The 31st Busan International Film Festival has chosen "The Table: Day and Night," directed by Kim Jong-kwan, as its 2026 opening film, marking the picture's world premiere. The drama follows four couples at different stages of love, all passing through the same cafe across a summer and autumn, told in low-key, conversational vignettes that use the venue's ever-changing stream of visitors to reveal each character's personality. The selection is significant for BIFF as it revisits and refines Kim's distinctive multi-story, single-setting approach, a structure he first explored a decade ago.

The film stars Kim Minha, Joo Jong-hyuk, Han Sun-hwa, Chang Ryul, Shim Eun-kyung, Lee Hee-jun, Jeon So-young and Kim Dong-hwi across its four intertwined storylines. It serves as a spiritual sequel to Kim's 2016 film "The Table," which screened in BIFF's Korean Cinema Today – Panorama section that year. Kim, known for quiet, emotionally attuned storytelling since his 2004 short "How to Operate a Polaroid Camera," has since built a body of work including "Come, Closer" (2010), "Worst Woman" (2016), "Josée" (2020) and "Shades of the Heart" (2021), alongside contributions to Netflix anthology series. BIFF praised the new film's restrained style and its focus on subtle shifts in its characters' inner lives and relationships.