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Projects from directors Martika Ramirez Escobar and Maung Sun among titles.

Full Circle Lab Philippines, the Southeast Asian project and talent development programme, has revealed the line-up for its upcoming fifth edition, including new features by Filipino filmmaker Martika Ramirez Escobar and Myanmar’s Maung Sun.

The labs will comprise 12 projects in development, three films in post-production, eight emerging producers and three story editors. A total of 45 participants and 14 mentors are set to participate in the in-person workshop, held in the Central Luzon region in the north of Manila from March 27-31, This will be followed by online sessions, which run until September.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is a regional intergovernmental organization comprising of ten countries in Southeast Asia, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam. Evidently, the movie industry of these countries does not yet reach the size of Japan, India and S. Korea for example, perhaps with the exception of the Philippines, at least in terms of number of titles, but through the support of foreign companies (S. Korea has invested heavily in Indonesia that last few years for example), streaming services and a number of European festivals, along with the continuous support of Busan, a number of local filmmakers have managed to produce movies of great quality. 20 of the best, we present in this list.

Without further ado, here are the best Asean films of 2022, in reverse order. Some films may have premiered in 2021, but since they mostly circulated in 2022, we decided to include them.

The number of Lgbtqi+ films has increased significantly during the last decade, with festivals around the world providing a much needed platform for the particular theme to be presented to the audiences. M. Reza Fahriyansyah gives us a rather unique perspective to the concept of homosexuality in Indonesia, by including elements of dancing and humor, while making a series of pointed comments.

“Dancing Colors” screened in Locarno Film Festival

Dika is a homosexual young boy, who can only channel his will to dance hiding in the bathroom during the nights, in secret from his father, who has actually arranged for Ustadz Zakaria to remove the djinn that has been causing his son “not to be normal”. As the movie begins, Dika asks his mother if they can cancel the “exorcism” but her plights towards her husband a bit later, during dinner, have no impact. Eventually, the rather sure of himself Zakaria arrives,...

Returning for its milestone 75th edition, Locarno Film Festival has now unveiled its full lineup. Taking place from August 3 through 13th, the selection includes Helena Wittmann’s Human Flowers of Flesh, Jean-Paul Civeyrac’s Une femme de notre temps, Aleksandr Sokurov’s Fairytale, Patricia Mazuy’s Bowling Saturne, Abbas Fahdel’s Tales of the Purple House, Ana Vaz’s It Is Night In America, Leon Prudovsky’s My Neighbor Adolf, a massive Douglas Sirk retrospective, and much more.

“The selection of films that we have put together, after watching and appraising over 3,000 titles (of every length and format), is intended to be the mark of a time and of a cinema in motion,” Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro said. “A historic time that is moving in multiple directions simultaneously, and a cinema that is probing the issues facing the world, and how to live in it re- sponsibly, sustainably. The...

SeaShorts Film Festival is pleased to announce the full Official Selection for its third edition held in Malacca this 25th to 29th September. Handpicked from more than 350 entries, this year’s line- up of contenders showcase the enormous depth and diversity of storytelling in Southeast Asian cinema.

Comprising two categories, the annual competition counts a veritable who’s who of industry players among thejury panel. Venice Film Festival Golden Lion winner Lav Diaz (Philippines) leads judging duties for the regional SeaShorts Award alongside actor-director Bront Palarae (Malaysia) and Asian Film Award-winning editor Lee Chatametikool (Thailand). Respected helmer Garin Nugroho (Indonesia), artist Sherman Ong (Malaysia), and rising filmmaker Shireen Seno (Philippines) meanwhile decide the Next New Wave Award, which goes to the best Malaysian effort.

Nominees stand the chance to walk away with the lion’s share of prizes including Panasonic Lumix GH5 4Kcameras, Aputure lighting equipment, Zoom field recorders, and Deity Microphones.