20 Must-see short films from the 28th Seoul International Women’s Film Festival 2026 (Part 2)

By Asian Film Festival on August 21, 2026 • ( Leave a comment )

We continue with our list of short films you shouldn’t miss at the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival (South Korea) which will take place from August 20 – 26, 2026.

Lessons in Progress by Yang Juyeon – South Korea | 2026 – 33 minutes | World Premiere
Section: SIWFF Project

For six years, Hyemin has taught feminism at a national arts university. Her course, “Gender Practice for Artists,” has been mandatory for all K-Arts freshmen since 2019. As someone with a Ph.D. in Women’s Studies, she has found this class to be both a welcome opportunity and a heavy burden. She has silently endured rude remarks in class and hostile evaluations calling feminism “shit.” In December 2024, facing her final class, Hyemin turns on a camera inside her car, which serves as her only waiting room, finally voicing the feelings she can no longer suppress. (SIWFF 2026)

My Aunt by Wi Eun-kyoung, Son Gwang-min – South Korea | 2026 – 25 minutes
Section: Asian Shorts

Sunhee, who runs a modest animal clinic, is fostering a puppy whose owner never returned. Out of the blue, her niece she had raised as her own shows up after ten years, only to announce that she is leaving for New Zealand the very next day. (SIWFF 2026)

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My Killer Erotic Video by Seo Saerom, Bae Issac – South Korea | 2026 – 20 minutes
Section: Korean Panorama, Here & Now

Saemi, an art student, collapses at the slightest touch of a man. Her world is thrown into a whirlwind of desire and dread when she meets Woong—the first man she truly longs for. But as a mysterious entity begins preying on women on campus, Saemi’s trauma reaches its breaking point. Caught between flight and confrontation, she makes a choice no one ever expected. (SIWFF 2026)

Surface Tension by Mariana Serrano, Gabriela Serrano – Philippines | 2025 – 17 minutes | International Premiere
Section: New Currents

Competitive swimmer Bulet finds herself drowning on the day of a small town wedding. (SIWFF 2026)

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The Remains by Yi Jiin – South Korea | 2026 – 30 minutes
Section: Korean Panorama, Here & Now

Young-jin, a college student, visits her aunt after eleven years of estrangement to film a documentary about her deceased mother. Her aunt, however, refuses to say anything. When the project comes to a standstill due to a lack of interview subjects, Young-jin turns to the person closest to her. Based on an unfinished documentary the director had been making about her own family, this film adopts a fictional form to bring that personal project to completion. (SIWFF 2026)

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The Will of Love by Kim Yungyeong – South Korea | 2025 – 16 minutes
Section: Queer Rainbow

Yu-jeong and Hae-won write wills to ensure that they can legally leave their assets to each other after death. But when Yu-jeong’s mother discovers the wills, misunderstandings begin to spread through her family. (SIWFF 2026)

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Unfamiliar Ties by Kim Yukyung – South Korea | 2025 – 14 minutes
Section: I-Teens

Growing up with divorced parents, 15-year-old Haeun is left completely alone after losing her mother. Before she has time to grieve, she is confronted with a stack of unfamiliar documents filled with terms she has never seen before. They are the paperwork and administrative procedures she must complete to settle her mother’s affairs and begin living on her own, but they are overwhelming for someone still so young. Her aunt visits from time to time and offers to help, yet her kindness seems to come with hidden intentions. With no one else to rely on, Haeun decides to seek out the father she doesn’t remember. After finally tracking down his phone number, she nervously calls, but only hears the ringing tone. He never answers. She tries again using her late mother’s phone, but there is still no response. As a last attempt, Haeun prepares to leave him a voice message, but no words come out. (SIWFF 2026)

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Welcome to Set by Cyan Bae – Netherlands, South Korea | 2026 – 15 minutes
Section: Polemics: Digital Sexual Politics and Transformative Thinking

Congratulations! You’ve been selected as a validity rater for the datasets behind emotional AI technologies. Reenacting laboratory data collection processes, Welcome to Set invites viewers to behind the scenes of machine learning. This experimental documentary explores the body politics of emotion and suspicion within algorithmic security practices. (SIWFF 2026)

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Your City by Su Ting – USA, China, France | 2026 – 14 minutes | Asian Premiere
Section: Asian Shorts

A fragmented memoir-diary disguised as a disaster film. What begins as a mundane phone call slowly unravels into a storm of uncertainty. Between Shenzhen and New York, cities built by migration and constant change: two queer voices, a river of analog film and thermal imagery. A film that builds and collapses around the small lives caught in the unease of the present. (SIWFF 2026)

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Your Resolution:240p by Song Yechan – South Korea | 2026 – 27 minutes | World Premiere
Section: Asian Shorts

Director Juyeon is editing a film she made with her former lover, who also starred in it. She believes that completing the film successfully will naturally restore their relationship. But when a technical error lowers the resolution of an important scene, that hope begins to fall apart. Amid the blurred images, Juyeon struggles to find both the film’s direction in the edit. (SIWFF 2026)

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