Having fully transitioned into an open competition this year, New Light Cinema―the Korean Short Film Competition―demonstrated that the spirit of filmmaking remains vibrant despite the challenges facing the industry. Even within the framework of children, youth, and family, the twenty-one selected films engaged thoughtfully with a shared question: how cinema looks at its characters, and how it inhabits the world from where they stand.

Throughout the selection process, films that refused to reduce their characters to mere subjects or narrative devices earned particular admiration. Especially noteworthy were works that approached children with honesty, neither rushing to comfort them nor casting them as vessels for adult consolation (<YUL>, <PLAYGROUND>), as well as films that reflected seriously on the coexistence of humans and nature without reducing the latter to symbolic backdrop (<TOMATO THROWING>). The strong presence of animation was equally encouraging―<MONSTER IN BLOOM>, <MILLION LUCKY BATH>, and <A DIGGING FAMILY> among them―with remarkable visual artistry and imaginative storytelling on display.​

Many films also achieved something valuable: capturing the subtle textures of emotion within family and everyday life, while finding fresh ways through conflict, understanding, and reconciliation. Even under constrained circumstances, the determination to forge distinct creative voices left a lasting impression.

We hope this journey, one that opens space for children and young people and builds worlds from their perspectives, will resonate as a meaningful invitation to reflection, for audiences growing up today and for those of us who carry childhood within us.