A total of 1,805 films were submitted, the ‘largest number ever’… The opening film is ‘To Those Who Irrelevant’
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(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Jeong Rae-won = The Seoul Independent Film Festival, the largest independent film festival in Korea, begins its 9-day journey starting on the 27th.
The Seoul Independent Film Festival Executive Committee held a press conference at Megabox Art Nine in Dongjak-gu, Seoul on the 5th and introduced the films and programs screened at the 51st film festival.
The number of films submitted to this year’s film festival was 1,805, an increase of 101 films from last year, which was the largest ever. Of these, 127 films are scheduled to meet audiences during the film festival.
The film festival said, “As production conditions become difficult after COVID-19, small-scale creation is becoming active as manpower flows into independent films,” and “Independent films are emerging as a new central axis amid changes in the structure of the film industry.”
This year’s event had the slogan ‘Movies need you to come’. It contains the meaning that independent films are completed only through encounter with the audience.
The opening film will be ‘To You Irrelevant’ directed by Kim Tae-yang, Son Ku-yong, Lee Mi-rang, and Lee Jong-soo. It is a compilation of three short films each director directed with their imagination, based on the lost final scene of the film ‘The Widow’ by Park Nam-ok, the first female director of Korean cinema.
Mo Eun-young, executive director of the Seoul Independent Film Festival, explained, “This year’s provocative and experimental opening film will allow audiences to experience more intense cinematic participation than ever before.”
In the main competition section, 12 full-length films and 35 short films will pass the preliminary screening and compete for the grand prize, best picture, and excellent work award.
In the feature-length competition section, programmer Nam Dong-cheol, director Lee Eon-hee, and actress Jeon Yeo-bin participate as judges. The short film competition will be judged by directors Kim Mi-young, Park Kyeong-geun, and Yoo Jin-mok.
The ‘Actor Project-60 Second Monologue Festival’, an audition program that discovers new independent film actors, celebrated its 8th anniversary this year.
Of the 7,757 applicants, the largest ever, 24 were selected as finalists, and the finals will be postponed and judged at CGV Cheongdam Cine City on the 1st of next month.
A new short production support project sponsored by actor Byun Woo-seok was also established. Kim Dong-hyun, program chairman of the Seoul Independent Film Festival, said, “It is meaningful in that the actor (Byun Woo-seok) is participating in a new role rather than the existing role, and I think it will be a positive signal to support independent films.”
The film festival will be held at CGV Apgujeong and CGV Cheongdam Cine City from the 27th to the 5th of next month.
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Sent at 13:10 on November 5, 2025
