Mongolian-German feature Zogsool took four prizes at the Busan International Film Festival's Vision Awards, the highest tally of any film in the section ahead of the festival's main competition ceremony on October 15.

Directed by Sakhya Byamba, a former cinematographer, Zogsool won the Vision of Jiseok Award — the section's top honour — along with the NETPAC Award, the FIPRESCI Award and one of two Hylife Vision Awards. The film was shot on the Mongolian grasslands and depicts the disorder of the early Covid-19 pandemic.

What does four wins actually change?

The haul makes Zogsool the only title to claim every major juried prize in the Vision section this year. Three independent juries — the Jiseok, NETPAC and FIPRESCI panels — reached the same conclusion. The result also qualifies the film on three separate recognition tracks for Asian and international film awards, a logistical outcome that often matters more to distributors than trophy count.

The caveat: voting weight in the Vision section is split across juries, critics' circles and audience ballots. Zogsool did not win either of the two audience-voted Songwon Vision Audience Awards. The BIFF main competition jury has yet to weigh in, and the October 15 ceremony remains the larger gate for international sales.

Who else collected multiple prizes?

Korea's Full Moon, directed by Jeong Jihye, took three awards: the CGV Award, K-Movie Award, and Songwon Vision Audience Award for a Korean film. That combination — one industry-backed prize, one audience prize — signals commercial legs, though all three wins sit in Korean-category or distributor-aligned slots rather than juried international competitions.

India's Tamil-language Selvi, directed by Sailesh Rathnakumar, claimed two: the second Hylife Vision Award and the Taipei Film Commission Award. Birds In The Dark, directed by India's Shashank Walia, took the Songwon Vision Audience Award for an Asian film — the only audience prize for an Indian title.

The wider Vision Awards field

Korea swept the remaining domestic categories. Park Songyeol's Beyond Love's Horizon took both the KBS Independent Film Award and Critic B Award. Oh Sehyeon's Baler collected the Jeong-In Award and Citizen Critics' Award. Im Yeonjeong's documentary Recovery won the Documentary Audience Award.

The BIFF Mecenat Awards — which fund further production rather than recognise completed work — went to Yang Bo's Agaar (Asia) and Yi Seungjun's Can I Talk To You? (Korea). Choi Se-Dam's A Woman Dancing On The Waves received a Special Mention in that category.

Philippines director Arvin Belarmino collected The Heart Of Eurasia Award for Ria. The Face Of The Future Award went to Japan's Kumamoto Ryohei for After The Song. Kazakhstan's Darkhan Tulegenov took the International Film Festival Of India – Vision Asia Award for The Cord.

What is the timeline?

Vision Awards are announced in early October as part of BIFF's competition strand. The main competition awards ceremony follows on October 15, where the festival's flagship Kim Jiseok Award and New Currents Award will be distributed. For Zogsool, that date is the next test — and the one that decides whether the Vision sweep carries over into a Best Picture-equivalent at Busan itself.