LEAFF 2025

stories of women

Stories of Women showcases bold, female-driven stories of resilience, identity, and change. This year’s selection include Project Y — a gripping noir of two women whose desperate theft to escape poverty spirals into betrayal and survival. Cannes La Cinef winner, First Summer, by Heo Ga-young, follows a woman torn between mourning her lover and attending her granddaughter’s wedding, quietly exploring love and loss.

From Malaysia, Chong Keat Aun’s Pavane for an Infant confronts reproductive justice and cultural stigma through intertwined tales around baby hatches. Thailand’s Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit offers Human Resource, an intimate look at an HR officer facing workplace injustice and an unplanned pregnancy. Together, these films amplify women’s voices and show how, across cultures and generations, they continue to defy, endure, and reinvent their lives.

first summer

+ Q&A with Director Heo Ga-young

Dir. Heo Ga-young | South Korea | 2025 | 30 mins | 18 

Saturday October 25, 13:00
ODEON Luxe Leicester Square Buy tickets →

Yeongsun chooses to attend her late boyfriend Haksu’s 49th-day memorial instead of her granddaughter’s wedding.

project y

+ Introduction and Q&A with Director Lee Hwan

Dir. Lee Hwan | South Korea | 2025 | 110 mins | 18

Saturday October 25, 17:00
ODEON Luxe Leicester Square Buy tickets →

A crime drama following Mi-sun and Do-kyung, bound only to each other, as they risk everything to steal stashed black money and gold bars in a desperate bid to break free from their bleak reality.