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By Jean-Marc THÉROUANNE

The 14 films in the Asian Competition presented a contemporary portrait of Asian cinema. They were judged by a five-member jury:

*President: Jang Joon Hwan, director of Save the Green Planet (Korea)

*Members: Shozo Ichiyama, founder and director of Tokyo FILMeX Festival (Japan); Lorna Tee, programmer, producer, and Secretary General of the Asian Film Alliance Network (Malaysia); Minh Chau, multi-awarded actress (Vietnam); and Martine Thérouanne, cofounder and director of the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinemas (France).

At the closing ceremony, jury president Jang Joon Hwan thanked Danaff for inviting the jury and the city of Da Nang for their warm welcome. He emphasized the role of cinema in showcasing both our differences and shared humanity through diverse voices, cultures, and emotions. The 14 competing films—representing the full breadth of Asia – offered a range of genres and stories, yet all returned to one core theme: our shared humanity and compassion.

The 27th Taipei Film Awards Ceremony took place on the evening of July 5 at the Zhongshan Hall in Taipei City. The highly anticipated Grand Prize, with a cash award of Nt$1 million, was awarded to the documentary Island of the Winds. The jury praised the film as more than just a documentary—calling it a cinematic memory of Taiwan’s land.

Wanlop Rungkumjad won Best Actor for his performance in Mongrel, making history as the first non-Taiwanese recipient of this award. The film won three awards in total, tying as the biggest winner of the night alongside Yen and Ai-Lee, Island of the Winds, and Dead Talents Society. Alexia Kao received the Best Actress award for her powerful portrayal in Family Matters, marking her first win at the Taipei Film Awards.

Island of the Winds

The jury selected one winner from each major category—Narrative Feature, Documentary, Short Film, and...

For three successive years, the Taipei Film Festival has collaborated with Taiwan Creative Content Agency (Taicca) on “Top Talents” to present Taiwan’s best and brightest film and TV actors on the international stage. Today, we unveil the nine actors of “Top Talents” 2025, including Lee Kang-sheng, Audrey Lin, Mo Tzu-yi, Sandrine Pinna, Tseng Jing-hua, Regina Lei, Kent Tsai, Eugenie Liu and Chung Hsin-ling. The Taipei Film Festival and Taicca present video portraits of these top talents based on the concept of an audition tape that showcases their unique styles and versatility. The videos are set to premiere exclusively on TaiwanPlus Arts and Culture, a new YouTube channel run by TaiwanPlus, the first English-speaking public broadcaster in Taiwan. In addition, billboards of the nine actors will be displayed outside Taipei’s Zhongshan Hall, offering audiences a first look at the star-studded film festival that opens later this month.

“Top Talents,” a...

The indie box office offers a half dozen strong debuts from Magic Farm buy El Planeta’s Amalia Ulman to Venice Special Jury Prize winner April to Cannes Critics Week award- winner Blue Sun Palace. Sony Pictures Classics leads moderate releases with On Swift Horses with a remastered rerelease of Pink Floyd at Pompeii – McMlxxii and Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. The Legend Of Ochi takes a big leap to 1,700 screens.

Limited release indies: Mubi debuts Ulman’s comedy comedy Magic Farm starring Chloë Sevigny, Alex Wolff, Joe Apolloino, and Simon Rex at the Angelika Film Center in New York. World premiered at Sundance, screened at the Berlin Film Festival and was the opening night film of the Los Angeles Festival of Movies earlier this month. When a misguided American documentary crew in search of their next viral segment ends up in the wrong town in rural Argentina, chaos ensues.

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Museum of the Moving Image

Tom Gunning is celebrated in a weekend-long series featuring M on 35mm, Hal Hartley’s Flirt, and an avant-garde program; films by Buster Keaton and Renny Harlin play in See It Big: Stunts!

Nitehawk Cinema

A print of Josef von Sternberg’s The Devil is a Woman screens early on Saturday and Sunday.

Film at Lincoln Center

Films by Charles Burnett, Ousmane Sembène, and more screen in L.A. Rebellion.

Museum of Modern Art

Films by Howard Hawks, Leo McCarey, and Dorothy Arzner play in The Lady at 100.

Film Forum

A new 35mm print of 8½ begins playing, while Mort Rifkin favorite A Man and a Woman continues in a new restoration.

Bam

A retrospective of Sudanese cinema begins.

Roxy Cinema

The French Connection and City Dudes screen this Saturday; The Little Rascals plays for free on Sunday,...

There are two extremely jarring elements to Constance Tsang’s “Blue Sun Palace,” an otherwise soft and immaculately textured micro-portrait of three Chinese immigrants whose lives criss-cross at the Flushing massage parlor where two of them work. The first is the casting of Lee Kang-sheng, whose presence in Tsang’s fluorescent take on New York City — a world removed from the dilapidated Taipei he’s come to embody in the films of Tsai Ming-liang — instills every frame with an extratextual aura of dislocation. The second jolt comes from a shocking act of violence that triggers the title card some 33 minutes into the movie. It’s a cold reminder of the risks that come with starting over so far from home, and a new beginning for the warmly purgatorial story that follows; a story less compelled by the American Dream than it is by the void that forms in the wake of that empty promise.

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Bam

Triple Canopy Presents: In The Hole brings 35mm prints of Salò, Tsai Ming-liang’s The Hole, and more.

Roxy Cinema

Martin Scorsese presents Henry Hathaway’s Kiss of Death on 35mm this Friday; Jerry Lewis’ Smorgasboard shows on 35mm Saturday; Dazed and Confused and Smiley-Face play on Sunday.

Anthology Film Archives

Essential Cinema brings Erich von Stroheim’s Greed and films by Dziga Vertov; Richard Beymer’s The Innerview plays in a new restoration.

Museum of Modern Art

Films by Howard Hawks, George Stevens, and more play in “The Lady at 100.”

Museum of the Moving Image

The Dead Zone plays throughout the weekend while Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shows Saturday and Sunday.

Film Forum

Mort Rifkin favorite A Man and a Woman plays in a new restoration; Bride of Frankenstein screens this Sunday.

IFC Center

Barry Lyndon begins screening for its 50th anniversary; Salò,...

The 49th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF49) opened tonight at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, kicking off the 12-day festival with world premiere of Japanese director Nakashima Tetsuya’s The Brightest Sun, followed by the Malaysian feature Pavane for an Infant, directed by Chong Keat-aun and starring Fish Liew, Natalie Hsu and Ben Yuen.

The star-studded Grand Opening ceremony featured appearances by Filmmaker in Focus Louis Koo, director Nakashima Tetsuya and producer Yasunori Naruse from The Brightest Sun, director Chong Keat-aun and cast Fish Liew and Ben Yuen from Pavane for an Infant. Adding to the excitement, renowned Japanese actress Ando Sakura, one of “Face to Face” guests this year, made a special appearance and wished the festival a successful run, making the evening even more memorable.

This year’s festival will showcase nearly 200 films, including six world premieres, two international premieres, and 52 Asian premieres. In addition to the aforementioned film talents,...

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Christopher Nolan, Spike Lee, Chantal Akerman, Theo Angelopoulos, Lynne Ramsay, Tsai Ming-liang, Michael Haneke, Lee Chang-dong, Terence Davies, Shōhei Imamura, Bi Gan, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Jia Zhangke, Wong Kar-wai, Yorgos Lanthimos, Denis Villleneuve, Céline Sciamma, Guillermo del Toro, Kelly Reichardt, and RaMell Ross––those are just a few of the filmmakers introduced to New York audiences at New Directors/New Films over the last half-century.

Now returning for its 54th edition at Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art from April 2-13, this year’s lineup features 33 new films, presenting acclaimed titles from Berlinale, Cannes, Locarno, Sundance, Rotterdam, and more. Ahead of the festival kicking off next week, we’ve gathered our recommended films to see, and one can explore the full lineup and schedule here.

Blue Sun Palace (Constance Tsang)

Shot largely on location in Queens, Blue Sun Palace explores a hidden culture and milieu.

The world premiere of The Brightest Sun by Japan’s Nakashima Tetsuya will open the 49th Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hkiff), along with Pavane For An Infant by Malaysia’s Chong Keat-Aun.

Johan Haugerud’s Dreams (Sex Love), winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlinale last month, has been set as the closing film.

The full line-up of the festival, which runs from April 10-21, was announced on the first day of Filmart with Hong Kong star Louis Koo, this year’s filmmaker in focus, and Angela Yuen, the new festival ambassador, in attendance.

Nearly 200 films from 69 countries...

Japanese filmmaker Nakashima Tetsuya’s The Brightest Sun and Malaysia-Hong Kong co-production Pavane For An Infant, directed by Chong Keat-Aun, will open this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival (April 10-21).

Berlin Golden Bear winner Dreams (Sex Love), directed by Norway’s Dag Johan Haugerud, has been set as the closing film of the festival.

Two Hong Kong productions will receive Gala Screenings – Valley Of The Shadow Of Death, starring Anthony Wong, and Oliver Chan Siu-kuen’s Montages Of A Modern Motherhood, which played in Busan International Film Festival’s New Currents section and Tokyo International Film Festival’s Women’s Empowerment strand last year.

Hkiff’s Cinephile Paradise section will screen films such as Geng Jun’s Bel Ami, Vivian Qu’s Girls On Wire, Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, Luis Ortega’s Kill The Jockey and Yeo Siew Hua’s Stranger Eyes.

As previously announced, Hong Kong actor...

The 18th annual Asian Film Awards (Afa) announced the winners and special award recipients at a ceremony held at the West Kowloon Cultural District’s Xiqu Centre in Hong Kong on March 16, 2025. Sixteen competitive prizes and five honorary prizes were given out. The Afa ceremony featured a glamorous Red Carpet and Award Ceremony attracting participants from all over Asia, and was a great success. At this year’s Afa, the Hong Kong actor-director Sammo Hung served as the jury president leading other jury and voting members composed of filmmakers from around the world in selecting the winners. Daishi Matsunaga, along with fellow director Stanley Kwan, served as presenters.

Here are all the awards and nominees of this year’s edition

Best Film

All We Imagine as Light (India, France, Netherlands, Luxembourg)

Black Dog (Mainland China)

Exhuma (South Korea)

Teki Cometh (Japan)

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (Hong Kong)

Best...

Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light was named best film at 18th Asian Film Awards on Sunday evening (March 16).

The Indian filmmaker attended the ceremony in Hong Kong and accepted the award from filmmaker, martial arts star and Afa jury president Sammo Hung.

Scroll down for full list of winners

It marked nearly 10 months since Kapadia became the first Indian filmmaker to win the Grand Prix at Cannes, where the film was the first Indian feature to play in Competition at the festival for 30 years.

“I’m so happy that we could end our journey here in Hong Kong,...

All We Imagine As Light took home top honors at the 18th Asian Film Awards (Afa), winning the Best Film prize.

Held at the Grand Theatre at the Xiqu Centre in Hong Kong, this year’s Afa selection was overseen by legendary Hong Kong actor and Afa jury president Sammo Hung.

“It is a special thing to win this award in Hong Kong, which is also a special place for cinema,” said All We Imagine As Light director Payal Kapadia. “Filmmaking is so challenging. Every film that gets made is a prize. To find the financing and the right collaborators, to keep the vision intact, even distributing the movie — everything is a challenge. But doing it with a wonderful crew makes everything easier.”

Japanese filmmaker Daihachi Yoshida won Best Director for black-and-white absurdist comedy Teki Cometh.

Sean Lau won Best Actor for his role in Papa, directed by Philip Yung.

The 18th Asian Film Awards recognized achievements in regional cinema on Sunday, with Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light winning Best Film. The ceremony, held at the Xiqu Centre in Hong Kong, brought together filmmakers from across Asia to celebrate accomplishments in directing, acting, and technical contributions.

Kapadia’s drama, which previously earned the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, marked a milestone for Indian cinema, a country that has often been nominated at the AFAs without securing major wins. On stage, Kapadia credited her lead actors for shaping the film’s impact. “Thank you so much to my lead actors—three incredible artists and human beings. They are the ones who made this film what it is,” she said.

The Best Director award went to Japan’s Yoshida Daihachi for Teki Cometh, a character study that premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival before...

Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia’s poignant drama All We Imagine as Light went home with the best picture prize Sunday night at the 18th Asian Film Awards. It was the film’s final stop on a ten-month festival and awards season journey that began last May when it won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.

“Thank you so much to my lead actors — three incredible artists and human beings. They are the ones who made this film what it is,” Kapadia said from the stage inside Hong Kong’s gleaming Xiqu Centre, where the ceremony was held. “I’m so happy that we could end our journey here in Hong Kong, a city that has meant a lot to me, watching the amazing films from this city over the years.”

Legendary Hong Kong filmmaker and martial arts star Sammo Hung served as president of the jury that selected the winners of the 2025 AFAs,...

Payal Kapadia’s Indian co-production “All We Imagine as Light” won best film at the 18th Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong, capping a remarkable journey that began with a Grand Prix win at Cannes last year.

Yoshida Daihachi won best director for “Teki Cometh,” while Sean Lau won best actor for “Papa” and Shahana Goswami best actress for “Santosh.” Sandhya Suri won best new director for “Santosh,” capping a strong year for Indian co-productions at the awards, where the country has been a bridesmaid in recent years.

Honors were evenly spread otherwise, with “Exhuma,” “Stranger Eyes” and “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” all collecting a brace of awards each.

Proceedings kicked off with a performance featuring the composer of the film that is the toast of Asia at the moment – “Ne Zha 2,” Chu Wan Pin, alongside Jonathan Wong.

During the awards, Dr. Wilfred Wong, chair of the Asian Film Awards Academy,...

Taiwanese actor Lee Kang-sheng is set to reprise his role in the next two films of auteur Tsai Ming-liang’s celebrated “Walker” series.

“Director Tsai is making two films in the Walker series soon. So I’ll be doing those,” Lee confirms to Variety, adding to his decades-long collaboration with the Malaysian-born Taiwanese director that began in 1989. Currently earning acclaim for his supporting role in Yeo Siew Hua’s surveillance thriller “Stranger Eyes,” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and for which he is nominated in the supporting actor category at the Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong, Lee discussed how his longstanding partnership with Tsai has influenced his approach to other projects.

“There’s a lot of influence, because director Tsai isn’t a director who works with a full script. He often gives me a synopsis, so there’s a lot of room for improvisation,” Lee explains.

The Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center has announced the full lineup for the 54th edition of New Directors/New Films, unspooling at MoMA on April 2–13.

The event, presenting 24 features and nine short films — including 20 North American or U.S. premieres — will open with Sarah Friedland’s Venice award-winner Familiar Touch and close with Alex Russell’s Lurker from Sundance and Berlin. Both are New York premieres.

Familiar Touch, Friedland’s debut, won three top prizes in the 2024 Venice Film Festival Orizzonti Competition and showcases an astonishing performance by Kathleen Chalfant.

Russell’s feature debut Lurker, is a tense thriller about the darker side of pop-star worship.

Films in the Nd/Nf program probe a diverse array of themes, including community and co-existence, family histories, the lives of artists, global political issues, and the complexities of youth and coming of age. A number of works experiment with hybrid forms,...

Jogja-netpac Asian Film Festival (Jaff), Indonesia’s largest and longest-running film festival, proudly announces its 20th edition, taking place from November 29 – December 6, 2025. Marking two decades of its journey, Jaff continues to serve as a premier platform for Asian filmmakers to celebrate, share, and develop the cinematic ecosystem.

Over the years, Jaff has been honored by the presence of esteemed figures such as Tsai Mingliang, renowned master director; Kim Dong-ho, founder of the Busan International Film Festival; Julien Rejl, artistic director of Cannes Directors’ Fortnight; Lee Kang Sheng, Taiwanese actor & director; Kristy Matheson, Director of BFI London Film Festival; and Park Sung Ho, Busan International Film Festival’s programmer. Their participation underscores Jaff’s significance in the global film community.

In 2024, the Indonesian box office achieved a historic milestone, surpassing 80 million admissions, with local films capturing a 65% market share. Notably, the closing film of Jaff 2024, “A Brother and 7 Siblings,” emerged as a box office hit,...

Distribution company Dekanalog has released the official trailer for “Blue Sun Palace,” the migrant drama and feature debut of filmmaker Constance Tsang.

“Blue Sun Palace” is set in the Chinese community of Queens with a cast led by award-winning Taiwanese actor Lee Kang Sheng (“Rebels of the Neon God”), Golden Horse award nominee Ke-Xi Wu (“The Road to Mandalay”) and Chinese actor Haipeng Xu (“Venus By Water”).

The official synopsis reads, “Within the confines of a massage parlor in Flushing, Queens, Amy and Didi navigate romance, happiness, and the obligations of family thousands of miles from home. Despite the physical and emotional toll their work extracts, the women who live at the parlor have fortified an impenetrable sisterhood.

“When tragedy strikes on Lunar New Year, Amy is forced to consider her own destiny for the first time ever. Despite finding solace in the company of Cheung, Amy must leave the...

Hong Kong International Film Festival Society’s (Hkiff)’s Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf) has announced a slate of 15 work-in-progress features, showcasing a mix of established auteurs and emerging talent from across Asia.

The projects will be presented at the expanded Hkiff Industry Project Market, running March 17-19 alongside Hong Kong’s FilMart. They join a slate of previously announced 25 in-development projects.

Leading the pack are new works from acclaimed filmmakers, including Golden Horse winner Huang Ji’s “A Woman Builds,” co-directed with Otsuka Ryuji, which explores a Chinese woman’s quest to build a house while separated from her Japanese family during Covid-19. Qiu Jiongjiong, whose “A New Old Play” nabbed Locarno’s Special Jury Prize, returns with “Fuxi: Joy in Four Chapters,” a dark comedy about Sichuan cuisine featuring “Stranger Eyes” star Lee Kang-sheng.

Other notable projects include Chong Keat Aun’s “Mother Bhumi,” headlined by Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing,...

Upcoming projects from award-winning directors Huang Ji, Qiu Jiongjiong, and Chong Keat Aun are among the 15 works-in-progress (Wip) titles selected for the 23rd Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF23).

The upcoming features will be showcased during the Hkiff Industry Project Market, set to take place from March 17-19 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre during the 29th Hong Kong Filmart.

After winning best film at the 60th Golden Horse Awards for Stonewalling, Huang Ji and her regular collaborator Ryuji Otsuka will present A Woman Builds, about a Chinese woman who commits herself to building a house in her hometown while living a pseudo-single life,...

Get ready for an exciting celebration of Asian cinema! Besides the awards ceremony, the 18th Asian Film Awards presents a series of special programmes, including Asian Cinerama, Masterclasses, and the In Conversation series.

A Palette of Cinematic Delights — Asian Cinerama

The Asian Film Cinerama will present a selection of nominated films and special screenings, with filmmakers and actors participating in post-screening Q&As to share their creative journeys. Last year, screenings were a full house, with prominent filmmakers including Japanese master Hirokazu Koreeda, Sri Lankan director Prasanna Vithanaga, and China’s award-winning actress Jiang Qinqin discussing their filmmaking experiences. This year, top international filmmakers will return, giving audiences the chance to enjoy the best of Asian cinema on the big screen.

Inspiration from the Legend — Masterclass

Film enthusiasts can attend masterclasses hosted by the biggest names in Asian cinema, diving into the art and philosophy of filmmaking. Last year, the...

Film Movement has landed North American rights to “Stranger Eyes,” the surveillance-themed thriller from Singaporean director Yeo Siew Hua that competed for Venice’s Golden Lion in 2024.

The psychological thriller stars Taiwanese cinema icon Lee Kang-sheng (“Days”) alongside Chien-Ho Wu and Anicca Panna. The story centers on a young Singaporean couple whose world is shattered when their baby daughter disappears from a playground. Their nightmare intensifies after receiving mysterious surveillance footage documenting their daily lives both before and after the disappearance, leading them to suspect their neighbor Wu (Lee) may be involved.

The deal was negotiated between Film Movement president Michael Rosenberg and Nicolas Brigaud-Robert of Playtime. The distributor is planning a theatrical release in 2025, followed by a digital and home entertainment rollout.

“Stranger Eyes” marks a compelling follow-up from Yeo, who previously won Locarno’s Golden Lion with “A Land Imagined.” Critics have praised the film’s sophisticated approach...

Stranger Eyes.“Some people aren’t meant to be parents.” It’s a phrase we’ll hear twice in Yeo Siew Hua’s Stranger Eyes (2024)—and it’s a sentiment we might come to share as we follow the family at the center of the film. Young parents Junyang (Wu Chien-ho) and Peiying (Anicca Panna) live with Junyang’s mother in a large apartment complex in Singapore, where Junyang works a shift job at an ice-skating rink and Peiying is a livestreamer. Their toddler daughter, Bo, has vanished from a playground three months prior to the events of the film. Since Bo’s disappearance, Peiying has spent hours rewatching family videos, hoping that she’ll notice some minor detail in her phone’s camera roll that will help her solve Bo’s kidnapping. When the family begins to receive DVDs sent by someone who has evidently been stalking them for months,...

South Korea’s Exhuma has topped the field, earning 11 nominations at the 18th Asian Film Awards, followed by Hong Kong’s Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In with nine nominations.

Hong Kong martial arts legend Sammo Hung will serve as the jury president for the awards, which feature a selection of 30 films from 25 countries and regions, competing across 16 categories. The awards ceremony will take place on March 16 in Hong Kong.

Directed by Jang Jae-hyun, Exhuma gained nominations for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Newcomer, Best Screenplay, Best Original Music, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects and Best Sound.

Adapted from the novel “City of Darkness” by Yuyi, Hong Kong action blockbuster Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In gained nine nominations, including Best Film, Best Supporting Actor, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Original Music, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects and Best Sound.

South Korean box office hit Exhuma and Hong Kong action blockbuster Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In lead the nominations for the 18th Asian Film Awards, with a jury led by martial arts icon Sammo Hung.

Supernatural thriller Exhuma, directed by Jang Jae-hyun, leads the pack with 11 nods followed by Soi Cheang’s action thriller Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In, which received nine nominations.

Scroll down for full list of nominations

Both titles were named in the best film category alongside Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix winner All We Imagine As Light; Guan Hu’s Chinese drama Black Dog,...

The 18th Asian Film Awards, the region’s leading cinema honors, unveiled its 2025 nominations Friday, with South Korea’s horror hit Exhuma leading the pack with 11 nods. Directed by Jang Jae-hyun, the supernatural thriller melds feng shui and shamanistic traditions in a haunting narrative about an ominous grave. The movie was both a critical favorite and a huge theatrical sensation in South Korea, becoming the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. Alongside its best film nomination, the film earned recognition across several major categories, including best director, best actor for Choi Min-sik and best actress for Kim Go-eun.

The Asia Film Awards will return to Hong Kong on March 16 with a glitzy ceremony at the city’s Xiqu Centre in the West Kowloon Cultural District. This year’s lineup of honorees includes 30 films from 25 countries and regions, spanning 16 competitive categories.

The Hong Kong throwback action epic Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In,...

Martial arts legend Sammo Hung has been tapped as jury president for the 18th Asian Film Awards, while South Korean supernatural thriller “Exhuma” and Hong Kong action pic “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” dominate the nominations.

South Korean supernatural thriller “Exhuma,” helmed by director Jang Jae-hyun and marking the return of veteran actor Choi Min-sik, leads with 11 nods including best film, director, actor and actress. The film weaves elements of feng shui and traditional shamanism in its story of an ominous grave investigation.

Hong Kong action film “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” follows with nine nominations. Based on Yuyi’s “City of Darkness” novel and set in the 1980s Kowloon Walled City, the film is competing for best film, supporting actor and multiple technical awards.

Soi Cheang’s Hong Kong action film “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” follows with nine nominations. Based on Yuyi’s “City of Darkness...

Spanning 750 square kilometers, it would be unwise to commit a crime in Singapore. Not that it’s impossible to commit a crime in the city-state, but it sure is impossible to get away with it. The Southeast Asian nation is one of the most surveilled countries in the world with more than 100,00 cameras watching the moves of its 6 million strong population, which makes the central conflict of “Stranger Eyes” – a missing child – all the more elusive. But as the film progresses, writer-director Yeo Siew Hua intentionally shifts gears from a potential police procedural into a melancholic, existential study of how even in the age of mass surveillance, we seek our temptations and despite being watched by a camera, seldom do we feel seen in any meaningful way.

This narrative friction between seeing and being seen, being realized, and being wanted when there’s no chance of reciprocation is at the core of this taut thriller.

Singapore director Chiang Wei Liang and co-director Yin You Qiao’s “Mongrel,” a portrayal of disenfranchised migrant workers in Taiwan, won Best Asian Feature Film at the 35th Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff).

The jury praised the film’s “dense, shadowy and violent world” and its innovative approach to depicting contemporary issues of forced migration. The film has previously won awards at the Cannes and the Golden Horse festivals and at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

Lou Ye’s “An Unfinished Film” won the newly-revised Audience Choice Award. The docufiction drama follows a director attempting to complete a decade-old project during the Covid-19 pandemic, blending footage from Lou’s previous films with new material. The film previously won Golden Horse and Tokyo FILMeX awards.

In the Asian Feature Film Competition, Vietnamese filmmaker Truong Minh Quy received Best Director for “Viet and Nam,” a queer love story about two coal miners facing separation.

The 35th edition of the Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff) concluded with its highest-ever box office earnings. Total ticket sales saw a 10% increase from last year’s edition, with attendance numbers also surpassing the previous edition’s record.

At the festival’s Silver Screen Awards, Mongrel, directed by Singapore’s Chiang Wei Liang and Yin You Qiao, clinched the award for Best Asian Feature Film, for its “stark portrayal of disenfranchised migrant workers in Taiwan.”

The Audience Choice Award went to Lou Ye’s Covid docufiction drama An Unfinished Film.

The Southeast Asian Short Film award went to Thai director Thaweechok Phasom’s Spirits of the Black Leaves, for its “poetic exploration of how an individual’s life is connected to the roots of nature and history.”

Singaporean filmmaker Calleen Koh won the Best Singapore Short Film award for animated short My Wonderful Life, which follows a burnt-out mum who...

The 35th Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff) opened on the evening of 28 November, setting the stage for a vibrant celebration of Asian cinema. Held at the iconic Capitol Theatre, the evening saw the Southeast Asian premiere of Singaporean director Yeo Siew Hua‘s award-winning psychological thriller Stranger Eyes, marking the first of 105 films from over 48 countries — 80% of which are from Asia — to be showcased during the festival.

The evening’s red carpet was graced by Guest of Honour President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Distinguished Guest Minister Josephine Teo, as well as Stranger Eyes director Yeo Siew Hua and cast members Lee Kang-sheng, Wu Chien-ho, and Xenia Tan. Lee was also honoured with the festival’s Screen Icon Award, which pays homage to an actor’s exceptional contributions to bringing Asian stories to life on screen.

Other stars, including Sgiff’s inaugural festival ambassador Mediacorp Artiste Rebecca Lim, and the Small Hours of the Night team,...

The Singapore International Film Festival is marking its 35th edition with 105 films from 45 countries, with Asian titles comprising 80% of the program.

Running Nov. 28-Dec. 8, the fest will host three world premieres of Singapore features, including Ong Keng-Sen’s “The House of Janus,” Wong Chen-Hsi’s “City of Small Blessings,” adapted from Simon Tay’s novel, and Jason Soo’s documentary “Al Awda.”

Among the international highlights are Amy Adams-starrer “Nightbitch,” David Cronenberg’s “The Shrouds,” Miguel Gomes’ “Grand Tour,” and a restored version of Bong Joon-ho’s feature debut “Barking Dogs Never Bite.”

Two special gala presentations are scheduled: Raam Reddy’s “The Fable,” starring Indian actor Manoj Bajpayee, and Myanmar-born Taiwanese filmmaker Midi Z’s “The Unseen Sister,” featuring Zhao Liying and Xin Zhilei.

The fest will present its Screen Icon Award to Taiwanese talents Yang Kuei-mei and Lee Kang-sheng. Yang, a four-time Sgiff performance award winner, recently appeared in “Yen and Ai-Lee,...

The first trailer has been unveiled for Singaporean filmmaker Yeo Siew Hua‘s “Stranger Eyes,” which is in the main competition at the Venice Film Festival.

In the film, after the mysterious disappearance of their baby daughter, a young couple receives strange videos and realises someone has been filming their daily life — even their most intimate moments. The police sets up surveillance around their home to catch the voyeur, but the family starts to crumble as secrets unravel under the scrutiny of eyes watching them from all sides.

Yeo, whose “A Land Imagined” won the Locarno Film Festival’s top prize in 2018, has cast acclaimed Taiwanese actors Lee Kang-Sheng (“What Time Is It There?”, “Days”) and Wu Chien-Ho (“A Sun”) in the film. Other key cast include newcomers Anicca Panna and Xenia Tan, and veterans Vera Chen (“Boluomi”) and Pete Teo (“Barbarian Invasion”).

The film is structured as a Singapore-Taiwan-France-u.

Read all of Deadline’s Cannes Film Festival reviews below, including Palme d’Or winner Anora.

The New York-set romantic dramedy charts the story of a stripper from Brooklyn who transforms into a modern Cinderella when she meets the son of a Russian oligarch.

The film, playing in the official Competition three years after Baker’s success in Cannes with the Simon Rex-starring Red Rocket, scored a 10-minute ovation earlier this week. It was one of a number of critically praised films this edition. Check out all our reviews below.

All We Imagine as Light ‘All We Imagine as Light’

Section: Competition

Director: Payal Kapadia

Cast: Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya KAdam, Hridhu Haroon

Deadline’s takeaway: And at a time when so much attention is being paid to the lives of the haves and the have-nots amid such financial imbalance worldwide, it’s refreshing to see the spotlight...

The intimate and naturalistic Mandarin-language drama “Blue Sun Palace” has nabbed the French Touch prize from the Cannes Critics’ Week jury, putting Chinese-American writer-director Constance Tsang on the map as a talent to watch after her feature debut. Certain to see future festival action, the drama about three working-class Chinese immigrants in Flushing, NY, the film succeeds with touching performances from Ke-Xi Wu (“Nina Wu”), Lee Kang Sheng (Tsai Ming Liang’s iconic actor) and Haixpeng Xu (“Where Echoes Never End”) that could tempt distributors in the coming months.

Although the borough of Queens is pone of the most diverse places on the planet, the insular world of “Blue Sun Palace” is almost solely Chinese, unfolding in New York’s largest Chinatown. Taiwanese Amy (Ke-Xi Wu) and mainlander Didi (Haixpeng Xu) work along with two other women in a massage parlor with an exclusively male clientele. The sign on the door stipulates “No Sexual Services,...

In our modern, highly digitalized world the sheer idea of missing out on something or being too slow has become a nightmare for many. It is hardly our fault and for that matter it is not really in our nature to advance in the pace dictated by our surroundings, but with concepts like “fast” and “speed” having become key ingredients in the fields of politics and economy, it was only a question of time, when it was our job (quite literally) to pick up the pace, and God help those who were simply too slow or were left behind. In this context, it is quite telling when a filmmaker such as Tsai Ming-liang picks someone like seventh-century monk Chen Xuanzang as one of his main inspirations for his works, but also in life. One of the works which can be traced back to this particular inspiration is the director’s...

By Nicholas Poly

‘My films have been labeled “slow, boring, queer, colorless, anticlimactic, opaque…” Is it praise? Slander? What can I say?’– Excerpt from Tsai Ming-liang’s interview on Slant Magazine in 2015.

To be honest, I’ve witnessed the very same labels ‘tagged’ on works of art that refuse to be adjusted in any kind of artistic norms. Moreover, works of art which prefer to step out of this, somehow, enforced ‘political’ correctness by being skillfully evasive. Such bodies of work impose their own evolution of life-force by moving away from certain chronological timeframes and geographical zones, visual palettes, moods and environments, production or technical values.

Therefore, all I can say is that once you enter Tsai Ming-liang’s universe, this life-force is channeled through a vision of originally innovative, as much as essentially nostalgic, cinematic expression. One of these rare occasions where an artist is bound...

“What is the essence of cinema?” is the question that haunts film critics and theorists for decades. In his book “What Cinema Is!”, film scholar Dudley Andrew believes that film is a conduit to bring the audience toward others’ lived experience. Following the idea that film should be an encounter with the world, Andrew argues that the film frame leads the audience to different spaces. A threshold “functions as a passage from one to the other [space].” While Andrew drew his inspiration from André Bazin’s writings, Malaysian-Taiwanese director Ming-Liang Tsai’s film “The Hole” illustrates Andrew’s thinking of film surprisingly well.

“The Hole” is a hybrid of science fiction and musical. The film is set in 1999’s Taipei and a new epidemic, “Taiwan fever”, breaks out. Those infected by the disease will start to crawl like a cockroach and there seems to be no cure for the disease.

One of the best films premiering at this year’s Venice Film Festival, I said in my review of Afternoon, “It’s always been easier to review Tsai Ming-liang’s films than to make sense of them. Characterized by an often impenetrable language of silence and immobility, the Malaysian-born, Taiwan-based filmmaker’s work triggers all kinds of intuitive response that writers crave, yet those same writers might be hard-pressed to explain what they’ve just seen on screen. In this sense, Afternoon poses the exact opposite dilemma, in that it’s by far the most verbal and straightforward project from Tsai – but how do you assess, evaluate, grade something so close to life you’re not even sure what to call it in cinematic terms?”

Featuring Tsai and his long-time actor-of-choice Kang-sheng Lee as themselves in an extended, unscripted conversation shot on static camera, Afternoon has no discernible narrative arc,...

Looking back at my reviews here, I can safely say that I love a good anthology film (Genius Party and Beyond, Phobia and Phobia 2, Ten Nights Of Dreams). Some people dislike them for their lack of coherence and shifts in quality, others love them for their broad range of styles and creativity. I belong to the latter group so I was quite thrilled to hear about this new anthology project coming from Taiwan. Lucky for me it didn't disappoint.

Taipei 24h is constructed around one single 24-hour day in Taipei. Eight directors joined the project, each of them handling a different time frame. While the shorts themselves are not connected in any way the film starts in the morning and ends the next day. The range of directors is quite broad though it does miss a few of the regular old-timers (namely Hou and Tsai). Not that it reflects on...

French actress Laetitia Casta attends the photocall for the film 'Visage' (Face) by Tsai Ming-Lang in competition in the 62nd edition of the Cannes film festival in Cannes, France, 23 May 2009. Epa/Guillaume Horcajuelo President director of the Louvre Museum Henri Loyrette, producer Jacques Bidou, director Tsai Ming-Liang, French actress Fanny Ardent, Taiwanese actress Yi-Ching Lu, French actress Laetitia Casta, and actor Kang-Sheng Lee attend the photocall for the film 'Visage' (Face) by Tsai Ming-Lang in competition in the 62nd edition of the Cannes film festival in Cannes, France, 23 May 2009. Epa/Guillaume Horcajuelo French actress Laetitia Casta attends the photocall for the film 'Visage' (Face) by Tsai Ming-Lang in competition in the 62nd edition of the Cannes...

• Former Victoria’s Secret model turned actress Laetitia Casta has been cast in Ming-liang Tsai’s next picture Visages (Face). Also starring are Kang-sheng Lee (who has starred in all of the famed director’s films), Fanny Ardant (8 Femmes), and Jean-Pierre Leaud (The Pornographer). The French/Taiwanese co-production is set to start in October and run through January with a planned May release (just in time for Cannes…what a coincidence). Inspired by an offer from French officials to allow filming inside of the famed Louvre in Paris, the film is a play on the Christian myth of Salome; framed within the setup of a Chinese director (Lee) who travels to the museum to shoot a film. “The film in the film becomes a total disaster. ‘Face’ is part comedy and a film in a film in a film, reflecting on creative cinema and a tribute to the New Wave,

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PARIS -- French cultural network ARTE's film production arm ARTE Cinema is heating up the Gallic film sector with new co-production Cold Souls, ARTE said Tuesday.

The first feature from director Sophie Barthes, co-produced by Memento Films Production, stars Emily Watson and Paul Giamatti in this "dreamlike reflection on the human soul," ARTE said.

The film will start shooting in February between New York and Saint Petersburg.

ARTE Cinema has also invested in Malaysian filmmaker Tsai Ming Liang's Visages (Faces), co-produced with JBA Production. The film stars Maggie Cheung and Fanny Ardant in this "film within a film story" also starring Lee Kang-Sheng and Jean-Pierre Leaud. Filming will begin in Paris in September.

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Hong Kong action movies dominated the nominations for the 40th Golden Horse Awards, Taiwan's top film honors for Chinese-language films. Infernal Affairs was nominated in 12 categories, while another Hong Kong police-crime movie, PTU, received 11 nominations, the Golden Horse executive committee said Thursday. Directors Wai Keung Lau and Siu Fai Mak for Infernal Affairs and Johnnie To and Ka-fai Wai for PTU are expected to have a close battle for the awards, which are scheduled to take place Dec. 13. The four have been nominated in the best director category, and both films are in the running for best picture nods. Goodbye, Dragon Inn by Ming-liang Tsai, Taiwan's entry for a foreign-language film Oscar nomination, was chosen in five categories, while The Missing, a film by Tsai's disciple Kang-sheng Lee, took four.

Californians with drenched memories of El might find this futuristic drama about the psychological perils of relentless rain very close to home. Set in Taiwan during an unrelenting downpour, this film etches some telling truths about mankind's behavior under pressure, but it ultimately proves monotonous while overstretching its thematic points. At widest, U.S. distribution might be cloistered around art houses in metropolitan areas with significant Asian-American populations.

The hole in question is a peep-sized orifice in the floor/ceiling of a run-down, big-city apartment complex. For the Man Upstairs (Kang-sheng Lee) it's in his floor and provides a window on the activities of the Woman Downstairs (Kwei-mei Yang). Both are near the breaking points, dispirited by the relentless rains and nearly crazed by the unremitting dark dreariness. In this psychologically astute narrative, both exhibit signs of weather stress: the Man chugs beer all days, bombing himself into a sullen stupor, while the Woman fussbudgets with compulsive behavior, becoming increasingly cranky.

To both director Ming-liang Tsai's credit and fault, so too do audience members react in their own way to the film's constant rain. The fact that a myriad small activities are done in real-time, making them seem distended by today's quick-cut movie dynamics, directly involves us in the quagmire of the rainstorm. As such, "The Hole" is both an abyss of boredom and a font of involving filmmaking. Indeed, the scenario itself, as crafted by screenwriters Ming-liang Tsai and Ping-ying Yang stretches its points: entomological comparisons between mankind and the bug world are constantly made, for instance, as the two protagonists admittedly do exhibit insect-like behavior in their anthill of an apartment complex.

A number of color-happy interludes interrupt the downpour as The Woman steps out in a snappy array of dance costumes, stepping out to her heart's innermost desires. These surrealistic snatches are welcome patches of relief, but like the film's thematics themselves, ultimately try to stuff too much philosophizing in the framework of this somewhat narrow "Hole".

CREDITS:

THE HOLE

An Arc Light Films, Haut et Court production

Director: Ming-liang Tsai

Screenwriters: Ming-liang Tsai, Ping-ying Yang

Director of photography: Peng-jung Liao

Production designer: Pao-lin Lee

Editor: Ju-kuan Hsiao

CAST:

The Woman Downstairs: Kwei-mei Yang

The Man Upstairs: Kang-sheng Lee

Vendor: Tien Miao

The Plumber: Hsiang-chu Tong

Running time: 95 minutes...