서울국제여성영화제

The 28th Seoul International Women’s Film Festival continues last year’s slogan, “Reimagining F.” If a Festival that builds Fellowship through Film is the enduring foundation of SIWFF, this year we seek, together, to discover and expand new languages of “F” through which to sense and reflect on our present.

As technology rapidly reshapes the way we live, this year’s questions and conversations begin with Flicker. The flickering of light was at the very foundation of cinema as a medium, yet in an age that favors seamless, polished perfection, flickering and trembling are often perceived as errors or uncertainties. And yet, they are also signs of being alive, reminding us that we are beings who constantly waver, fail, and change.

Just as cinema emerges not from a fixed image but through subtle tremors of light, this year SIWFF seeks to share the courage and imagination not to fear wavering or Failure. We hope to discover new possibilities in the Freedom to fail, to encounter different worlds and individual voices through film, and to build stronger bonds of solidarity grounded in diversity and inclusion.

Discovery is an international competition section dedicated to first or second feature films by women directors from around the world. It showcases new works that expand the horizons of cinematic language through powerful women’s perspectives and storytelling approaches. The Grand Award and Excellence Award will be presented.

Asian Shorts is a competition section showcasing diverse short films by women filmmakers of Asian nationality or identity. The Daphnelia Grand Award and Excellence Award will be presented.

I-Teens is a competition section showcasing short films by teenage Korean women filmmakers. The Grand Award and Excellence Award will be presented during the festival.

New Currents showcases recent standout films by women directors and notable works centered on women's lives from around the world. It offers insight into the current landscape and emerging trends in women’s cinema.

Korean Spectrum, Here & Now showcases recent works by women directors and films centered on women’s themes produced in Korea. It highlights contemporary discourse and stylistic trends in Korean cinema.

Polemics highlights timely feminist issues and cinematic agendas each year, creating a space for in-depth discussion through curated screenings and forums.
This year’s program, themed “Digital Sexual Politics and Transformative Thinking”, examines how society and everyday life are being reshaped by digital and AI technologies, viewed through the perspectives of gender equality and democracy.

Queer Rainbow showcases new queer films from around the world. It features works that reconsider social customs and human rights issues through a feminist-queer perspective and explore queer representation.

Mad or Bad: Rethinking the Villainess is a special program that revisits the evolving narratives of the “villainess” in a contemporary context, tracing their variations across cultural texts from archetypal female figures in myth and classical works to genre films such as noir, thrillers, and horror, and more recently, web novels and webtoons. Revisiting the many labels society has attached to women over time—from “witches,” “bad mothers,” and “mad women” to “femmes fatales,” “ugly women,” and “unlikable women”—the program explores how cultural narratives surrounding women’s bodies, desires, agency, power, motherhood, and freedom have evolved and how they might be reinterpreted today.

Japanese Women’s Cinema: Generations and Gazes is a special international exchange program that surveys the multifaceted landscape of contemporary Japanese women’s cinema through signature works by filmmakers of different generations and sensibilities, alongside recent films acclaimed at international film festivals. The program brings together filmmakers across generations: Hamano Sachi, who has made more than 300 films ranging from pink films to politically engaged women’s cinema; Yokohama Satoko, known for her vibrant energy and distinctive narratives; Kiyohara Yui, whose unique rhythms and emotional textures contemplate women’s lives; and emerging filmmaker SON Myong A, who explores the realities of Zainichi Korean identity through cinema.

A retrospective program that revisits the career and body of work of a woman filmmaker who carved out a singular place in Korean cinema, rediscovering her legacy with contemporary audiences. This year, prompted by the passing of actor and producer Kim Ji-mee in late 2025, the program looks back on her remarkable career. It revisits Kim and three of her landmark films, which embody female characters who both expose and challenge the gender contradictions of Korean society.

A special retrospective on women’s film collectives of the 1980s and 1990s, when the women’s movement and film activism converged to create new forms of moving-image practice through groups and organizations including Alternative Culture (또 하나의 문화), Women’s film group Bariteo, Korea WomenLink, and Korean Women Workers Association. The program traces the trajectory of collective filmmaking practices that documented women’s labor and lives and used film as a means of activism and expression, revisiting the history of women recording and sharing their own lives and voices through cinema.

RE:Discover by Curation features films selected by special curators— filmmakers and experts from various fields—who choose works they wish to share with the audience. Each year, invited curators select films, whether classics or recent releases, to revisit with audiences, exploring them through contemporary perspectives on narrative, form, socio-cultural significance, and cinematic aesthetics.

SIWFF Project is a section that presents new Korean films developed through the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival’s creative support initiatives, which explore the expansion and diverse possibilities of women’s cinema. These include Pitch & Catch, a feature-length development pitching program led by women creators, and Film X Gender, a short film production grant co-organized with the Korea Institute for Gender Equality Promotion and Education.

Barrier Free presents a barrier-free version of a notable film, equipped with audio descriptions and subtitles that convey dialogue, speakers, music, and sound cues. By lowering viewing barriers, it offers a shared cinematic experience accessible to all audiences.