These are 15 films you shouldn’t miss at the 19th Seoul International Eco Film Festival which will take place in cinemas and online from June 2 – 8, 2022.

Selected Films

Sandra and Cecilia are two great apes that live secluded and exhibited in two Argentine zoos in terrible conditions. The NGO Proyecto Gran Simio contacts a group of Argentine lawyers to begin a journey to achieve recognition of the three fundamental rights: the right to life, liberty and non-torture. Against them, they will have the zoo managers, related to the animal trafficking mafias, afraid of losing their economic benefits at the expense of the animals. Candela, a photojournalist, begins an investigation to gather scientific, biological and evolutionary arguments that demonstrate our similarities with Sandra and Cecilia. (SIEFF 2022)

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In 2014, a team of civic groups and bereaved families uncovered a site where civilians were massacred during the Korean War. With hundreds of unearthed skulls, they reckon with how to record the country’s past. (SIEFF 2022)

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Jung-gu, the original city center of Incheon, South Korea, was the first to open the port during the Japanese colonial era. And it is also the point of origin of modern architecture, Japanese colonial houses, railroads, shipping and airports in South Korea. Currently, it is also a place where the two themes of development and regeneration are in conflict. This is a story about those who dream of healthy revival around Jung-gu. (SIEFF 2022)

12-years-old Houlaye lives in Niger, and travels several kilometers each day to fetch water. The village got together to construct a well. This is the promise of a new life for people who have literally been walking on water since birth. (SIEFF 2022)

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The meditation on the struggles brought on by the coal industry and its decline, as told through the personal storytelling of West Virginians. While we’ve seen powerful films that address mountain top removal, the opioid epidemic, environmental devastation, and the decline of the coal industry in West Virginia – we’d yet to see a film that explores their interconnection, and takes a holistic look at the impact of these myriad factors upon the people, the land, and the soul of a state that’s become a bellwether for the rest of the nation. (SIEFF 2022)

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Scientist Hannele Korhonen’s life changes dramatically when she is awarded a 1.5 million USD research grant by the United Arab Emirates to participate in their ambitious project to stimulate rainfall over the notoriously arid region. The opportunity to get proper funding and do good sounds amazing. But, gradually Hannele learns that the financiers have their own agenda. Her enthusiasm morphs into an ethical dilemma and inner conflicts. If she succeeds to make it rain, is she giving means to rule the clouds? What is the ultimate price of ambition? (SIEFF 2022)

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In Jecheon Duksan Elementary School, below Woraksan Mountain, 15 students have been in the same class for six years. They don’t sit still during the class like any others. They would whisper about their teacher that he can’t even control his own emotions. The new teacher, Yun-jae, who imagined his students to be calm and well-behaved, is frustrated to see them quite different from any other students. The children are now heading toward graduation. Their seasons fly in the sky. What is the sky filled with? (SIEFF 2022)

In a sprawling mega city where the dangers of climate change are present not future, Rahul Jain shows a world on the brink. Told through striking images and eye-opening accounts from everyday citizens, Invisible Demons delivers a visceral and immersive journey through the stories of just a few of Delhi’s 30 million inhabitants fighting to survive. Invisible Demons offers a deeply experiential and new perspective on its subject: the clear and present climate reality. Jain engages the senses by stimulating our desire to live in a world with equitable access to clean air and water. (SIEFF 2022)

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It is a story of ‘the bulls who didn’t become meat’. In 2002, bullfighting was legalized under the name of ‘tradition’. Large-scale bullfights are organized and gambling houses came along. People drag the bulls into the huge stadium and put them into fights. Tickets sell like hot cakes and fanfare sound all over. No one seems to care about the ones who bleed and wail amid the celebration. The bulls stick their heads out of the row of trucks and say, ‘Hey, can someone listen to us too?’ (SIEFF 2022)

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Faced with the advance of eucalyptus plantations, a farmer and an indigenous community position themselves as resistance and reveal the impact of monoculture on the environment, in contrast to traditional ways of life. The enemy can also be green. (SIEFF 2022)

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A group of lawyers, young activists and grandparents file a historic lawsuit against the Norwegian government for granting new oil licenses in the Arctic Barents Sea. Article 112 in the Norwegian Constitution states that “Every person has the right to an environment that is conducive to health and to a natural environment whose productivity and diversity are maintained.” (SIEFF 2022)

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Among the residents of Kamasawa is Simon Piggott, a translator originally from England, who moved to Oshika 30 years ago after living in and around Tokyo for many years. For him Oshika is somewhere special. Maeshima Kumi, whose family has lived in Oshika for several centuries and now runs a traditional inn, talks about her opposition to the Linear project. Michiko’s daughter Kaito talks about why it’s important to preserve the beautiful village in which she was born for her child Fumi and the children of future generations. (SIEFF 2022)

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Are electric cars, solar panels, wind turbines conserving earth’s resources and putting an end to pollution? Quite the contrary; these technologies rely on rare minerals and add pressure on their resources. Mining them releases radioactive substances and refining them needs thousands of gallons of water. Global leaders are aware of this. Why are they withholding the whole truth about green tech? (SIEFF 2022)

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This film spanned 18 years, documenting the dramatic changes and difficult process of transitioning from nomadic to settled home lifestyle for the last Mongolian herders in a high mountain pasture called “Eternal” on the westernmost border of Xinjiang, China. (SIEFF 2022)

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Our oceans are drowning in plastic. Much of this waste ends up in the sea via rivers, including European rivers. To find out more, Steffen and a friend build a GPS buoy to follow the waste’s journey all the way to the Arctic. (SIEFF 2022)

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For more information, please visit: https://en.sieff.kr/