Home > BNP Paribas Partners with the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival to support female talent discovery and gender equality in the film industry
Press Release

BNP Paribas Partners with the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival to support female talent discovery and gender equality in the film industry

August 29, 2022

BNP Paribas announces today that it is participating as an official sponsor to the 24th Seoul International Women’s Film Festival for the fourth consecutive year since 2019. This year, the firm will lend its support towards the discovery of female talent in short film production through the ‘BNP Paribas Asian Shorts Award’.

Since 1997, the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival has led the development of the film industry by discovering female filmmakers and sponsoring women’s film projects. It has established its status as the hub of women’s film network in Asia Pacific. This year’s film festival will be held at the Megabox Sangam World Cup Stadium and the Oil Tank Culture Park in Seoul until 1 September and will showcase 122 films from 33 countries.

BNP Paribas has been an avid supporter of the global film industry for over 100 years. At this year’s film festival, the firm’s supported film “Eiffel” (2021) will be featured; following last year’s special screening of another BNP Paribas supported film “WOMAN” (2019). “Eiffel” is based on the story of Gustave Eiffel, the architect who designed the Statue of Liberty, completing the Eiffel Tower to commemorate the 1889 World Expo in Paris. With a realistic biography and romantic love story, it was well-received by the audience when it was released in theatres in 2021.

Philippe Noirot, Territory Head of BNP Paribas South Korea, said: “While it was not possible to watch movies in theatres at the peak of COVID-19 pandemic, I am glad that audiences can now enjoy the splendour of movies from the big screen safely at the festival and continue supporting the culture of gender equality in the film industry.”

“Diversity, Equality and Inclusion are some of the most important values of BNP Paribas. As a global bank, we hope that gender equality can be realized in the Korean film industry in line with the high status of Korean culture, and that our continued support will make a difference towards the development and support of female filmmakers in Korea,” added Noirot.

Meanwhile, BNP Paribas has been making strong efforts to achieve gender diversity. It has set a target of raising the percentage of female executives on the board to 40% by 2025. In addition, BNP Paribas joined OneInThreeWomen network and also signed #JamaisSansElles, the social solidarity movement, for the first time among the global financial institutions to support gender equality.