Netflix used last month’s Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) to stage Creative Asia, a program of talks and master classes highlighting its ambitions in the region.

For the more than 250 filmmakers, journalists and industry leaders in attendance, the event felt less like a corporate showcase than a cultural statement: Asia is no longer a side market but a creative engine the global streamer cannot ignore.

BIFF program director Karen Park set the tone by stressing the alignment between festival and platform.