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The San Diego Asian Film Festival returns to cinemas Nov. 2 – 11 with another packed programme of recent hits from across the region and its diaspora. This year’s programme opens with Quiz Lady starring Awkwafina and Sandra Oh while coming-of age-comedy Mustache will bring the event to a close on Nov. 11.
Here’s a rundown of the East Asian movies included in this year’s programme:
China
- 100 Yards – martial arts drama set in 1920s Tianjin.
- All Ears – meta drama revolving around a screenwriter who now writes eulogies.
- Farewell My Concubine – Chen Kaige classic following two opera performers over 50 years of turbulent history.
- Youth (Spring) – Wang Bing turns his camera on the mostly young workers in the textile factories of Zhili. Review.
Hong Kong
- Elegies – Ann Hui documentary exploring Hong Kong’s literary scene.
- Mad Fate – a fortune teller attempts to change the fate of a young man destined to kill in Soi Cheang’s darkly comic cosmic mystery thriller. Review.
Japan
- Evil Does Not Exist – latest from Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car) focussing on a construction project in a peaceful rural village.
- Monster – latest from Hirokazu Koreeda starring Sakura Ando as a mother who confronts a teacher after noticing changes in her son’s behaviour.
- One Second Ahead, One Second Behind – Japanese remake of My Missing Valentine directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita and scripted by Kankuro Kudo following a boy who is always too early for everything and a girl who is always late.
- River – the staff of a hotel along with its guests find themselves trapped in an infinite two minute loop in Junta Yamaguchi’s strangely poignant farce. Review.
- Typhoon Club – a collection of frustrated teens find themselves trapped within a literal storm of adolescence in Shinji Somai’s seminal youth drama. review.
Korea
- Cobweb – an insecure filmmaker becomes entangled within the movie in his mind in Kim Jee-woon’s homage to golden age Korean cinema. Review.
- Concrete Utopia – post-apocalyptic drama following survivors living in the only remaining towerblock.
- In Our Day – Hong Sang-soo drama starring Kim Min-hee as a retired actor
- In Water – experimental Hong Sang-soo in which an aspiring filmmaker goes to the seaside.
- Killing Romance – A once famous actress sets out to reclaim her autonomy from an abusive, controlling, billionaire husband in Lee Won-suk’s hilariously off the wall comedy. Review.
- Sleep – horror in which a newly wed husband says he can see an intruder in his sleep.
- Small Fry – indie drama in which a film director squares off against a top fisherman.
Malaysia
- Abang Adik – displaced brothers find themselves trapped on the margins of a prosperous city in Jin Ong’s gritty drama. Review
- Ma, I Love You – a mother enters a crisis when she discovers her daughter wants to study abroad.
- Tiger Stripes – femininst pre-teen body horror in which a young woman begins to change in unexpected ways.
Philippines
- As if It’s True – an influencer embarks on a “fake” romance for clicks only for the lines to be blurred.
Singapore
- Wonderland – drama in which an old man sells his house to finance his daughter studying abroad.
Taiwan
- Ah Fei – drama following the life of a woman over a series of decades.
- Day Off – the wholesome small-town values of an ageing hairdresser place her increasingly at odds with her cynical consumerist kids in Fu Tien-Yu’s poignant tale of changing times. Review.
Thailand
- You & Me & Me – identical twins consider an inevitable separation on the eve of the Millennium in Wanweaw Hongvivatana and Weawwan Hongvivatana’s quirky Thai comedy. Review.
Vietnam
- Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell – a displaced man continues to search for himself amid the ineffabilities of faith in Pham Thien An’s etherial drama. Review.
The San Diego Asian Film Film Festival runs Nov. 2 – 11 at venues across the county. Full details for all the films are available via the official website where you can also find ticketing links and screening information, and you can keep up with all the latest news by following the festival on Facebook, X (formerly known asTwitter), Instagram, and YouTube.
Windows on Worlds 