Since the inception of SIWFF in 1997, the festival has supported feminist films by championing Korean female directors at home and abroad. To celebrate Korean film 100 years SIWFF shines a light on the faces of female filmmakers who have helped to shape the industry. Modern Korean history has gone through often overlapping tumultuous periods of colonization, modernization, the cold war, dictatorships, and the start of neoliberalism. Some women refused to be confined by patriarchal oppression and masculine narratives, and crossed multiple boundaries. Such women include Ae-sun in Sweet Dream (Lullaby of Death), victims of Japanese sex slavery in The Murmuring, and Hojung in A Good Lawyer¡¯s Wife. In the course of history, they were criticized as either indecent or flirtatious. Nevertheless, the women refused to kowtow to such accusations and stood tall before the camera in all their complexity. The eight films in the program reveal the various faces of women and looking at their brave and determined expressions, audiences will gain a new perspective on female figures in Korean film. The program is coorganized by the Korean Film Council and the Committee for Korean Film 100 Years and is sponsored by the Korean Film Archive.
BAE Juyeon / Programmer