Seoul Whistler Film Festival explores stories of injustice, resistance

A whistle is about the simplest instrument there is. It takes one breath to blow, and once it sounds, it's hard to ignore. The Seoul Whistler Film Festival (SWFF) is built around the people who take that breath. For its third year, it's making considerably more noise. The festival will run Oct. 23-25 at Arthouse Momo, the independent cinema located inside Ewha Womans University's ECC complex in western Seoul. It will screen 47 films from 18 countries: 10 features and 37 shorts, animations and experimental works. The "whistler" in the name is the whistleblower. SWFF's mission is to tell the stories of people who resist and speak out for justice, human rights, peace, life, the environment and democracy. It also tells the stories of people who expose the pain, conflict and absurdity they carry inside. "Both threads run through the lineup, often in the same film," said Yoon Sol-ji, the festival's executive programmer. "We don't split these into sections — one person's story can carry both at once, which feels closer to how injustice actually works on people." The opening film exemplifies wh