Majid Majidi’s Midday Meal won best film at Busan on Thursday, making it eligible for next year’s international-feature Oscar race.
Midday Meal received the Busan Award for best film at the 31st Busan International Film Festival. The film took the prize from a field of 13 competition titles.
Under rules introduced by the Film Academy, the winner of Busan’s best-film award can be submitted for consideration in the international-feature category without being chosen by its national Oscar committee. That makes the film eligible for next year’s Oscar process, but eligibility does not establish that a submission will take place.
Two routes from Iran to Oscar consideration
Midday Meal
Busan Award for best film
Potential Oscar route
- Can be submitted without committee selection
- Won Busan’s top prize
Land of Angels
Iran’s official submission
99th Academy Awards
- Chosen by Iran
- Drama about children enduring the war in Gaza
For the 99th Academy Awards, Iran has already selected Babak Khajehpasha’s Land of Angels, a drama depicting children living through the war in Gaza, as its official submission. Midday Meal therefore has another potential route through its Busan award rather than Iran’s Oscar committee.
Busan is one of several festivals whose designated awards can offer this kind of international-feature consideration. The list also includes Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Sundance and Toronto.
The Iranian film defeated 12 other Asian titles in the competition. The seven-member jury, led by Chinese director Zhang Yimou, reached its decision unanimously.
The award came during Majidi’s first visit to South Korea. Taiwanese filmmaker Lee Yun Chan won best director for To Be Ordinary after returning to the Busan competition history, having shown the debut feature The Shoe Fairy in the New Currents section in 2005.
Zhou Xun and Himeno Kashun shared the best-actor award. Zhou Xun was recognised for Gu You’s The First Taste of Loneliness, while Himeno Kashun won for Okita Shuichi’s Satoko Always.
Majidi dedicated the award to people in Iran
"I would like to dedicate this prize to the brave heroes of Iran — the people of Iran, who have stood firm through all these years and are still resisting oppression"
Majidi dedicated the award to the people of Iran and said they were standing firm through the horrors of war. He also expressed hope for a world without war.
The director said he used part of his acceptance speech to denounce the civilian death toll from the U.S.-led war on his country and that a school in Minab was hit on the first day of the war in Iran.
"On the very first day of this war in Iran, a school in Minab was hit, and 120 innocent students were killed. Even now, some of the bodies have not been found"
Majidi made the claim about the school and the deaths in his speech. The fact pack does not provide an independent account of the incident.
"I wish for a world where there is no more war, full of peace, love and brotherhood. I’m praying for that future."
He also spoke about the personal loss behind the film. His mother died before filming began, and he said she was the central figure in the story.
"The hero of my film is my mother, and mothers are the heroes in all our lives."
The film follows a teacher forced into smuggling
In a remote village in southeastern Iran, Davoud Soulan is a contract teacher played by Mohammad Rahimi. His chance of obtaining a permanent government job is put at risk by the death of a wealthy benefactor.
The benefactor’s death removes the free lunches that had helped keep Soulan’s impoverished pupils attending school. As his choices diminish, he turns to increasingly dangerous cross-border fuel smuggling.
The story places Soulan’s decency against his limited ambitions. His work, the children’s dependence on meals and the loss of the benefactor all shape the pressure that drives his decisions.
Majidi made the film with an entirely nonprofessional cast found through street casting in the region. He set the performances against Iran’s stark, so-called Martian Mountains.
Earlier in the festival, Majidi said that the dire situation at home had left him depressed and exhausted, and that he had nearly rejected the invitation to travel to South Korea.
"some kind of small message from my people to the people of other nations and other places"
The Busan prize adds to Majidi’s earlier Oscar history. His 1997 film Children of Heaven became the first Iranian film nominated in the international category, which was then known as best foreign-language film.
Busan’s competition is in its second year
Busan introduced its main competition only last year as it adjusted its awards structure to bring it closer to that of leading European cinema events. This year’s ceremony was hosted by actor Im Si-wan.
- 1997Majidi’s Oscar history
Children of Heaven became the first Iranian film nominated in the international category.
- Last yearBusan changes its awards structure
The festival introduced its main competition.
- 6 OctoberThe 31st edition begins
Busan’s 10-day festival starts.
- ThursdayMidday Meal wins
The film takes the Busan Award for best film.
- 15 October 2026Festival closes
The event ends with a screening of Midday Meal.
The 31st edition ran from October 6 to October 15. Midday Meal was also scheduled as the closing film, giving the award winner the final screening of the festival.
The Busan competition’s full list of films is not provided in the fact pack. It identifies the 13 titles assessed by the jury and says Midday Meal beat 12 other Asian titles.
Organizers said the festival drew more than 200,000 moviegoers, its biggest crowd since 2015. Other programmes and special events attracted an additional 77,000 attendees.
The accompanying Asian Contents & Film Market ran from October 10 to October 13. It drew 30,484 participants and 339 companies from 32 countries.
The pack does not provide next year’s international-feature submission deadline or the date of the Oscar ceremony. It also does not say whether Midday Meal will be submitted through the Busan route.
The festival’s next dated step is its closing on 15 October 2026, with a screening of Midday Meal.
