Seoul Women's Film Fest Marks 10 Years

The International Women's Film Festival in Seoul (WFFIS) celebrates a decade of upholding the female spirit and creativity by offering 141 films from 30 countries April 10-18.

The world's largest and most successful film event for women, WFFIS has been a playground for women cineastes. But over the years, it grew to become a form of ``cultural movement'' that explores questions on women's issues in the larger context, as an important thread in the social fabric.

Festival director Lee Hyae-kyoung met with The Korea Times last week to discuss what it means to ``see the world through women's eyes.''

``Film theorist Laura Mulvey said the camera services male viewpoints and caters to their desires by objectifying females,'' she said. ``The women's film festival is related with the feminist movement. We aim to answer questions about how it would be to view the world driven by female desires and perspectives.

``It also goes beyond women's issues and fathoms what the female perspective means within the context of human and even non-human concerns, and what role it plays in creating new social systems and cultures,'' she said.

Launched in 1997 as a humble biannual event, the film festival grew steadily. Unlike most festivals, WFFIS is not state-funded, though it now receives generous support from the government. But whether it was small or big, the festival was always very popular, garnering an average of over 90 percent capacity for screenings ― rare for any given film event in the world. This is phenomenal considering that it caters to a largely female audience.

``Our aim is to instill confidence in women, nurturing the soul for a year until the next festival. It's true we began as a separatist festival for women, with the female audience and filmmakers at the core. But we remained open and aimed to influence society with simultaneously separatist and mainstreaming efforts,'' she said.

Today, the female-male audience ratio is about 6:4. The festival is making efforts to expand to a wider audience in terms of age range. For moms, a day care center is provided.

And in the spirit of opening up, the 10th edition of the festival features ``Open Cinema,'' a lineup of works by male directors. ``Biological differences aren't so important, male directors can treat women's issues with a keen eye, while female directors can make action movies,'' she said.

``Open Cinema is something we've been thinking of since our 4th edition of the festival. By opening up to males, we're not losing our focus on women. It's a sign of our openness and toleration, confidence and desire to communicate with a larger audience,'' said Lee.

``While the festival retains a focus on women and social minorities, it also functions as a source of creativity and new, alternative values. If our efforts have thus far been geared to making things plausible and collective, we want our festival to help feminist values and philosophies to become a principal part of society,'' she said.

``As society and values evolve, a women's film festival does not have to disappear. It will continue to offer a unique perspective, not only in the context of Korean society but within Asia and in the world,'' she said.

WFFIS created the Berlin Asian Women's Film Festival, which was launched last fall, and also collaborates with the festival in Chennai, India. While there are about 20 women's cinema events in Europe, including the 30-year-old Creteil in France, and others in Asia, the Seoul festival is leading the pack.

See Through Women's Eyes

What does it mean to ``see the world through women's eyes?'' ``It's hard to say in words,'' said Lee, suggesting movies say more than a thousand words. She says one should watch at least five films to truly savor a festival.

``The themes vary, from dealing with sexual violence to postnatal depression, or it can have no theme at all. It can be very delicate or very violent. But in all, our festival allows women to express suppressed feelings and experiences in modern society. Most of all, it's about creating alternative values in a post-modern society,'' she said.

Here are a few of the ``must-see'' films recommended by the festival programmers Kim Seon-ah and Kwon In-sun.



In the special section, Focus on Peng Xiaolian, Kim recommends ``Women's Story'' (1988), which gave the Chinese director Peng international stardom. This traces the lives of three women living in a rural village in China, and explores gender equality in a communist state. Peng will give a master class about women in filmmaking, April 12.

Another small town story is ``Late Bloomers'' (2006, Switzerland) in New Currents. This slapstick war of the sexes shows how comedy may be the best way to tackle a serious social matter.



Another movie to catch is the Czech documentary ``Marcela'' (2006). This film traces 20 years of the life of Marcela, a woman struggling through a poverty-stricken marriage. After her divorce she must raise her daughter and mentally handicapped son alone. One day she dies, but the cause of her death remains unclear. A recipient of the 2007 Best Czech Documentary Film Award, ``Marcela'' was publicly released to financially support Marcela's family. Director Helena Trestikova will visit audiences in Seoul.

In Open Cinema, Kim recommends ``The Edge of Heaven'' (2007, Germany/Turkey) by award-winning male director Fatith Akin. It's about the encounter and romance between a Turkish father and son and German mother and daughter. It explores the world of immigration and emigration and crisscrossed human relationships bound by race and blood.

Programmer Kwon suggests ``Habitual Sadness,'' a 1997 documentary film that appears in 97-07 Women's Cinema in Korea section. This film records the spring, summer, fall and winter at ``House of Sharing,'' a home for World War II sex slaves also known as ``comfort women.'' More cheerful than somber, the project was launched to grant the last wish of Kang Deok-gyung, one of these aging women.

Other film sections include Female Bodies: Biopolitics and Body Politics, Girl's Crazy Camera and Queer Rainbow. The opening ceremony, featuring a special omnibus film ``Ten Ten,'' will take place at the National Museum of Korea Theater in central Seoul, 6 p.m., April 10. The closing ceremony and screenings will be at Artreon near Sinchon station.

The festival, as festival director Lee stressed, is not just for watching movies. There are a host of open talks and debates that everyone ― women, men and students alike ― can take part of, such as the conference ``The Global Cartographies of Cine-Feminisms,'' taking place all day long, April 14. Scholars and filmmakers from near and far will participate.

Visit www.wffis.or.kr (English and Korean) for more information.