서울국제여성영화제

This year, the Discovery section—a competition dedicated to the first or second feature films by female filmmakers from around the world—received a total of 394 submissions from 86 countries. Markedly higher than last year’s total, the submitted works formed concentric circles from diverse perspectives, without a fixed centre, illuminating a wide range of feminist issues. Many of the films captured our attention with their cinematic rhetoric, addressing themes such as post-globalisation and the divisive landscape of a new Cold War era, the colonial legacy of exploitation and hate, ongoing political conflicts worldwide, and the exploration of adolescent sexuality. These works offered piercing insights into discrimination and violence, demonstrated a keen sensitivity to emotional and bodily experience, and expressed a profound longing for healing and restoration. They provided us with a meaningful encounter with new cinematic possibilities. We extend our heartfelt gratitude and support to all the female filmmakers from around the world who submitted their remarkable work.

As for the narrative films, we encountered a wide range of films by women that explored specific regional, national, and thematic concerns. These included films about young girls discovering their corporeality while navigating adolescence during the pandemic; films about the sense of isolation evoked by rural or neglected urban areas; and genre-informed approaches to care work that examined it as both a social duty and emotional labour. Many of the films stood out for their nuanced and distinctive storytelling. Some impressed with their tight, focused intensity, while others charmed us with looser rhythms, evoking the mood of an idle stroll or a formless daydream. Meanwhile, the majority of submissions were documentaries, many of which reached an exceptional standard in the form of subjective essays and personal testimonies. These works prompted us to reflect on the retrospective function of archival practices and to consider the evolving aesthetics and formal experimentation within the documentary genre. Eight titles have been selected for this year’s Discovery section. While we regret the noticeable decline in presence and energy from Korea and other parts of Asia, we are pleased to present a selection that includes films from Spain, Chile, Australia, Japan, and India, as well as from the lesser-seen cinematic landscapes of Lithuania and Slovenia. We look forward to sharing these first and second feature films by emerging female filmmakers—voices that promise to shape the future of cinema—with audiences very soon.