Seoul International Eco Film Festival (SIEFF)

Overview

The Seoul International Eco Film Festival (SIEFF) is the largest environmental film festival in Asia. Founded in 2004 by the Korea Green Foundation (now the Environment Foundation), the festival is held annually in Seoul timed to World Environment Day on June 5. The 23rd edition ran June 5 to 30, 2026, opening at Lotte Concert Hall with 1,433 attendees on opening night. The festival is organized by the Environment Foundation and supported by the Ministry of Environment, Seoul Metropolitan Government, Korea Forest Service, and Korean Film Council.

The 2026 competition received 2,133 entries from 119 countries (1,716 international and 417 Korean). After preliminary screening, 40 films were selected as finalists: 19 in the Korean Competition (7 features, 12 shorts) and 21 in the International Competition (10 features, 11 shorts). The 2026 edition introduced a new AI Environmental Film Competition section, reflecting the festival's effort to capture how AI is being used to document and interpret the environmental crisis.

Total prize money for the 2026 edition was 26,000,000 KRW (approximately $19,500 USD). The festival is non-competitive in its overall structure but runs competitive sections within its program. Submission is free, and the festival accepts films through FilmFreeway.

Submission Details

Submissions are accepted through FilmFreeway. Key details for the 23rd edition (2026):

Eligibility requirements:

• Films must deal with environmental issues regardless of genre. The festival defines "environment" broadly, including climate change, biodiversity, pollution, indigenous land rights, renewable energy, and related subjects.
• Films must have been completed after January 1, 2024.
• Films must never have been submitted to SIEFF before. Re-submissions are not allowed.
• If dialogues are not in Korean or English, films must be subtitled in English.
• Submissions are online only via FilmFreeway, a policy the festival adopted to reduce carbon emissions.

Competition Categories and Awards

The 2026 edition awarded 26,000,000 KRW in total prize money across three competition sections:

Korean Environmental Film Competition:

• Grand Prize - 10,000,000 KRW (~$7,500 USD). The 2026 winner was Just a Place We Stay for a While (단지, 우리가 잠시 머무는 곳) by Wang Min-chul, about caged bears and the women who advocate for them.
• Excellence Award - 3,000,000 KRW (~$2,250 USD). The 2026 winners (shared) were Jeongbaeng-i by Oh Jung-hoon and Seomseom-oksu by Lee Eun-hee.
• Audience Jury Award - 2,000,000 KRW (~$1,500 USD). The 2026 winner was People Who Count Carbon (탄소를 세는 사람들).

International Environmental Film Competition:

• Grand Prize - 8,000,000 KRW (~$6,000 USD). The 2026 winner was How Deep is Your Love (사랑은 얼마나 깊은가) by Eleanora Mortimer, about deep-sea ecosystem scientists and the risks of seabed resource extraction.
• Special Jury Prize - 3,000,000 KRW (~$2,250 USD). The 2026 winner was Mysterious Ornithology (신비로운 조류학) by Jeremy Cyphert and Benjamin James Roberts.
• Audience Award - selected by festival audience vote.

AI Environmental Film Competition (new in 2026):

• AI Environmental Film Grand Prize - 2,000,000 KRW (~$1,500 USD). A new section reflecting the use of AI in environmental filmmaking.

Key Sections

• Korean Environmental Film Competition - competitive section for Korean films on environmental themes (features and shorts)
• International Environmental Film Competition - competitive section for international films (features and shorts)
• AI Environmental Film Competition - new in 2026, for films using AI to document or interpret environmental crisis
• Cinema Green Teen - environmental education program for elementary, middle, and high school students
• Green Talk - talk program diagnosing climate change problems and exploring alternatives from a long-term perspective
• SIEFF IN - community screening program that travels to venues across South Korea
• Special Screenings - opening night film, closing ceremony, and thematic programs
• Online Screenings - selected films available free online via the festival website and B tv through June 30

What Filmmakers Should Know

SIEFF is the most strategically important environmental film festival in Asia. The free submission removes a financial barrier, and the prize money (26,000,000 KRW total in 2026) is substantial for a specialty festival. The festival's timing on World Environment Day (June 5) generates media coverage and government attention that amplifies selected films.

The competition is significant: 2,133 entries from 119 countries in 2026, with only 40 films selected as finalists. That is an acceptance rate of approximately 1.9%. The Korean Competition is restricted to Korean filmmakers, while the International Competition is open to filmmakers from any country.

Films that have been submitted to SIEFF before are permanently ineligible. This means filmmakers must time their submission carefully. If your film is not ready by the February deadline, you cannot submit it the following year if it was already submitted and rejected.

The festival's online screening program extends the audience reach beyond physical attendance. Selected films are available free via the festival website and B tv (a Korean IPTV platform) through June 30, which means films reach Korean audiences who cannot attend in person. The SIEFF IN community screening program further extends reach to venues across South Korea after the main festival.

For environmental documentary filmmakers seeking Asian audience exposure, SIEFF is the primary platform. The festival's partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Seoul Metropolitan Government gives selected films direct access to Korean environmental policy audiences.

Festival History

The Seoul International Eco Film Festival was founded in 2004 by the Korea Green Foundation as the Green Film Festival in Seoul (GFFIS). The festival was established as environmental consciousness grew rapidly in South Korea following the country's period of intensive industrial development. It was the first environmental film festival in Korea and has grown into the largest in Asia.

The festival was renamed Seoul Eco Film Festival in 2018, and then renamed again to Seoul International Eco Film Festival (SIEFF) in 2022 with the 19th edition, adopting the slogan "Ecoverse" to reflect the expansion of environmental discourse. The festival has been held at various venues over the years, including the Seoul Museum of History, Cinecube, INDIESPACE, and currently Lotte Concert Hall and KT&G Sangsangmadang.

The 18th edition (2021) was held with no on-site audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic, live-streamed via the festival's YouTube channel, screening 64 films from 25 countries. The festival returned to in-person screening in subsequent editions.

The 2026 edition (23rd) opened on June 5 at Lotte Concert Hall with 1,433 attendees. The opening ceremony featured Environment Foundation Chair Choi Yeol, KAIST neuroscience professor Jung Jae-seung, Environment Foundation Co-CEO Lee Mi-kyung, and official promotional ambassadors including singer Bada and Yoon Do-hyun. The awards ceremony was held on June 7 at KT&G Sangsangmadang in Seoul. Online screenings and citizen participation programs continued through June 30, including the World Youth Climate Forum and the Cinema Green Teen education program.

See Also

Calculate your total festival submission costs and projected return using the Festival ROI Calculator. Estimate your acceptance probability with the Festival Acceptance Odds Estimator. For environmental documentary approaches, see Documentary Filmmaking Guide. For festival strategy guidance, see Film Festival Strategy. Submit through the SIEFF FilmFreeway page or visit the official festival site.