1. Organization
The Seoul International Women’s Film Festival (SIWFF) is hosted by the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival Organizing Committee.
2. Goals
The Seoul International Women’s Film Festival aims to be a platform to share and expand the value of gender equality and diversity through films. SIWFF discovers and showcases outstanding works and projects with a focus on women, gender and related issues, as well as films made by female directors to support women in filmmaking and expand the prospect of women’s films.
3. Festival Dates
The 26th Seoul International Women’s Film Festival is held from Thursday, August 22 to Wednesday, August 28, 2024, in Seoul, South Korea.
4. Programs
Programs of the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival consist of competition and non-competition sections as follows. It is subject to change under certain circumstances.
1) Competition Section
- Discovery discovers and supports emerging female directors with their cinematic aesthetics and feminist visions around the world.
- Asian Shorts showcases shorts made by Asian female directors. Also known as a gateway to discovering and supporting promising female directors.
- I-Teens focuses on the potential of teenagers in filmmaking to explore future female directors and to support their creative activities.
2) Non-competition Section
- New Currents showcases the latest pieces of women’s filmmaking and women’s themes in world cinemas.
- Korean Panorama, Here & Now focuses on contemporary women’s daily lives with intimate feminist languages and perspectives through recent pieces in Korean cinemas.
- Polemics selects an issue pending in feminism, and showcases relevant films.
- Queer Rainbow showcases the latest pieces in queer cinemas, re-thinks issues of social norms, tolerance, and human rights from feminist-queer perspectives, and explores cinematic techniques in queer reappearance.
- Special Programs focus on various subjects relevant to film histories, the film industry, and feminist aesthetics.
5. Eligibility
1) Films longer than 40 minutes are regarded as feature films, and films less than 40 minutes are regarded as short films.
2) All genres are eligible for both competitive and non-competitive sections,
3) Eligibility for competition sections are as follows.
- Films completed after January 1, 2023
- Films directed by a female director, or, at least one female director for co-production
- Competition sections
Discovery: First or second feature-length films by female directors of any nationality
Asian Shorts: Short films by female directors with Asian nationality or ethnic identity
I-Teens: Korean short films by female directors born after 2006.
6. Entry
1) All entries must be submitted online via the festival’s entry website or FilmFreeway before the given deadline.
- SIWFFF entry website : http://entry.siwff.or.kr/eng
- FilmFreeway : https://filmfreeway.com/SIWFF
2) Entry forms must be submitted no later than 18:00 pm, May 19th, 2024 (Korean Standard Time).
3) Online screeners of all submitted films must be valid until July 31, 2024, and the same version as the film’s final screening copy for the festival.
4) For non-English dialogue films, all screeners and all final screening copies must have English subtitles.
5) Materials submitted to the festival will not be returned.
7. Official Selection
1) The Seoul International Women’s Film Festival evaluates all films submitted. Selected films will be notified to the entrant individually by mid-July and the competition finalists will be announced at the festival website. Reasons will not be provided for films not selected.
2) The Seoul International Women’s Film Festival does not take any responsibility for actual or potential legal claims and issues in music, videos, and other elements contained and/or used in films. Entrants must clear legal claims and issues themselves before screening when officially selected.
3) Selected films that have agreed to the online screening can be screened at the festival’s online screening platform during the festival dates. The online screening will be geo-blocked to domestic regions within Korea.
4) Selected films that have agreed to the online screening must submit an additional screening file for online screening. The online screening may be canceled if the files are not submitted by the deadline.
5) The Seoul International Women’s Film Festival discards the files right after the festival closing.
8. Materials Submission
Entrants of the films officially selected must provide relevant materials as follows by the deadline. The materials are used for festival publication and promotional purposes and will not be returned unless requested.
- Online screener (link, password, etc.)
- Original and English dialogues
- Film information and stills
- Director information and photos
- Credit information
- Posters, trailers, etc.
9. Screening Copy (DCP) Delivery
1) The screening copy (DCP) of selected films must arrive at the festival office by the deadline. The copy must be the same version as the screeners submitted, and the screening may be canceled if the copy does not arrive by the deadline.
- Non-English dialogue films require English subtitles embedded in the prints.
2) The Seoul International Women’s Film Festival covers a round-way shipping cost when the screening copy providers use the courier service officially designated by the festival.
3) The Seoul International Women’s Film Festival returns all screening copies within 4 weeks after the festival closing.
4) In the case of non-Korean dialogue films, the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival makes Korean subtitles for screening. The copyrights of the Korean subtitles belong to the festival, and will not be given to the entrants complimentarily. Under the festival’s internal regulations, the festival can provide the subtitles at a cost.
10. Force Majeure
In the event of a natural disaster or social crisis, changes may occur, and the festival undertakes to inform the entrants or the representatives of the films relevant to the changes.
11. General Regulation
The above regulations will be effective with no additional consent once the entry forms are submitted to the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival.
