서울국제여성영화제

The slogan of the 26th Seoul International Women’s Film Festival is “Laugh Matters.” This year’s festival focuses on the various powers of laughter and cheering everyone who persistently moves forward with this power in the face of life’s realities. The word ‘laughter’ can evoke many different images. From jolly and gleeful laughter to sudden bursts of laughter, shy smiles, cold sneers, sarcastic scoff, hollow laughs, guffaws, and stern face with no hint of a smile. With all these kinds of laughter, we endure, break through, and sometimes flexibly overcome with the life we encounter. The SIWFF is dedicated to creating a festival where women who have discovered their laughter in various places in their lives can come together and connect with each other through films. In front of walls that still seem unyielding and questions that remain unanswered, we hope this festival will be a time to greet with your own laughter and to gain strength to live through today.

Discovery is an international competitive section introducing the first or second feature films by female directors from around the world and with outstanding feminist perspectives and aesthetics. The Best Feature, Special Jury Award will be presented.

Asian Shorts is a competitive section to showcase various short films by Asian female filmmakers. 20 films are selected as this year’s finalists and the Best Short Film and Special Jury Award will be presented.

I-Teens is a competitive section for short films by teenaged Korean female filmmakers. The Best Short Film, Special Jury Award will be presented.

New Currents section screens a variety of recent outstanding works by female directors and films focusing on the theme of women from all over the world. which will provide a look into the current and major trends of women's films.

Korean Spectrum, Here & Now section showcases recent works by female directors and films with female themes made in Korea to explore and discuss contemporary discourse and styles.

Polemics is a section that presents critical and urgent feminist agendas of the year with related film screenings and an intensive discussion to match. This year, the theme of the section is “Politics, Struggle of Everyday Life, ” focusing on women and politics and the dynamics in between.

Queer Rainbow screens new queer films from around the world, to rethink social customs and human rights issues from a feminist-queer perspective and explore queer film aesthetics and representation.

Animated, Body-World-Being is a special section highlighting the works of Korean women animators who explore and reflect on the body, time and space, and existence through creative imagery and storytelling.

On the Border, Persistently is a special section showcasing the perspectives and aesthetic attempts of contemporary filmmakers who explore the expanding context of the diaspora and life on the border through various layers such as place, culture, and identity.

This section features films selected by special curators, including filmmakers and experts from various fields, who choose films they wish to share with the audience.

This section showcases the films completed with the support of the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival’s creative programs, including Pitch & Catch, a production support program that discovers and supports feature film projects led by female creators, and Film X Gender Shorts, a short film production support competition co-organized by the Korea Institute for Gender Equality Promotion and Education and the SIWFF.

One of the barrier-free versions of acclaimed films will be selected and screened in this section to expand accessibility for viewing by adding descriptive subtitles, voice commentary, dialogue, and sounds.