The KWeb Fest opened in Seoul on Thursday, Aug. 18, at the Convention and Exhibition Center. Billed as Asia’s only festival of internet-based dramas, Koreans were given the chance to watch web series from different genres and nationalities in one venue.
Featured in the festival, with the theme “Make it Yours,” are 107 titles from 22 nations, reported Yonhap. Among the dramas featured are “Dramaworld,” a co-production among U.S., China and South Korea which portrays the clichés of Hallyus.
All dramas included in the festival are short episodes of web series that must run only 5 to 20 minutes and could be viewed only on the internet. It is the fastest growing content in the South Korean broadcast market as more viewers watch the series on their smartphones rather than on TV.
Among the reasons why the format has become very popular is that viewers could watch it any time and place, and it could be shared freely on social media such as YouTube, according to Koreanfilm. It is the fifth year that the web fest is being held, the first one was in Los Angeles in 2010. In 2014, Hong Kong hosted the festival, making it the first Asian host.
Besides “Dramaworld,” the nominees for key awards come from nine other series, five of which are produced in South Korea. These are “Airlock,” “AFK,” “Osmosis,” “Number of Silence,” “Click Your Heart,” “72 Seconds,” “Missing Korea,” “Into the Storm!” and “The Flatterer.”
Two web dramas opened the festival. These were “Airlock,” an Australian sci-fi drama, and “Love Story of Sin Ji Ki” from South Korea. It is the story of a mermaid that lives off Yeosu. A goddess gave the mermaid seven days to live as a human so she could date a street musicians on whom the mermaid has a crush on. It was produced to promote Yeosu as a tourist city.