or BIKY official website
• Entry fee:

- Films made by directors under 18: Free

- Films made by professional/adult filmmakers: $10 USD

• Deadline (21st edition): March 9, 2026, 14:00 KST
• Notification date: April 22, 2026
• Eligibility (Ready~Action! competition):

- Directors must be under 18 years old

- Short films only, maximum 20 minutes

- Films produced between 2025 and 2026

- English subtitles required

• Eligibility (non-competitive section):

- Films directed by adults, for young audiences

- Both features and short films accepted

- Submitted via FilmFreeway

• Production year: 2025-2026

Competition Sections and Awards

Ready~Action! Competition

The only competitive section at BIKY, reserved for films directed by children and teenagers. Starting with the 21st edition (2026), the competition has been restructured to include two new categories alongside the traditional age-based divisions:

Traditional age-based categories:

• Ready~Action! 12 (filmmakers 12 and under)
• Ready~Action! 15 (filmmakers 15 and under)
• Ready~Action! 18 (filmmakers 18 and under)

New categories (21st edition, 2026):

• Ready~Action! Creative: Works combining YouTube-style sensibility with cinematic aesthetics
• Ready~Action! AI: Experimental works using generative AI technology, judged on creative intent and innovation rather than polish alone

Awards within each age category:

• National (Korean): Pure Wind Award, Blue Sky Award, Great Ocean Award (one per age category)
• International: One main award per age category

Additional awards:

• Heart-on Awards: One per thematic section (Staying Together, Finding Myself, Embrace the Difference, Beyond the Boundary) for both features and shorts
• Asia Tie-up Award
• Samir NASR Scholarship
• LEE Joo-young Scholarship

Jury process: Preliminary judging is conducted by "Bikies" (child and teenage executive committee members). Final judging is done by the previous year's award winners. Winners receive scholarships and are invited to serve as jury members the following year.

Non-Competitive Section

Films directed by adults for young audiences. Both features and short films are accepted. No production year restriction for this section.

What Filmmakers Should Know

BIKY is not a film market and does not have an attached industry sales platform. The festival's value for young filmmakers is peer recognition, scholarship prizes, and the opportunity to serve on the jury the following year.

For adult filmmakers submitting to the non-competitive section, BIKY offers exposure to Korean family and school audiences. The festival's school screening program brings organized groups of children to daytime screenings during the festival week.

The 2026 edition introduces the Ready~Action! AI category, reflecting the festival's effort to engage with generative AI tools in youth filmmaking. This is one of the first festival competition categories globally dedicated to AI-assisted films by young directors.

Submissions for the Ready~Action! competition can be made through both FilmFreeway and the BIKY website. The non-competitive section accepts submissions only through FilmFreeway.

The festival runs for approximately one week in July, typically Tuesday to Monday. Recent editions have been held July 8-14 in both 2024 and 2025, with the 2026 edition also scheduled for July 8-14.

Festival History

BIKY was founded in 2006 in Busan, South Korea, as a specialized festival for children's and youth cinema. The festival was created to complement the larger Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), leveraging Busan's film infrastructure and international cinema connections for a younger audience.

Over 20 editions, BIKY has built a distinctive model where children and teenagers serve as both filmmakers and jurors. The Ready~Action! competition is judged by young committee members and previous year's winners, making it one of the few film festivals globally where the jury is composed entirely of minors.

The festival has historically programmed films from South Korea, Australia, Spain, and other countries in its international competition sections. The 17th edition (2022) awarded films from South Korea and Australia across the Ready~Action! 12, 15, and 18 categories.

See Also

Use the Festival ROI Calculator to evaluate submission costs and potential audience reach. For festival strategy guidance, see Film Festival Strategy. For independent filmmaking approaches, see Independent Filmmaking Strategies.