These are eight films you shouldn’t miss at the Seoul International Architecture Film Festival which will take place from September 6 – 17, 2023 in Seoul, Korea.

Gongjin Elementary School in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, was shut down due to the dramatic decrease of number of students. At the end of 2013, the Education Office of Seoul started a project to establish a special-education school (Seojin School, tentatively). But even after about 5 years, its construction hasn’t started yet. Could Seojin School open with all the obstacles? (SIAFF 2023)

Trailer:

A carpenter and a site foreman Gi-hong lately yells at his colleagues more often. Out of patience, a fellow carpenter, and a friend Kyoung-jun points out the rudeness. Feeling ashamed, Gi-hong seeks a change in life. (SIAFF 2023)

Trailer:

Yunseon’s day begins with taking food to the cat feeding station in the mountains behind her neighborhood. Her husband, Yunjae, is displeased with Yunseon, who prioritizes the cat’s food over her own but pretends to be indifferent and helps her behind the scenes. The two decide to build a house on the empty lot behind the house. The lot is already a hideout for the neighborhood cats. Can they build their house without harming the cats’ habitat? Is it possible for humans and animals to build a home together? (SIAFF 2023)

Trailer:

The documentary covers the making of Sejima’s architectural masterpiece, a new building for Osaka University of Arts, over the course of three and a half years. Director Takashi Homma interviewed Sejima once every six months to explore what she was thinking at the time and how her thinking was changing. The viewer can experience how the architect’s though process is evolving over the span of the project. (SIAFF 2023)

Bawa’s Garden is a road movie in search of the work of renowned Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa. The film follows a protagonist scouring the island for the “lost” garden of Lunuganga. Her search is the catalyst for encounters with a series of characters and rarely visited buildings that reveal the story of Bawa’s life and work. Shot across Sri Lanka, this documentary weaves dreamlike narratives with real life characters intrinsic to the output of his renowned 20th-century architect. (SIAFF 2023)

Teaser:

Hye-jeong, who lost her husband in an industrial accident, moves wit her son Dong-wook to a new town apartment named “Dream Palace” she purchased with the accident settlement free. However, a constructional defect occurs in the apartment and to earn the cost for the repairment, she promotes the discount sale of the apartment following the suggestion of Yong-min, who introduced her to the apartment. In the meantime, she reunites with Su-in, her colleagues during the protest, and recommends the apartment to purchase. Just about the time Hye-jeong settled in her life, her promotion work of discount sale was found by In-mo, the representative of the apartment residents. She is isolated from the residents for disrupting the house price. In the rise of conflict with the residents, In-Mo forces her to choose between the two sides. (SIAFF 2023)

Kwon, a language school instructor, stops by her old workplace and receives a thick envelope addressed to her. A Japanese instructor named Mori had proposed to her two years ago, but she had turned him down. Mori and immediately gone back to Japan, but now was back in Korea looking for her. (SIAFF 2023)

Trailer:

Toyo Ito designed the International Baroque Museum in Puebla, Mexico. Nobody knew how to build this project until a team of Mexican constructors accepted the challenge after two years of nobody stepping up to it. But there was a catch. They only had 27 weeks to build something comparable to the Guggenheim in NYC. (SIAFF 2023)

Trailer:

For more information, please visit: https://siaff.or.kr/en.php