A commitment director Oh Hae-on made after winning the grand prize at last year's Songpa Youth Film Festival has been fulfilled on the international stage just one year later.
A young filmmaker discovered and nurtured by Seoul's Songpa-gu has won a major award at the Busan International Kids and Youth Film Festival (BIKY), Asia's leading international film festival for children and youth, for the second consecutive year — demonstrating the impact of the district's cultural arts policy.
Songpa-gu announced Sunday that director Oh Hae-on's short film "Our School Film Club" won the Blue Wave Award in the "Ready~Action! Age 15" international competition section at the 21st BIKY. The win follows director Yoo A-ra's prize for "Oh Ye-slow" last year, making it two consecutive years that a Songpa Youth Film Festival alumnus has claimed a major BIKY award.
BIKY is Asia's premier international film festival dedicated to showcasing films made by children and youth from around the world. This year the festival screened 179 films from 41 countries, and only 46 of the 451 entries submitted from 44 countries worldwide advanced to the finals of the "Ready~Action!" international competition.
The winning film follows teenage students grappling with questions of talent and career through a youth perspective. Judges praised the short for its honest portrayal of the value of consistently pursuing what one loves, rather than living up to others' expectations.
Oh is a young filmmaker who grew up through the Songpa Youth Film Festival. After winning an award at the 2024 Songpa Youth Film Festival with the co-directed work "Junggo-ui Nara," he advanced to the BIKY finals in 2025. He then won the grand prize at last year's Songpa Youth Film Festival with his solo directorial debut "Our School Film Club" before claiming a major BIKY award this year — a leap from co-director to solo director, and from finalist to prize winner.
With this latest win, the Songpa Youth Film Festival has produced BIKY major award winners two years running — first director Yoo A-ra last year, now Oh this year — cementing its reputation as a platform that launches young filmmakers onto the international stage.
Songpa-gu, which has the largest child and youth population of any autonomous district in Seoul, is hosting the Songpa Youth Film Festival for the sixth time this year. The district consistently provides filmmaking workshops and screening opportunities for young creators. In 2024 it signed an MOU with BIKY to screen competition entries and award-winning works at local libraries, further expanding the foundation for developing youth creativity.
Songpa-gu District Mayor Seo Gang-seok said he personally traveled to Busan last year to encourage the young directors, parents and teachers who had advanced to the BIKY finals. "It is deeply meaningful that this has led to a major prize win for the second consecutive year," he said. "This is a result born from the district's sustained support for creativity and the young filmmakers' consistent dedication to their craft. We will continue to build an even stronger creative foundation from which they can challenge the world stage."
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