These are our fifteen recommended feature films from the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival, which will take place from August 22 – 28, 2024 in Seoul, South Korea.

All Ears by Liu Jiayin – China | 2023 – 120 minutes | Korean Premiere

Wen Shan is a mediocre screenwriter struggling to make a living in Beijing. Commercial projects are left undone, and his own stories fall by the wayside. He lives a stagnant life in a fast growing city. By chance, he begins to write eulogies for a living. He meets the families of the deceased, carefully observes, listens to the stories, and at last, puts pen to paper. As he restores the lives of others, he finds his own place in the city and finally realizes that ordinary people can take the center stage too. (SIWFF 2024)

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Concerning My Daughter by Lee Mirang – Korea | 2023 – 106 minutes

Left with nothing but a rundown house to keep her off the streets, a mother who works as a carer is in no position to comply with her daughter’s request for money. When her daughter realizes her mother is ineligible even for a bank loan, she is forced to move into her mother’s house together with her lesbian partner. Thrown into an incredibly awkward and uncomfortable situation, the mother directs all her energy into her job as caregiver in a nursing home. However, she cannot help but see her own future and that of her daughter in the experiences of an elderly woman she tends to in the home alone, in poverty and suffering from dementia. (SIWFF 2024)

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Elegies by Ann Hui – Hong Kong | 2023 – 103 minutes

Venice Career Golden Lion-winning auteur Ann hui finally films a topic she holds most dear – poetry. Through her personal encounters with some of Hong Kong’s most notable poets, Hui shows the topography of contemporary poetry on and of the city.​ (SIWFF 2024)

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It’s Okay! by Kim Hyeyoung – Korea | 2023 – 102 minutes

One year after the tragic loss of her mother, In-young finds herself without a home and takes refuge in the dance studio of her arts company. Her secret sanctuary is soon threatened when the head choreographer, Seol-ah, discovers her hiding there. (SIWFF 2024)

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K-Family Affairs by Nam Arum – Korea | 2023 – 90 minutes

Arum’s parents belong to the 386 generation, who take great pride in achieving democratization with their own hands. Arum, who grew up firmly believing that democracy was a gift from her parents’ generation, faced the Sewol ferry disaster in the year she turned twenty. (SIWFF 2024)

Kisspeptin Chronicles by Okada Shiika – Japan | 2023 – 110 minutes | International Premiere

Can we ever be freed from the “curse of love” that dictates “women must be pretty and fall in love”? A humorous and at times affecting chronicle of an artistic girl’s life and loves from elementary school, through university, into young adulthood. (SIWFF 2024)

Land of My Dreams by Nausheen Khan – India | 2023 – 74 minutes | Korean Premiere

Protests rage against the Indian Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019. The director listens to the protesters’ voices and observes her own identity as a Muslim woman. (SIWFF 2024)

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My Missing Aunt by Yang Juyeon – Korea | 2024 – 79 minutes

On a wintery night, Juyeon receives a call from her father. In his drunken voice, he leaves strange remarks, “Don’t become like your aunt who committed suicide.” Stunned by the family secret, she starts chasing the traces of her aunt, who resembles her strikingly. Juyeon breaks the suffocating silence and recreates her aunt’s lost voice through animation. (SIWFF 2024)

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Ripples by Ogigami Naoko – Japan | 2023 – 121 minutes

Sudo Yoriko believes in a new religious group Midoriinochikai, that worships water. She lives peacefully, praying every day and studying about Midoriinochikai. One day, her husband, who has been missing for a long time, comes back to her. Due to that, her emotions, that she suppressed, explode out. (SIWFF 2024)

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Rookie by Samantha Lee – Philippines | 2023 – 95 minutes | Korean Premiere

The high school volleyball coach spots Ace on her first day at her new school and invites her to tryout for the volleyball team. Ace initially feels out of place in the volleyball court because her heart belongs to basketball. Everything changes when she falls for the volleyball team captain, Jana, who dislikes her because she sees her as a threat. (SIWFF 2024)

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Smoking Tiger by So Young Shelly Yo – USA | 2023 – 92 minutes

Over one summer spent at an elite academic bootcamp, a lonely Korean American teenager hides her true identity to fit in, only to discover the bittersweet pains of adulthood. (SIWFF 2024)

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The Last Woman on Earth by Yeum Moonkyoung, Lee Jongmin – Korea | 2024 – 85 minutes | World Premiere

Gu Hana is a blunt blue-haired woman taking a liberal film art class. No one gives her sincere feedback on her screenplay, which is full of anger toward men. But only one person, Song Cheol, an aspiring director who wishes to make a feature film, approaches her and says, “Hey, isn’t this screenplay hatred of men?” He believes a sponsored enterprise didn’t select his screenplay because it didn’t receive the ’extra points from woman’s film.’  He ridiculously suggests that Hana team up with him…!  (SIWFF 2024)

Three Sides to Every Story by Joo Hyunsook, Oh Ji Soo, Han Younghee – Korea | 2024 – 109 minutes

This documentary tells the story of people who were at the scene of the 2014 Sewol Ferry disaster. They are journalists, bereaved families of the victims, and survivors. Ten years after the disaster, what did it leave us? These are three omnibus documentaries with different perspectives. (SIWFF 2024)

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Time to Be Strong by Namkoong Sun – Korea | 2024 – 100 minutes

Three retired K-pop idols take a trip to Jeju Island. After failed careers and missed school trips, they finally have the time to go on a trip on their own. On their first day on the island, things start to go awry. (SIWFF 2024)

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Voices of the Silenced by Park Soo-nam, Park Maeui – Korea, Japan | 2023 – 142 minutes

Park Su-nam dedicated her life to documenting the testimonies of Korean victims of the atomic bomb, Okinawan conscription victims, and Japanese military comfort women. Now in her 80s, Park decides to digitally restore 100,000 feet of footage, captured on deteriorating 16mm film, with the help of her daughter. (SIWFF 2024)

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For more information, please visit: https://www.siwff.or.kr/eng/