Asian Pop-Up Cinema Returns for 19th Edition

Chicago’s Asian Pop-Up Cinema returns for its 19th edition March 20 to April 13 in a new format featuring a juried competition with 16 films vying for the coveted inaugural prize. Taiwanese horror comedy Dead Talents Society will open the festival with director John Hsu and star Chen Bo-lin, also the recipient of the Bright Star Award, attending to present the film. Producer Daisuke Sato will also be attending the closing film Brush of God to collect the posthumous lifetime achievement award for late director Keizo Murase, while actress Michelle Wai and director Anselm Chan will be in attendance for the Centrepiece Film, the director’s cut of The Last Dance.

Here are the East Asian films included in this year’s programme:

China

Like a Rolling Stone (出走的决心) – powerful drama inspired by the real life story of a middle-aged woman who decided to go travelling in order to escape her oppressive marriage.
A Long Shot (老枪) – a former sharpshooter finds himself unbalanced amid the corruptions of China’s 90s economic reforms in Gao Peng’s intense social drama. Review.

Hong Kong

Little Red Sweet (紅豆) – a young woman finds herself fighting an uphill battle after giving up her dream job to save the family sweet soup shop in Vincent Chow’s touching drama. Review.
Hit N Fun (臨時決鬥) – farcical Lunar New Year sports comedy in which a woman challenges the Muay Thai champion her boyfriend cheated in her with to a fight.
Twilight Of the Warriors: Walled In (九龍城寨之圍城) – a young man searching for a home finds one in Kowloon Walled City only to see it threatened by nefarious forces in Soi Cheang’s intense action drama. Review.
Four Trails (香港四徑大步走) – documentary focusing on the 2021 edition of the gruelling Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge.
True Love, For Once In My Life (淺淺歲月) – iPhone-shot drama following a middle-aged woman as her marriage to a childhood sweetheart collapses after he meets another woman on the Mainland.
To Be Continued (尚未完場) – documentary focusing on the life of the founder of the State Theatre in Hong Kong.
The Last Dance (破·地獄) (Director’s Cut) – a wedding-planner turned undertaker finds himself in conflict with an irascible Taoist priest in Anselm Chan’s touching dramedy. Review.
Love Lies (我談的那場戀愛) – falling for a romance scam allows a middle-aged woman to reassess her romantic past in Ho Miu-ki’s charming cybercrime dramedy. Review.

Indonesia

Crocodile Tears (Air Mata Buaya) – the intensely claustrophobic relationship between a mother and son is disrupted when the boy meets a girl in Tumpal Tampubolon’s eerie maternal drama. Review.

Japan

Belonging (とりつくしま) – the recently deceased watch over their loved ones from the vantage point of a familiar object in Kahori Higashi’s wistful drama. Review.
Sunset Sunrise (サンセット・サンライズ) – dramedy scripted by Kankuro Kudo and directed by Yoshiyuki Kishi in which a man moves to a rural town to work remotely during the pandemic.
Yukiko a.k.a (雪子 a.k.a) – indie drama in which a timid primary school teacher takes up hip hop.
Welcome to the Village (嗤う蟲) – drama from Hideo Jojo in which a young couple move to a rural area but are excluded from the local community.
A Samurai in Time (侍タイムスリッパー) – a lone samurai struggles to adjust after being unceremoniously transported to our times in Junichi Yasuda’s time slip dramedy. Review.
Teki Cometh (敵) – a university professor begins to sense an evil presence after seeing a post on the internet about an approaching enemy.
Brush of the God (カミノフデ～怪獣たちのいる島) – homage to old school tokusatsu from veteran suit maker, Keizo Murase.

Malaysia

Indera – horror film in which a father takes his daughter to the countryside to cure her illness after a stand off between villagers and government forces in 1985.

Mongolia

If Only I Could Hibernate (Баавгай болохсон) – a teenage boy finds himself torn between his dreams and responsibility towards his family in Zoljargal Purevdash’s gentle coming of age drama. Review.
Silent City Driver (Чимээгүй хотын жолооч) – after spending 14 years in prison, a man’s life changes when he is given the opportunity to become a hearse driver in the latest from The Sales Girl’s Sengedorj Janchivdorj.

Singapore

Stranger Eyes (默視錄) – a fracturing family is confronted with the cracks in its foundations when they begin receiving strange DVDs after the disappearance of their daughter in Yeo Siew Hua’s elliptical drama. Review.

South Korea

Mimang (미망) – a man and woman wander without direction in a confusing city in Kim Tae-yang’s meandering drama. Review.
Harbin (하얼빈) – espionage thriller revolving around legendary independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun.
FAQ (막걸리가 알려줄거야) – quirky drama in which a girl makes friends with a bottle of makgeolli. Review.
Concerning My Daughter (딸에 대하여) – a middle-aged woman struggles to accept her daughter’s same sex partner in Lee Mi-rang’s sensitive LGBTQ+ drama. Review.
The Beetle Project – family film in which children find a beetle floating in a stream and decide to raise it after finding it out it is a North Korean child’s school project.
The Land of Morning Calm (아침바다 갈매기는) – after a fisherman fakes his own death, his captain keeps quiet about it so his Vietnamese wife can claim the insurance money only for her to fall victim to a racist investigation in Park Ri-woong’s followup to The Girl on a Bulldozer.

Taiwan

{“ARInfo”:{“IsUseAR”:false},”Version”:”1.0.0″,”MakeupInfo”:{“IsUseMakeup”:false},”FaceliftInfo”:{“IsChangeEyeLift”:false,”IsChangeFacelift”:false,”IsChangePostureLift”:false,”IsChangeNose”:false,”IsChangeFaceChin”:false,”IsChangeMouth”:false,”IsChangeThinFace”:false},”BeautyInfo”:{“IsAIBeauty”:false,”OldBeautyCount”:1,”IsSharpen”:false,”SwitchMedicatedAcne”:false,”IsBrightEyes”:false,”IsOldBeauty”:false,”IsReduceBlackEyes”:false},”HandlerInfo”:{“AppName”:2},”FilterInfo”:{“IsUseFilter”:false}}

Dead Talents Society (鬼才之道) – faced with disintegration a teenage ghost must learn how to seize the stage in John Hsu’s zany horror comedy. Review.
Doubles Match (乒乓男孩) – two little boys dream of making the national table tennis team but their friendship is disrupted when one is sent to school in the city.
Hunter Brothers (獵人兄弟) – Yuci’s peaceful life is disrupted when his brother is released from prison after serving time for the hunting accident that killed their father.
Old Fox (老狐狸) – a young boy begins to absorb all the wrong lessons while drawn to his enigmatic landlord in Hsiao Ya-chuan’s 80-set coming-of-age drama. Review.
Yen & Ai-Lee – gritty drama in which a young woman is released from prison after killing her abusive father only to learn her mother (played by the iconic Yang Kuei-mei) is dating another abusive man.
The Uniform (夜校女生) – drama set in 1997 in which a girl is forced to attend an elite high school as a night student but becomes friends with one of the day pupils.

Thailand

How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (หลานม่า) – a cynical young man discovers another kind of love caring for his grandmother in Pat Boonnitipat’s poignant drama. Review.

Asian Pop-Up Cinema Season 19 runs in Chicago March 20 to April 13. Further details are available via the official website and you can also keep up with all the latest news by following Asian Pop-up Cinema on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram, and Vimeo.