This year, the Seoul International Film Festival returns for a 10th year in Korea’s capitol. The original incarnation fell victim to hard times in 2008, but Seoul International is back & better than ever.

 

Born as SENEF (Seoul Film and Net Festival) in 1999, the original Seoul International Film Festival ran for 9 seasons, attracting more than 30,000 people to the city to celebrate hundreds of films.

 

SIFF's Executive Director, Jon Racinskas, explained why the SIFF 2019 team took on the challenge of bringing an international film festival back to Seoul after more than a decade: "It was around 2010 when we noticed that Busan was really becoming a top-tier festival, and suddenly people in Seoul were, like, 'Hey, where did our film festival go? We had one here a minute ago'. I think, with Seoulites, there's a kind of quiet resentment because Seoul is seen as this kind of cultural hub of Korea, but everyone is going to Busan. Seoul has a number of fantastic festivals, but they tend to be very niche-y. There's an international food film festival here, but no general purpose international festival and market. This team was created to fix that."

 

A decade of Seoul International Film Festival will be marked by a week-long celebration of films, filmmakers, and the people that love them. It will span across the city and feature international showcases, industry panels, social events, cultural exchanges, and a lot of really good movies.

 

SIFF 2019 will award prize packages in twelve categories, including Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Short, Best Screenplay, and Best Performance. These and the coveted Audience Award will be presented at the Awards Night Celebration.

 

Submit your films here: FilmFreeway

 

역사