International Submissions Open for the 2025 25th Korea Queer Film Festival(Deadline: Mar 28, 2025 KST)

Korea Queer Film Festival(KQFF) is an LGBTQ+ film festival held in South Korea. With our slogan, “Open the Queer Window”, our festival is an opportunity to examine every aspect of living as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. We aim to foster LGBTQ+ culture and promote LGBTQ+ rights while enhancing the diversity of the Korean cinema.
Aside from the opening and the closing ceremony, our programs include Current Issue and Experimental Shorts. We also have other supplementary programs such as Guest Visits(GV) and Queer Movie Talk(Q-Talk), a series of discussion sessions on different subjects.
KQFF is hosted by Seoul Queer Culture Festival(SQCF) Organizing Committee consisting of volunteers, and is organized by Korea Queer Film Festival Executive Committee, our internal organization.
We are now receiving entries for international submissions for the 2025 25th Korea Queer Film Festival. With your submissions, we hope KQFF2025 will be another event full of insight and perspectives on the LGBTQ+ community.

1. Overview of the 2025 25th Korea Queer Film Festival*
1) Event Dates: June, 2025
2) Venue: Cinema(s) located in Seoul, Online screening
3) Organization: Hosted by Seoul Queer Culture Festival Organizing Committee / Organized by Korea Queer Film Festival Executive Committee

* More details for KQFF2025 will be provided in future announcements.

2. Film Entry Requirements
1) The subject matter and materials of your film entries must be suitable for a LGBT film festival, and your film entries must contain certain insight or perspective on the lives of the LGBTIAQ+ community.
2) Your film entries must be produced outside South Korea and after Jan 01, 2024.. All film entries must be in a completed state and be available for screening, and no subsequent editing or change is allowed once submission is completed.
3) For the screening submission, your film entries must be in either “.mov”/“.mp4” file format with English subtitle files(Include timestamp, “.srt”/”.smi”/”.vtt” files) attached.
4) Your film entries must be available for online screening on our online cinema platform during the period of KQFF. (Mandatory)
5) There are no restrictions on the film genre, style, form, etc. We do not have a premiere restriction policy, and all films are eligible for submission regardless of their availability on TV/DVD/OTT platforms.

3. Schedule for Evaluation
1) Submission Deadline: 18:00 KST, March 28, 2025
2) Announcement of the Evaluation Results: The results will be sent individually during April~May, 2025.
3) You are required to submit the following documents within ten days once we inform you that your entry has been selected.
- Digital file of the film, film stills, an English subtitle file, film trailer, posters, film credit information, etc.

4. How to Submit Your Film Entry
1) Once you have finished reading this announcement(until Section 7. ‘Important Notice’) carefully, please complete and submit the Entry Form from the Film Freeway website via the following link:
- https://filmfreeway.com/KoreaQueerFilmFestival
2) You must pay an entry fee when you submit your Entry Form. The amount is $4 for shorts** and $10 for features**.

** Shorts: running time is shorter than or equal to 40 minutes / Features: running time is longer than 40 minutes

5. Contact Details
- Please contact the Korea Queer Film Festival Executive Committee at kqff@kqff.co.kr.

Awards & Prizes

1. KQFF Choice: Our ‘LGBTQ+ Film of the Year’ as selected by the KQFF Executive Committee. The winner will also receive a prize, and the film will be prioritized for recommendations to other Korean or international film festivals.

2. Honorary Mention from the Executive Committee: Given to the ‘Noteworthy LGBTQ+ Film’ as selected by the KQFF Executive Committee. The winner will also receive a prize.

Rules & Terms

1. Once any false information on your Entry Form or any form of plagiarism in your film is discovered, the submission, selection, and screening of your film will immediately lose its validity; the entrant will subsequently be restricted from any future submission for KQFF.

2. The entrant bears all liabilities, including the copyright of the film entry, for any dispute or conflict.

3. Please provide the accurate title of your film(s) and the director(s). This information is used during promotion and cannot be corrected after submission.

4. Please provide your online screener’s password correctly on your Entry Form; the entrant bears all responsibilities for any negative consequences due to password errors.

5. Please note that entry fee waiver codes are only given to entrants from the countries listed in ‘DAC List of ODA Recipients’ of OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC). You can find the DAC list on the link provided below. If your country is on the list, please contact the KQFF Executive Committee via email at kqff@kqff.co.kr.
- https://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-standards/DAC-List-of-ODA-Recipients-for-reporting-2024-25-flows.pdf

6. Please note that entries with previous submission histories will not be considered.

7. Please note that we cannot refund any entry fee once it is paid.

8. Please note that we are unable to provide feedback for every entry for the festival.

9. The selection of your entry will be canceled if a) you cannot be reached within 10 days of the announcement of the selection; b) you fail to submit the following materials which the KQFF Executive Committee requested - these materials may be edited and used for the purpose of the promotion of the selected entry and the film festival.
- Digital file of the film, film stills, an English subtitle file, film trailer, posters, film credit information, etc.

10. English subtitles must include accurate timestamps. Please submit a file form that is “.srt”/”.smi”/”.vtt”.

11. Once you submit the materials we listed in 9), the selection and screening of your entry will be confirmed. If the entrant cancels the screening of the film after its screening is confirmed without a good reason and due notice, the entrant may be restricted from future submissions for KQFF. Once a film is selected, the KQFF processes it using donation money. As such, we ask you to only submit entries that you are prepared to screen.

12. We do not pay any screening fee for the selected entries. This is because KQFF is a non-profit event; please note that the festival is made possible thanks to our volunteer staff. Instead, we promise that we will promote your selected entry as best as possible using all the resources we can gather.

13. We ask that you understand that online screening is required, and there are no screening restrictions, including regional restrictions.

14. Please contact the KQFF Executive Committee at kqff@kqff.co.kr if the premiere status of your selected entry changes.
13 Reviews
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  • Andrea A Walter

    Very communicative and friendly staff and festival. Wish we could have attended but we received lots of love from the attendees online. Happy to have received the Korea Queer Choice Award for best short film. <3

    August 2024
    Helpful
  • Mauricio Pita

    I loved being a selection at KQFF. The communication was excellent, the films were absolutely stunning - and their appreciation for our work was palpable, thank you!

    October 2023
    Helpful
  • Toni Karat

    Unfortunately, I could not attend, but I am super happy to have won "Best LGBTQ FIlm Of The Year" with my Documentary NARCISSISM !

    August 2023
    Helpful
  • Anderson Bardot

    Thanks for all!
    You guys are fantastic!
    Great International Film Festival to celebrate our lives!

    August 2023
    Helpful
  • Sari Katharyn

    Congratulations on a successful festival for 2021, KQFF! I will always feel incredibly fond of your festival for being the first to accept our film, The Sappho Project: Fragment 147. Thank you so much for being so supportive and enthusiastic for filmmakers. I will always look forward to your festival! :)

    September 2021
    Helpful