Among the Japanese films screened was 37 Seconds, the first feature by single-named filmmaker Hikari. Recipient of the Kau Ka Hōkū Filmmaker Award, the festival’s main prize, the film centres on a young manga artist (Mei Kayama) who refuses to let her cerebral palsy keep her from exploring her creativity, her sexuality – and the world. Filmed with a docudrama-like realism, 37 Seconds is a stirring drama of human potential and persistence.
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Festival Reports
I used to attend KIFF regularly, and have the warmest memories of the very welcoming team of Ansu Sur and Sanjoy Ghosh. At that time, the festival was non-competitive and centered primarily around the Nandan complex. The audiences were diligent, passionately supportive, and absolutely inclusive in their love for cinema – shorts, documentaries, feature films, both Indian and international.
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The films tend to be mediocre most of all the time – or quite simply bad; there is seldom space for a brilliant work, one that would bring something new to the table. And there is nothing wrong with it – after all, these filmmakers are mainly newcomers and, sadly, those who weren’t accepted to bigger events such as Venice, Cannes, Rotterdam, Toronto.
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Asiaticamediale’s own 20-year journey has been a bittersweet one. The festival has remained faithful to its deep and wide interest of Asian cultures and society, showing a considered respect for all the many issues. But while it has held on to its intellectual idealism, it also reveals a deep chasm between that generation’s social values and the current millennials who are following other media platforms.
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Of the six films that the NETPAC (dream) team had to choose from in Vladivostok, Great Poetry was by far the most powerful for its brutal depiction of modern social issues concerning post-war trauma and friendship, and sustained by an astonishing performance and daring and poetic direction.
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It is incredible to see the number of female Arab directors present in El Gouna this year. Algerian film Papicha directed by Mounia Meddour takes us back to Algeria’s bloody black decade in the 1990s – a time when extremism and terrorism reigned. It received the award for the Best Arab Film.
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The growth in audience participation, comprising all ages, but mainly the youth, was astounding. The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) the official venue of Cinemalaya was jam packed with people who braved intense showers for the entire duration of the festival. In fact Cinemalaya is associated with heavy rain.
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Recognized as a major international showcase for genre films, BIFAN showcased 284 films from 49 countries (166 features and 118 shorts) in its 23rd edition. They included 64 World Premieres, 38 International Premieres and 79 Asian Premieres. Korean superstar Jung Woo-sung attended BIFAN 23's star-studded opening ceremony on June 27 at the Bucheon Gynmasium, where the festival's new director (and veteran film producer) Shin Chul declared BIFAN's determination to take part in the advancement of the next 100 years of Korean cinema
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The festival screened award winning films from major international film festivals, including Parasite by Bong Joon Ho (South Korea) that won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival this year, along with some lesser known films by young directors, many of them making their debut.
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The lovely spring weather is perfect not only for indulging in the wide array of movies (whose tickets have sold out fast) but also for trying the nearby restaurants that offer some of the finest Korean cuisine — art and culture coming together in one of the world’s most vibrant cinema cities.
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International Women's Day
We are pleased to bring to you, for the second year, our International Women’s Day screening!
Free online screening | 8th March
IWD theme this year is #ChooseToChallenge. A challenged world is an alert world. From challenge comes change, so let's all choose to challenge - Ubolsyn herself completely embraces the theme!
This year we invite you to a special free online screening of ULBOLSYN from director Adilkhan Yerzhanov. Our sincere thanks to the producers, Guillaume de Seille and Olga Khlasheva, for their generosity and their efforts in facilitating the screening.
The film tells the story of a girl named Ulbolsyn (Kazakh for ‘let there be a son’) whose little sister Azhar is kidnapped by the regional mayor’s brother Urgen for marital purposes and taken away to his village. Ulbolsyn wants her sister to be free and to enter her into a foreign university so that she can pursue a future career. As soon as she learns about the incident, Ulbolsyn decides to fight for her sister and face down the patriarchal world of the people living in the Karatas village.
The film is the recipient of the NETPAC Award in Tallinn Black Nights and TRT award in CineLink Sarajevo WIP 2020