SEOUL, July 29 (AJP) - The annual Seoul International Women's Film Festival (SIWFF) will open next month, organizers said Wednesday.
Now in its 28th year, the weeklong festival will run from Aug. 20 to 26. It received a record number of submissions this year, with 4,115 films from 125 countries across competitive and noncompetitive sections.
In the festival's main competition section for international features, eight films from China, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Kosovo, Mexico, Pakistan and South Korea were selected for screening out of 462 entries submitted from 84 countries.
This year's SIWFF will broaden its appeal through programs exploring artificial intelligence, female representation and connections between cinema and other forms of cultuure, while expanding on last year's theme built around words beginning with the letter "F" such as film, fellowship and festival.
"The Station," directed by Yemeni-Scottish filmmaker Sarah Ishaq, will raise the festival's curtain. Set at a women-only gas station in war-torn Yemen, the film, which was also invited to the Cannes Film Festival in May, portrays the struggles of everyday life alongside the resilience and solidarity of women.
The festival will also revisit the history of South Korean cinema focusing on women with a retrospective program honoring late actress Kim Ji-mee where three of her notable works: "Fire Butterfly" (1965), "A Promise of the Body" (1975) and "Ticket (1986)" will be screened.
Launched in 1997, the SIWFF is one of Asia's leading film festivals dedicated to women filmmakers and films that explore women's lives from their perspectives.
Now in its 28th year, the weeklong festival will run from Aug. 20 to 26. It received a record number of submissions this year, with 4,115 films from 125 countries across competitive and noncompetitive sections.
In the festival's main competition section for international features, eight films from China, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Kosovo, Mexico, Pakistan and South Korea were selected for screening out of 462 entries submitted from 84 countries.
This year's SIWFF will broaden its appeal through programs exploring artificial intelligence, female representation and connections between cinema and other forms of cultuure, while expanding on last year's theme built around words beginning with the letter "F" such as film, fellowship and festival.
"The Station," directed by Yemeni-Scottish filmmaker Sarah Ishaq, will raise the festival's curtain. Set at a women-only gas station in war-torn Yemen, the film, which was also invited to the Cannes Film Festival in May, portrays the struggles of everyday life alongside the resilience and solidarity of women.
The festival will also revisit the history of South Korean cinema focusing on women with a retrospective program honoring late actress Kim Ji-mee where three of her notable works: "Fire Butterfly" (1965), "A Promise of the Body" (1975) and "Ticket (1986)" will be screened.
Launched in 1997, the SIWFF is one of Asia's leading film festivals dedicated to women filmmakers and films that explore women's lives from their perspectives.
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