Seoul International New Wave Film Awards 2026

8th August
NOOK NOOK
Seoul, Republic of Korea

Awards Winners

Best Short Film

Céremony — poster

Céremony│Mark Wachholz

아이들의 고통이 가려지는 가까운 미래, 사라진 도시의 유일한 생존자인 열두 살 소녀가 진실을 증언하러 나선다.

In a near-future where children's suffering is hidden from view, the sole survivor of an erased city, a 12-year-old girl, comes forward to testify to the truth.

Programmer's Note

가공된 화면이 불편해지는 순간, 우리가 무엇으로부터 눈을 돌려왔는지 묻는다. 직면에 관한 창의적인 시선이 돋보인다.

The moment its constructed imagery turns unsettling, the film asks what we have been turning our eyes away from. A creative, striking perspective on facing what we would rather not see.

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Céremony — still 1 Céremony — still 2
Despicable Nights In Heaven — poster

Despicable Nights In Heaven│Omkar Modgi

유부남의 은밀한 불륜이 아파트 주차장에서 기괴한 충돌로 터져 나오면서, 공들여 쌓아 온 그의 삶이 무너지기 시작한다.

When a married man's secret affair erupts into a grotesque confrontation in his apartment parking lot, his carefully built life begins to unravel.

Programmer's Note

전반적으로 깔린 재즈 스타일 음악처럼 전개와 호흡마저 재즈처럼 흐른다.

Like the jazz that runs throughout, the film's rhythm and pacing flow like jazz itself.

Despicable Nights In Heaven — still 1 Despicable Nights In Heaven — still 2

Best Documentary

MUKUNAN APRENDIZ DE PAJÉ — poster

MUKUNAN APRENDIZ DE PAJÉ│Rodrigo Sena

오래된 식물이 스승이 되어 자연을 돌보는 샤먼의 길로 포티과라 청년을 이끈다.

Older than us, the plants become the teacher, guiding a young Potiguara toward becoming a shaman who cares for the earth.

Programmer's Note

더 빠른 답과 더 새로운 것만 좇는 시대에 이 작품은 가장 오래된 스승인 식물과 숲에게로 시선을 돌린다.

In an age that chases only faster answers and newer things, this film turns its gaze toward the oldest teachers of all: the plants and the forest.

MUKUNAN APRENDIZ DE PAJÉ — still 1 MUKUNAN APRENDIZ DE PAJÉ — still 2
A Message for the Butterfly — poster

A Message for the Butterfly│Zuxin Hou, Mark Wachholz

우리가 기억하는 것들이 우리 곁에 남기 위한 게 아니라 먼저 떠나보내는 것이었다면?

What if the things we remember were never meant to stay with us, but something we send ahead?

Programmer's Note

진화는 곧 상실이기도 하다. 그 아이러니를 매우 섬세하게 풀어낸 작품이다.

Evolution is also a form of loss. This film unravels that irony with great delicacy.

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A Message for the Butterfly — still 1 A Message for the Butterfly — still 2

Best Music Video

Pillow Men — poster

Pillow Men│Jacky Wong

필로우 시스템이 지배하는 세계에서, 사람들은 하얀 베개를 뒤집어쓴 채 자신의 의식을 AI에게 넘긴다.

In a world governed by the Pillow System, people surrender their consciousness to an AI by donning white pillows.

Programmer's Note

AI에게 자아를 모두 빼앗긴다면 어떻게 될까? 이 질문마저 AI로 만든 영상으로 던졌다는 점이 질문을 한층 더 서늘하게 만든다.

What happens if AI takes our sense of self entirely? The fact that even this question is posed through AI-generated imagery makes it all the more chilling.

Pillow Men — still 1 Pillow Men — still 2

Honorable Mention

X-RAY — poster

X-RAY│DOGYEOM PARK

최종 오디션에 떨어진 아들이, 암 검진을 받으러 부산에서 올라온 어머니와 하루를 보낸다.

After failing his final audition, a son spends a day with his mother, who has come up from Busan for a cancer screening.

Programmer's Note

나를 지켜주던 사람을 이제 내가 돌봐야 할 때, 이 작품은 미묘한 역전의 하루를 조용히 응시한다. 다 자란 나무 속을 들여다보는 기분이 든다.

The moment when the one who once protected me becomes the one I must care for. This film quietly observes a single day of that subtle reversal. Watching it feels like looking inside a fully grown tree.

X-RAY — still 1 X-RAY — still 2
Shaman Bells — poster

Shaman Bells│Eunji Ryu

VBC 다큐멘터리 <추적 프로파일링> 제작팀이 방영을 앞두고 대한민국 최장기 수배자 '이상호'의 행방을 쫓는다.

The team behind VBC's documentary Trace Profiling investigates the whereabouts of Lee Sang-ho, South Korea's longest-running fugitive, before its launch.

Programmer's Note

사실과 허구의 경계를 넘나들다 보면 어느새 그것이 사실인지 허구인지는 중요하지 않아진다. 그렇게 서서히 공포에 잠식되는 기묘한 작품이다.

As it drifts back and forth across the line between fact and fiction, you gradually stop caring which is which, and find yourself slowly consumed by dread. A strange and unsettling piece.

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Shaman Bells — still 1 Shaman Bells — still 2
Chicken Run — poster

Chicken Run│Sang Feel Yook

밤거리를 내달리던 치킨 배달원 진원이 옛 연인 미영과 마주치고, 바삭하게 튀겨진 자신의 치킨 팔을 내보인다.

Jinwon, a chicken delivery man running through the night streets, bumps into his ex-girlfriend Mi-young, and shows her his deliciously fried chicken arm.

Programmer's Note

황당한 설정 아래에 현 시대 한국 청년이 짊어진 무력감이 깔려 있다. 비극은 유쾌한 탈을 쓰고 있을 때 가장 슬프다는 것을 보여준다.

Beneath its absurd premise lies the powerlessness carried by young Koreans today. This film shows that tragedy is saddest when it wears a cheerful mask.

Chicken Run — still 1 Chicken Run — still 2
Red Door — poster

Red Door│Divya Bandaru

하이데라바드의 보날루 축제, 한 연인의 나들이가 말다툼과 오토바이 분실로 예기치 못한 방향으로 흘러간다.

During Hyderabad's Bonalu festival, a couple's outing takes an unexpected turn when an argument and a missing bike throw them into the chaos of the Old City.

Programmer's Note

소란스럽고 정신없는 와중, 바깥의 혼돈이 커질수록 연인 내면의 혼돈 또한 선명해지는 연출이 인상적이다.

Amid all the noise and chaos, the louder the turmoil outside grows, the sharper the turmoil within the couple becomes, in a striking piece of direction.

Watch online →
Red Door — still 1 Red Door — still 2

Screening Schedule

August 8, 2026 (KST)  14:00–18:00

Screening timetable — August 8, 2026 (KST) 14:00-18:00

About

The Seoul International New Wave Film Awards (SINFA) is an international film festival dedicated to discovering and spotlighting new waves at the forefront of the rapidly evolving visual media landscape. Even at this very moment, the formats for cinematic expression continue to expand.

Moving beyond the traditional horizontal screens of movie theaters, to vertical screens consumed in the palm of your hand, and even to works born from collaboration with AI tools—SINFA views these changes not as a threat, but as a boundless possibility.
At the same time, we deeply respect the heritage of cinematic language accumulated over more than a century.

Just as past "New Waves" did, we believe that a new wave always begins with an understanding of and affection for preceding generations.

Categories

Short Film
  • Under 30 mins
  • Horizontal (16:9)
  • Vertical (9:16)
Short Animation
  • Under 30 mins
  • Horizontal (16:9)
  • Vertical (9:16)
Short Documentary
  • Under 40 mins
  • Horizontal (16:9)
  • Vertical (9:16)
Short Series
  • Under 40 mins, 2+ eps.
  • Horizontal (16:9)
  • Vertical (9:16)
Music Video
  • Under 10 mins
  • Horizontal (16:9)
  • Vertical (9:16)

Event schedule

Submission Open Results Announced Offline Screening
MTWTFSS
JUL06
07
08
09
10
11
12
SUBMISSION OPEN · JUL 7–26
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
AUG01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09

* All dates are based on KST (UTC+9).

How to apply

Submit your work through FilmFreeway.

Prepare your film file, synopsis, and credits, then enter through our FilmFreeway page.

Submit on FilmFreeway