Incheon Women's Film Festival "Remove Queer Films" vs "Discrimination and Hate Administration"

Film Festival Side "Censorship of Incheon City Screened Works"
City "Not Censorship... Mediation for Mutual Respect"

The 19th Incheon Women’s Film Festival is set to open next month. However, the Incheon city government, which provides subsidies, demanded the exclusion of queer films dealing with sexual minorities, prompting backlash from the festival organizers.

On the 17th, the Incheon Women’s Film Festival stated through its official social media channels, "The 19th Incheon Women’s Film Festival was selected as a recipient of Incheon city subsidy support, but the responsible department demanded censorship of the screening films and exclusion of queer films before approving the execution plan. This is an act of hateful administration by Incheon city, leading discrimination and hatred against minorities, which we cannot accept. We have decided to refuse Incheon city’s support and hold the festival on our own strength."

Statement from the Incheon Women’s Film Festival.
[Photo by Incheon Women’s Film Festival]

As the festival organizers decided to refuse Incheon city’s budget support, the four-day festival period was shortened by one day, and support for the festival was raised through a funding platform. On that day, 119 people participated in the support, raising 6,039,000 KRW.

The Incheon Women’s Film Festival has been conducted as an Incheon city subsidy-supported project from 2020 through last year, and this year it was also finally selected through a public contest.

During discussions with Incheon city about the festival’s direction, the responsible department, the Women’s Policy Division, reportedly requested the exclusion of queer films after receiving the screening list, stating that "it could create incorrect perceptions of gender and have a negative educational impact" and "it could cause conflicts."

Incheon city explained that among the festival’s screening films, three were of the queer genre, and they tried to balance the lineup by including one film each related to queer and ex-gay topics.

Additionally, an Incheon city official said, "Since public funds are used for the festival support, we proposed a mediation plan to ensure mutual respect between the majority and minority, but the organizers did not accept it," adding, "The term ‘censorship’ is not appropriate."

The Incheon Women’s Film Festival is scheduled to be held from the 14th to the 16th of next month at ‘Yeonghwa Gonggan Juan’ Theaters 3 and 4 in Michuhol-gu, Incheon.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.