SIWFF Project is a section that showcases new Korean feature and short films developed through the SIWFF¡¯s in house creation and production support programs, which aim to explore the expansion and diverse possibilities of women¡¯s cinema. Women filmmakers¡¯ creativity and narratives are supported and nurtured through initiatives such as Pitch & Catch, a feature length film pitch competition led by women creators, and Film X Gender, a short film production grant organized in partnership with the Korea Institute for Gender Equality Promotion and Education and hosted by SIWFF. Projects that have been supported from their earliest stages are brought to audiences through this platform.
This year¡¯s SIWFF Project section presents five feature films and two short films, each offering a distinct female-centered perspective. Notably, the program includes five notable feature films that earned awards over the past three years at Pitch & Catch. Shin Seung-eun¡¯s I Am Happy delicately follows a spirited freelance voice actor navigating an unexpected depression diagnosis. Lee Yujin¡¯s Manok offers a warm, witty comedy about a middle-aged lesbian bar owner who returns to her rural hometown to run against her ex-husband, now the village chief, in an election. Yoon Simkyung¡¯s Sua's Home sensitively weaves the story of a marginalized teenage girl seeking connection and belonging in an unfamiliar space.
Bang Miri¡¯s Save explores themes of trust, survival, and personal autonomy when a girl about to leave an orphanage encounters someone claiming to be her life saving benefactor. Baek Seung-bin¡¯s I Am Love blurs the boundaries between reality and imagination through the experience of a woman working in a pharmacy who becomes captivated by a regular customer¡¯s unrequited devotion.
In addition, two short films funded under the 2025 Film X Gender program make their world premieres here: Hwang Jiu¡¯s What Do You See in Me?, a sharp and emotional portrait of a woman grappling with allegations against her partner in a case of digital sexual misconduct; and Jung Sujin¡¯s Abort Mission, which tenderly depicts the emotional tensions and eventual reconciliation between a mother deciding to have a child later in life and her daughter.