News

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...

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.

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,...

In a post-screening Q&a ahead of the Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong, filmmaker Neo Sora discussed his nominated feature “Happyend,” a contemplative exploration of fractured friendship against the backdrop of political unrest.

In the film, set in the near future, the threat of a catastrophic quake looms in Tokyo. Two friends, Yuta (Kurihara Hayato) and Kou (Hidaka Yukito), prank their principal before graduation, leading to school surveillance installation.

The Tokyo-based director’s debut feature film weaves personal relationships with larger sociopolitical themes, creating what Sora described as “differences in scale” between intimate character dynamics and sweeping social commentary. “The core of the film is friendship, but specifically the feeling you get when you lose a friend because of political differences,” Sora explained. “That’s a really small thing because it’s just between you and somebody else. But because the reason is a larger, social reason, one of the...

The documentary Between Goodbyes by the Korean-American director and producer Jota Mun, has won the CinemAsia Audience Award 2025. The film had its European premiere at the CinemAsia Film Festival and resonated with audiences through its honest and layered exploration of diaspora, transnational adoption, family bonds, and identity.

The 17th edition of CinemAsia Film Festival took place from March 6-11, 2025, in four Amsterdam cinemas, with a diverse and dynamic program of 38 films, and concluded on a high note on March 11 with Fly Me To The Moon by Sasha Chuk in Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam. Following its main festival, CinemAsia goes On Tour to Forum Groningen (April 5-6), Kino Rotterdam (April 11-13), Filmhuis Den Haag (May 9-11), Natlab Eindhoven (May 17-18), and Lumiere in Maastricht (May 24-25), bringing CinemAsia’s audience award winner Between Goodbyes, and other festival favorites like Yen and Ai-Lee and Black Dog to a broader Dutch audience.

CinemAsia...

The Cinevesture International Film Festival (Ciff) has revealed a diverse lineup for its second edition, set to run March 20-23 in Chandigarh, India, featuring notable Oscar winners and nominees alongside celebrated regional cinema.

Jacques Audiard’s Oscar-winning “Emilia Perez”headlines the World Canvas section, alongside Magnus von Horn’s Oscar-nominated Danish drama “The Girl with the Needle.”

The festival will open with the India premiere of Korean feature “A Normal Family,” directed by Hur Jin-ho, which first bowed at the Toronto International Film Festival. A special screening of the Punjabi short film “The Cycle” by Arpita Mukherjee will accompany the opening night festivities.

For its sophomore outing, Ciff has assembled a lineup featuring 15 international features in its World Canvas section and 17 titles in the India Unveiled category, with additional special screenings and student films rounding out the program.

The Indian selection features several significant titles by renowned filmmakers, including Dibakar Banerjee’s “Tees,...

For a town that’s all about the movies, Los Angeles strangely isn’t always the destination for a premier film festival. Enter the Los Angeles Festival of Movies (Lafm), heading into its second year, and adding more films to its lineup. IndieWire exclusively announces the latest additions. The festival runs April 3 through 6 across venues on the east side of L.A.

Mubi and Mezzanine co-present the festival, which has just added A24’s fest-favorite comedy “Friendship,” starring Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd, to its lineup along with restorations of Robina Rose’s “Nightshift” and Jessie Maple’s “Will,” which is regarded as the first indie feature made by an African American woman. The festival, as previously announced, opens with Amalia Ulman’s satire of clueless documentarians adrift in South America, “Magic Farm,” and closes with Neo Sora’s dystopic coming-of-age Venice premiere “Happyend.” “Magic Farm” will be released later...

The independent-focused Los Angeles Festival of Movies is preparing for its second edition, unveiling its coming line-up for April 3 to 6. The fest, co-presented by Mubi and Mezzanine, will kick-off with an opening night screening of Amalia Ulman’s south-of-the-border satire “Magic Farm,” starring Chloë Sevigny, Simon Rex and Alex Wolff as an inept documentary crew that ends up in the wrong country after embarking to profile an Argentinian musician. The feature premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January; this Lafm selection will mark its West Coast premiere.

The fest also features a screening of “Friendship,” the A24 comedy starring Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd. Neo Sora’s Gen-z apocalypse ensemble drama “Happyend” will play as the closing night selection.

Other feature inclusions are the world premiere of Dennis Cooper and Zac Farley’s “Room Temperature,” about an annual family-operated haunted house that dramatically ups the stakes; the U.S.

CinemAsia Film Festival 2025 presents its full program for the 17th edition, running March 6-11 in Amsterdam. Featuring 38 handpicked films – of which 27 feature films and 11 shorts, including 1 world and 4 European premieres – the lineup spans blockbusters, art-house gems, and independent productions.

Hosted at Eye Filmmuseum, Studio/K, Rialto De Pijp, and Rialto Vu, CinemAsia invites audiences on a cinematic journey through Asia’s rich storytelling, stunning visuals, and diverse cultural perspectives.

Grand Opening & Closing Films

Opening Film – Happyend by Neo Sora (Dutch premiere) – Director present at the festival.

The festival opens with the highly anticipated Happyend by Japanese-American filmmaker Neo Sora. Set in a dystopian near-future Tokyo overshadowed by an impending catastrophic earthquake, this visually stunning film explores identity and friendship in a world dominated by control and uncertainty.

Closing Film – Fly Me To The Moon (Hong Kong 2023) by Sasha Chuk (Dutch premiere) – Director present.

CinemAsia 2025 closes with Fly Me to the Moon,...

Ruben Östlund’s highly anticipated “The Entertainment System Is Down” has added New York and Tokyo-based Cinema Inutile as executive producer, continuing the company’s strategic expansion into larger-scale international projects. The film, starring Kirsten Dunst, Keanu Reeves, Daniel Brühl, Nicholas Braun and Samantha Morton, follows passengers on a long-haul flight forced to confront the horror of boredom when the entertainment system fails.

“I’m very, very excited for the film. It’s going to be a very special one,” Cinema Inutile founder Alex C. Lo tells Variety. Lo, a self-described “long-time admirer” of Östlund’s work, is a frequent collaborator of “The Entertainment System Is Down” producer Philippe Bober, including on Lou Ye’s Cannes-debuting “An Unfinished Film” and Jessica Hausner’s Sitges winner “Club Zero.” “The Entertainment System Is Down” is currently shooting and aims for a 2026 release.

Lo established Cinema Inutile just before the pandemic in late...

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...

If April was the cruelest month for T.S. Eliot, this upcoming one’s certainly less cruel for filmgoers with a new movie called “April” finally hitting theaters.

As IndieWire can exclusive announce, Dea Kulumbegashvili’s 2024 Venice Special Jury prize winner “April” will open from Metrograph Pictures on April 25 in select theaters.

Since it’s been a while since we saw “April” at the fall festivals, here’s the synopsis courtesy of Metrograph Pictures: “Skilled obstetrician Nina is accused of malpractice when a baby dies during delivery. The ensuing investigation threatens to expose Nina’s illegal sideline: offering abortions to local women. Nina remains fiercely committed to her patients, but she must walk a razor’s edge in order to survive as a pariah in a world which desperately needs her. Set against the backdrop of the starkly beautiful Georgian countryside, Kulumegashvili’s prescient sophomore employs a mesmerizing visual and sonic...

Neo Sora, the filmmaker and artist behind “Happyend,” has signed with Cinetic Media.

The move comes after “Happyend,” which Sora wrote as well as directed, premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. It went on to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival and Busan International Film Festival, earning positive reviews at each stop. The coming-of-age story is set in a near-future Japan, where a group of high schoolers fights for a better future against a techno-fascist world fueled by the fear of the next great earthquake.

Metrograph picked up the film for North America distribution after it screened in Venice and will release the film in theaters in 2025. Magnify is handling the rest of the world. The film was produced by Albert Tholen, Aiko Masubuchi, Eric Nyari, Alex C. Lo and Anthony Chen, and supported by the likes of the Sundance Institute, Gotham Project Market and Talents Tokyo.

The Asian Film Awards Academy (Afa Academy or Afaa) announced the nominations for the 18th Asian Film Awards (AFA18) and the Jury President for this year in Hong Kong today.

Thirty outstanding films from 25 countries and regions have been shortlisted to compete for 16 awards at AFA18, which celebrates artistic and technical achievements in Asian cinema. The prestigious lineup of nominees from around Asia includes seven Japanese films: Teki Cometh, Desert of Namibia (Yamanaka Yoko), All the Long Nights, My Sunshine, Happyend (Sora Neo), The Box Man (Ishii Gakuryu) and Black Ox.

Korean auteur Jang Jae-hyun’s Exhuma received eleven nominations, making it the most nominated film this year. It will compete for Best Film with Yoshida Daihachi’s Teki Cometh, Cannes Grand Prix-winning film All We Imagine as Light (Payal Kapadia), China’s Black Dog (Guan Hu), which was screened in the 37th TIFF Gala Selection, and Hong Kong’s...

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,...

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...

Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2024, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.

2024 saw the flicker of a major flame in the strands of cinema that have my heart the most.

It was a year where sex, romance, and representation were back on the menu in exciting new configurations, mirrored behind the camera and in front of the screen. Films that made us feel, self-reflect, introspect, change our minds, and realize. In a sociopolitical climate increasingly intent on sidelining and disavowing empathy at every turn, it’s comforting to know that we are not immune to movies.

Favorite Big Screen Rediscoveries: Zerophilia, Moving, Bumpkin Soup, Manji, Their Last Love Affair

Honorable Mentions: Caught by the Tides, Summer Solstice, Gift, Ghost Cat Anzu, You Burn Me

10. Happyend (Neo Sora)

In 2024, Japanese cinema began to travel and shift in new ways. The...

The 19th Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival has wrapped in Yogyakarta (Jogja), Indonesia, with local feature “Yohanna” dominating the Indonesian Screen Awards while Neo Sora’s “Happyend” secured the festival’s top Golden Hanoman Award.

“Yohanna,” directed by Razka Robby Ertanto, collected five honors including best film, director, storytelling, performance, and cinematography (Odyssey Flores). Truong Minh Quy’s “Viet and Nam” took home the Silver Hanoman Award.

In other awards, “Ma – Cry of Silence” by The Maw Naing won the Netpac Award and Geber Award, while Hung Chen’s “When the Wind Rises” secured both the Blencong Award and Jaff Student Award. Behzad Nalbandi’s “Anita, Lost in the News” received a Special Jury Mention.

The festival program featured a masterclass with Taiwan-based auteur Tsai Ming Liang, which attracted filmmakers like Riri Riza, Mira Lesmana, Kamila Andini, and Jaff director Ifa Isfansyah. Three of Tsai’s works were screened: “Vive L’Amour...

Hanoman Award

Hanoman Award is a feature-length competitive program for established directors and upcoming young talent who hold the future of Asian cinema. The first winner will be awarded a Golden Hanoman and runner-up will be awarded a Silver Hanoman.

Amanda Nell Eu, Gina S. Noer and Julien Rejl gave the Silver Hanoman to “Viet and Nam” by Vietnamese Truong Minh Quy and the Golden Hanoman to “HappyEnd” by Neo Sora.

Film Analysis: HappyEnd (2024) by Neo Sora Interview With Neo Sora: The Casting Process Was Classical and Quite Abnormal for Japan Film Review: Viet and Nam (2024) by Minh Quy Truong Netpac Award

Netpac Award aims to read the diverse Asian perspectives from the first or second work of directors who hold the future of Asian cinema.

Arian Darmawan, Intan Paramaditha and Latika Padgaonkar gave the Netpac Award to “Ma – Cry of Silence” by The Maw Naing

Film Review: Ma- Cry of Silence...

A decade after Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen parlayed his Cannes Camera d’Or win for “Ilo Ilo” into launching production house Giraffe Pictures, the company is expanding into distribution while strengthening its pan-Asian presence.

Chen is currently serving on the Indonesian Screen Award jury at the ongoing Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival.

“Giraffe was started off the back of ‘Ilo Ilo.’ After the success of the film – it was a small little film from Singapore – we didn’t expect that it would go to Cannes and then win the Camera d’Or, and then went on to win like 40 prizes around the world,” Chen told Variety.

The company’s name reflects its philosophy. “It’s not just a very cute animal, but I think it’s the only animal on Earth where it’s always standing tall and above everyone else,” Chen said. “Everyone might just be muddled and everything else,...

Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April scored a double win at the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa), taking home prizes for best film and best performance for Ia Sukhitashvili.

The Georgian feature centres on a skilled obstetrician at a maternity hospital, who comes under scrutiny after a tragic episode, threatening her secret side job providing unsanctioned abortions. The film premiered at Venice where it won the special jury prize and went on to play Toronto and San Sebastian, winning best film in Zabaltegi-Tabakalera competition at the latter. Metrograph Pictures picked up North American rights last month.

Scroll down for full list...

Georgian drama film “April” took double honors on Saturday at the annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards, winning the best film prize and the best performance prize for Ia Sukhitashvili.

Directed by Dea Kulumbegashvili, the film portrays the determination of an obstetrics and gynaecology provider in the face of accusations about the death of a newborn child. The film premiered at the Venice and Toronto festivals in September, earning a special jury prize in Venice and the best film prize in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera competition.

Sukhitashvili was present at the Apsa ceremony in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, to accept both awards.

Fellow Georgian filmmaker, Tato Kotetishvili was awarded the Apsa for best director for his debut feature, dark comedy “Holy Electricity,” which sees cousins selling neon crucifixes door to door in Tbilisi.

Women’s stories and films from India were also major themes among the awards winners.

Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light,...

The Marrakech Film Festival, which opened Friday with Justin Kurzel’s timely thriller “The Order,” has more than 70 films in its lineup, which, as is customary, mixes known titles and fresh fare.

“The Order” is part of the event’s gala screenings that also comprise French-Moroccan auteur Nabil Ayouch’s feminist musical drama “Everybody Loves Touda,” Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here” and Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” all of which will be accompanied by their directors.

The 14-title competition dedicated to first and second works includes Moroccan director Saïd Hamich Benlarbi’s melodrama “Across the Sea,” about North African exiles in Marseilles, and Hind Meddeb’s doc “Sudan, Remember Us,” which pays homage to Sudanese people and culture by chronicling their 2019 revolution. “Sudan, Remember Us” is among films supported by the fest’s Atlas Workshops industry initiative, aimed at fostering and supporting the emergence of a new generation of Moroccan,...

Gold Coast, Australia: The Asia Pacific Screen Academy in strategic partnership with Aw Jewel welcomes its International Jury members, nominees and guests from across the globe to the Gold Coast for the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards. The prestigious international film event honours the cinematic excellence of 78 countries and areas of the Asia Pacific and films that best reflect their cultural origins and the diversity of the vast region.

Film industry guests from Australia, Cambodia, Georgia, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, People’s Republic of China, Singapore, Thailand, Türkiye, and the USA are confirmed to participate in the 6th Asia Pacific Screen Forum, to be held from 27 to 30 November.

Australian actress, writer and comedian Nina Oyama (Deadloch, Utopia) is set to host the Gala Awards Ceremony, on the evening of Saturday 30 November in the elegant Diamond Ballroom of The Langham, Gold Coast, on the traditional...

On The Seesaw, the upcoming feature debut of Taiwan’s Nell Wang, has won the Nt$1m grand prize at the Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (Fpp) project market.

The top award was handed out by a jury comprising Chen Yu-hsun, Yeo Yann Yann and Jacky Pang. The project, which also received the Judicial Creative Film Award, follows two mental health patients who fall in love and get married, only to face challenges testing their bond to the limits. Executive producers are Shen Ko-shang and Anne Wu.

Scroll down for full list of winners

Aoharu Point, the latest project from...

Vietnam talent showed strong presence at the 12th QCinema International Film Festival in Quezon City, Philippines, as Trương Minh Quý’s “Viet and Nam” claimed the top prize, while compatriot Dương Diệu Linh’s “Don’t Cry, Butterfly” secured the Grand Jury Prize.

“Viet and Nam,” which made its debut in Cannes Un Certain Regard, emerged victorious in the Asian Next Wave competition. The jury, comprising Babyruth Villarama, Gabor Greiner, Ming-Jung Kuo and Nguyen Le, praised the film for “conjuring the haunting presence of trauma and memories that are embedded within the landscape, and tenderly following a romance that unfolds deep within the coal mines.”

“Don’t Cry, Butterfly,” Dương’s debut feature, follows a middle-aged wife who, upon discovering her husband’s infidelity, embarks on a mystical journey in search of a better life. The film previously won three prizes at Venice.

Elizabeth Lo took home the Best Director award for “Mistress Dispeller,...

Justin Kurzel’s political thriller The Order starring Jude Law will open the 21st Marrakech International Film Festival in the presence of the director and producer Stuart Ford later this month.

The film is among seven films that will be showcased as gala screenings at the Moroccan film festival, which unveiled its line-up on Thursday.

The galas also feature a trio of Best International Feature Film Oscar entries, Nabil Ayouch’s Everybody Loves Touda (Morocco), Walter Salles’s I’m Still Here (Brazil) and Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Germany), all of which will screen in the presence of their directors.

The festival will screen 70 features from 32 countries across sections spanning the Official Competition, Gala Screenings, Special Screenings, the 11th Continent, the Moroccan Panorama, Cinema for Young Audiences & Families, and films shown as part of the Tributes program.

The 14 first and second films in competition include French...

Marrakech International Film Festival has unveiled the full line-up for its 21st edition which will open with Justin Kurzel’s crime thriller The Order onNovember 29 and run to December 7.

Kurzel’s debut featureSnowtownwon thefestival’s jury prize in 2011, and the filmmaker returned in 2022 to serve on the jury.

This year’s jury will be presided over by Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, replacing Thomas Vinterberg, and will award the Étoile d’Or for best film to one of 14 first- and second-time features in the international competition.

In total, the festival will screen 70 films from 32 countries, including 14 documentaries, 12 Moroccan titles, nine world...

Filmmakers with works selected for the Tokyo Film Festival’s Nippon Cinema Now section took part in a panel alongside Christian Jeune, Cannes’ film department director and deputy general delegate.

“I’ve been coming to Japan for the past 45 years and know the directors that have been to Cannes well, like Hirokazu Kore-eda and Takashi Miike,” said Jeune. “But six to seven years back, I was a bit desperate for new voices.

“I had heard that many directors had trouble financing their films, or their film treatments were very local and difficult to travel for an international audience. However, now we are seeing a new generation of filmmakers, like those behind Plan 75 or Happyend. I wouldn’t say that it’s a wave yet, but there’s something exciting happening,” added Jeune.

The panel was moderated by the Tokyo fest’s programming director Shozo Ichiyama.

Two filmmakers on the...

In his feature fiction debut “Happyend“, Neo Sora lets teenagers played by Hayato Kurihara, Hidaka Yukito, Ayumu Nakajima, Makiko Watanabe and Shiro Sano clash over their political beliefs in a story set up in a near future where politics and products get advertised in the sky, and surveillance becomes a constituent part of highschoolers’ reality.

We took the opportunity to speak with the Japanese director during his short stay in Vienna, where he attended both screenings of the movie at the Viennale. Neo Sora spoke to us about the genesis of “Happyend” and why he considers it to be the first movie in his career. We also spoke about monster earthquakes, what kind of other danger they bring along, and why speaking up about racism and environmental catastrophes should happen today rather than tomorrow.

Since its world premiere in Venice, “Happyend” has been on quite an international journey.

Yeah, it...

Neo Sora makes his feature directorial debut with Happyend, transporting us to a speculative vision of Tokyo’s near future. As the son of renowned musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sora carries an artistic sensibility shaped by Japan’s social-political currents. His film explores these themes through an intimate focus on a group of high school friends.

Our characters are Yuta and Kou, who’ve been close since childhood. Life remains much as it ever was for Tokyo’s graduating seniors, even with impending catastrophe looming. Daily earthquake drills are just background noise to games and music in their makeshift clubroom sanctuary. Beneath surface calm, however, tensions are rising both in their tightknit circle and the outside world.

When a prank on a rigid principal backfires, it brings harsh new surveillance measures to the school. Freedoms once taken for granted face removal. Divisions emerge as friends discover their stances on rebellion versus obedience diverge.

On October 22, 2024, the QCinema International Film Festival announced its much-anticipated lineup for this year, with The Gaze as its central theme. With 76 titles—22 short films and 55 full-length features—spanning across 11 distinct sections, the festival invites audiences to explore diverse perspectives through film. The Gaze seeks to challenge and expand how we view the world, from traditional masculine and feminine perspectives to new and transformative ways of seeing.

Quezon City Mayor Maria Josefina Belmonte officially opened the occasion, emphasizing QCinema’s vital role in advancing the city government’s cultural policies. She highlighted the festival’s contribution to Quezon City’s vision for sustainability and environmental friendliness, underscoring the partnership between the city and the festival to fulfill these goals.

The 12th edition of QCinema will open with Directors’ Factory Philippines, an omnibus film project in collaboration with Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. The project features four films created by Filipino directors alongside filmmakers from neighboring countries.

The Philippines’ QCinema International Film Festival has locked its 12th edition lineup, with Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Cloud” — Japan’s submission for the 97th Academy Awards — set to close the November event. The festival opens with “Directors’ Factory Philippines,” an eight-filmmaker omnibus collaboration with Cannes Directors’ Fortnight that pairs Filipino directors with counterparts from across Asia.

The omnibus features four films: Eve Baswel and Malaysia’s Gogularaajan Rajendran direct “Walay Balay”; Maria Estela Paiso teams with India’s Ashok Vish for “Nightbirds”; Arvin Belarmino collaborates with Cambodia’s Lomorpich Rithy on “Silig”; and Don Eblahan partners with Singapore’s Tan Siyou for “Cold Cut.”

The Quezon City-based fest will unspool 77 titles, including 55 features and 22 shorts, across 11 sections under this year’s theme “The Gaze.”

In the main competition Asian Next Wave, eight features compete: Duong Dieu Linh’s Venice Critics’ Week grand prize winner “Don’t Cry Butterfly”; Nelicia Low’s “Pierce...

Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light and Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April head the nominations for the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa), each securing nods in five categories.

Both will compete for best film, best director, best screenplay, best cinematography and best performance at the awards, which will be presented on November 30 at a ceremony on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Scroll down for full list of nominations

All We Imagine As Light, billed as an ode to nocturnal Mumbai, premiered in Competition at Cannes, where it won the festival’s grand prix. April, the story of a Georgian ob-gyn who faces accusations,...

Two films by women directors, Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine as Light’ and Dea Kulumbegashvili’s ‘April’ lead the nominations for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

Both films will compete in five categories – best film, best director, best screenplay, best cinematography and best performance – it was revealed Wednesday in a nominations announcement.

Also competing for best film are Yoko Yamanaka’s Tokyo-set story of a young woman’s mental illness, “Desert of Namibia” (Japan); Neo Sora’s future Tokyo tale of perilous social surveillance “Happyend”; and Jiang Xiaoxuan’s “To Kill a Mongolian Horse”, a portrait of a Mongolian horseman turned performer, based on a true story.

Four of the five films nominated for best film are from female directors, and in an Apsa first, all five best film contenders are first or second features.

In addition to Kapadia, Kulumbegashvili and Jiang, the nominees for best director include Tato Kotetishvili for “Holy Electricity,...

Although one of the oldest film festivals with significant focus on Asian cinema, here in Asian Movie Pulse, we had not exactly followed Hiff so intently. It was a rather pleasant occasion thus, that this year we started a rather closer collaboration, that was definitely fruitful, since the Asian selection was quite significant, including a number of world premieres. The Japanese and Taiwanese presence was the most significant, including Neo Sora‘s “HappyEnd“, one of the best films of the year, but the Filipinos were also here, headlined by Mikhail Red‘s newest work, “Friendly Fire“. Without further ado, here is the sum of our coverage, which is bound to become more significant next year.

1. Film Analysis: HappyEnd (2024) by Neo Sora

Neo Sora has shot a film that is rather multi-leveled, to the point that frequently it functions as parable/metaphor/allegory, with essentially all characters and events hiding some sort of symbolism.

While there’s a few more fall film festivals popping up in the next month, the major ones are behind us, which means we have a strong sense of the films to have on your radar in the coming months and even through 2025. We’ve asked our writers from across the globe to weigh in on their favorite world premieres from Locarno Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, and BFI London Film Festival.

Our coverage will continue with a few more reviews this week, and far beyond as we provide updates on the journey of these selections, so continue to explore all of our festival coverage here. In the meantime, check out top picks from our writers below and return soon for our extensive year-end coverage.

Soham Gadre (@SohamGadre)

1. April (Dea Kulumbegashvili)

2 and 3. Youth (Homecoming and Hard Times) (Wang Bing...

Although he became instantly famous with his documentary about his father, “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus”, it seems that Neo Sora has a lot more to give, as his feature debut, “HappyEnd”, which has already made a significant festival run, is brilliant.

HappyEnd is screening at Hawai’i International Film Festival

In a slightly futuristic setting, where advertisements and news are being broadcasted on the sky and on buildings, and smartphones are used as tracking devices, with the police implementing face-recognition by snapping photos of people, we meet our two main protagonists. Yuta and Kou are best friends, running the music club in their highschool, and as the movie begins, they are trying to get into an underground Dj set, eventually tricking their way into it, since they are still underage. Soon, the police arrive and the difference between the two friends becomes painfully apparent. Since Kou is Zainichi Korean, the police ask for his papers,...

The First Feature Competition at the 68th BFI London Film Festival 2024 is an exciting platform that celebrates bold, imaginative debuts from new directors. This year, the competition is as diverse as ever, showcasing fresh talent and unique stories from around the world, all vying for the prestigious Sutherland Award, which honors the most original and visionary directorial debut.

One of the standout entries is Crocodile Tears, a genre-blending film from writer-director Tumpal Tampubolon. This atmospheric and eerie debut is a testament to the thriving cinema culture in Southeast Asia, immersing viewers in a world where boundaries between genres and emotions blur effortlessly. Another notable contender is Hanami, Denise Fernandes’ stunning tribute to her homeland, Cape Verde. This coming-of-age drama beautifully captures the magic and rawness of life in the West African islands, a poignant exploration of identity and home.

Neo Sora’s Happyend brings a different flavor to the competition,...

Neo Sora’s narrative debut “Happyend,” a dystopian portrait of rebellious youth fighting for a better future that first bowed in Venice’s Horizons section, has sold to multiple territories for Magnify, the international sales arm of Magnolia Pictures.

In addition to Metrograph Pictures, which grabbed North American rights last month and will be releasing theatrically in 2025, Magnify has secured deals in France (Eurozoom), South Korea (Jinjin), Taiwan (Hooray), Hong Kong (Edko), China (Wiseup), Indonesia (Falcon), Turkey (Filmarti), Ex-Yugoslavia (Five Star), Cee (HBO), with many other territories under negotiation. Giraffe Pictures will be releasing in Singapore and Bitters End is releasing theatrically in Japan on Oct. 4.

Following Venice, the film had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (Centerpiece) and its Asian premiere in the Pingyao International Film Festival, where it won the Jury Award. The film recently screened at the New York Film Festival and next...

Yang Suiyi’s Karst won best film in the Fei Mu Awards for up-and-coming Chinese filmmakers at this year’s Pingyao International Film Festival, while Swiss director Ramon Zurcher’s The Sparrow In The Chimney won best film in the Roberto Rossellini Awards for emerging international directors.

The Fei Mu jury praised Karst, about a woman reconnecting with her childhood in Guizhou Province, for “the great fullness, simplicity, subtlety and portrait of a region and a woman.” The award came with a $143,000 (RMB1m) cash prize, half of which is given to the film’s director to develop their next film, and half to the film’s Chinese distributor. Chinese actor Duan Yihong partly sponsored the award.

Also in the Fei Mu awards, Tang Yongkang won best director for Stars And The Moon, while Xu Lei’s Green Wave won the Jury Award and best actor for Xu Chaoying. Best...

Yang Suiyi’s Karst and Ramon Zurcher’s The Sparrow In The Chimney took home the top awards at the eighth edition of the Pingyao International Film Festival (Pyiff) on Saturday (September 28).

Chinese drama Karst won best film in the festival’s Fei Mu Awards, selected from the Hidden Dragons competitive section that comprises features from emerging Chinese directors. Yang’s feature directorial debut follows a cattle breeder who travels to a nearby town to seek treatment for her cattle as memories begin to flood back. The prize includes $142,000 (RMB1m), half of which is given to the director to...

Academy Awards® accredited and one of Asia’s largest international short film festivals, Short Shorts Film Festival (Ssff & Asia) starts annual “Screening in Autumn” today from Online Grand Theater (co-organized by Tokyo Metropolitan Government).

Tickets for screening & talk events in October are also on sale from today.

This year, in addition to the screening of 2024 award winning shorts, specially invited short films “Haunted by the Sound of the Wind” starring globally recognized actress who became the ambassador of Tokyo International Film Festival, Rinko Kikuchi and “The Chicken” by Neo Sora whose feature film was nominated Venice Film Festival will be showcased.

Furthermore, “Women in Focus program” (in cooperation with TIFF), commemorating the 160th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Switzerland “Swiss Eyes on Japan” program, and “Korean Shorts” program are also screened.

As the Online Grand Theater limited program, “Craft Stories Around Japan” starts global streaming today. 6 short films...

Set at a strictly monitored Japanese high school at some point in the near future, Neo Sora’s “Happyend” might be a low-key drama about a group of friends as they steel themselves (and each other) against tomorrow in the weeks before they graduate and scatter to the winds. Yet this coming-of-age story — however pensive and hushed the rest of it might be — begins with an ominous blast of text that wouldn’t be out of place at the start of a violent sci-fi epic like Katsuhiro Otomo’s “Akira.” “Weather buildings creak louder,” read the words on the screen. “The systems that define people are crumbling in Tokyo. Something big is about to change.”

With an intro like that, I half-expected the film’s opening shot to show the biggest city on the planet engulfed in a silent black dome of pent-up psychic energy. Instead, “Happyend” lights up on...

In 2021, when the New York Film Festival returned to in-person screenings, organizers noticed a surprising pattern in the ticketing and survey data.

Twentysomething moviegoers, they realized, had become the lifeblood of the festival. Their embrace of the beloved New York institution has since helped it make remarkable strides, surpassing pre-Covid attendance and sales levels. For more than six decades, the festival has occupied a key berth as the last big fest of the year, with a buzzy lineup of selections from Cannes, Sundance, Venice, Telluride and Toronto.

NYFF’s 62nd edition, which opens tonight with RaMell Ross’ Nickel Boys, is pretty much sold out. Uptake of passes for multiple films, or to gain the right to jump to the front of a wait list, jumped 14% vs. last year.

“I mean that’s the dream, right? Every cultural organization is worried about that. We really need to foster that next generation,...

These are not easy times for film festivals, with many of the world’s largest buffeted by political and financial headwinds, and South Korea’s highly-regarded Busan International Film Festival (Biff) has not been immune to the current instability.

Following last summer’s management turmoil, during which many of the festival’s founders and top executives quit, Biff put interim leaders in place and achieved a level of stability for its October 2023 edition. Earlier this year, Park Kwang-su, a veteran filmmaker with long ties to the festival, was appointed as chairman. Ellen Y.D. Kim, also an industry veteran who has previously worked at Biff and Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, was appointed as head of Biff’s industry platform, Asian Contents & Film Market (Acfm).

But the recruitment process for a permanent festival director did not yield the desired results. With time running out for this year’s edition, former...

On the eve of the opening of the 62nd New York Film Festival, dozens of filmmakers have published an open letter calling on the festival to end its partnership with Contributing Partner Bloomberg Philanthropies, which they write is “directly implicated in facilitating settlement infrastructure in the West Bank and denying Palestinians their basic rights.” Among the signers are over three dozen filmmakers with films in the current 2024 edition, including Mike Leigh (Hard Truths), Julia Loktev (My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow), Neo Sora (Happyend), Basel Adra, Hamdam Ballal and Yuval Abraham (No Other Land), Truong […]

The post Dozens of Filmmakers Sign Petition Calling on the New York Film Festival to Cut Ties with Sponsor Bloomberg Philanthropies first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

On the eve of the opening of the 62nd New York Film Festival, dozens of filmmakers have published an open letter calling on the festival to end its partnership with Contributing Partner Bloomberg Philanthropies, which they write is “directly implicated in facilitating settlement infrastructure in the West Bank and denying Palestinians their basic rights.” Among the signers are over three dozen filmmakers with films in the current 2024 edition, including Mike Leigh (Hard Truths), Julia Loktev (My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow), Neo Sora (Happyend), Basel Adra, Hamdam Ballal and Yuval Abraham (No Other Land), Truong […]

The post Dozens of Filmmakers Sign Petition Calling on the New York Film Festival to Cut Ties with Sponsor Bloomberg Philanthropies first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Before Neo Sora’s Happyend introduces any of its characters, the film previews their social conditions. “The systems that define people are crumbling in Japan,” reads a title card at the outset, establishing stakes beyond just the individual circumstances of the characters. While alternately impressive as teen drama and political commentary, the film never satisfactorily synthesizes the two scales at which it analyzes Japanese society.

Happyend’s technological dystopia is a natural outgrowth of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that destabilized nuclear reactors—not to mention public trust—across Japan. Sora’s film envisions a not-too-distant future where climate change turns the threat of such shocks into an organizing principle of daily life. The country absorbs these constant threats into its security apparatus, which sends out apocalyptic cellphone alerts only to quickly retract its warnings of doom. Predatory enterprises always immediately follow suit, skywriting in the clouds “Emergency Sale: 20% Off Canned...