Nine films from SE Asia will feature this year in the biggest European film festival, while Naomi Kawase (Still the Water, An) will be President of The Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury.
The Handmaiden. Park Chan-wook returns to Cannes after 2009 and “Thirst.” For more information about the film, take a look here.
Ma'Rosa. Directed from festival's regular, Philippino Brillante Mendoza. Not much is known regarding the film.
The Wailing. Na Hong-jin's third time in the festival, after “The Chaser” and “The Yellow Sea.” Set in a remote village set into turmoil by a series of deaths, his ultra-stylish new film is told from the perspective of a police detective who comes to suspect that the crimes have something to do with his own daughter.
After the Storm. Hirokazu Koreeda has been a regular of the festival for many years. This year he presents a drama with Hiroshi Abe in the role of an award-winning writer who's stuck in debt due to his gambling habit. He's got a strained relationship with his aging mother (Kirin Kiki), ex-wife and son, struggling to take back control of his existence until a stormy summer night.
Apprentice. Singaporean Boo Junfeng's second feature revolves around Aiman, 28-year-old Malay correctional officer who is recently transferred to the territory's top prison. He lives with his older sister Suhaila in a modest housing estate. At his new workplace, Aiman begins to take an interest in a 65-year-old sergeant named Rahim.
Harmonium. Japanese director Koji Fukada's sixth feature, tells the story of Toshio, the owner of a small workshop in a country village in Japan. Pic, which has just started shooting, stars Kanji Furutachi (“Hospitalite”) and Tadanobu Asano (“Journey to the Shore”).
Train to Busan. Korean Yeon Sang-ho became known through his animated films “The King of Pigs” and “The Fake”. “Train to Busan” is his first live-action film.
In the Cinefondation section that focuses on films made by students at film schools, Philippino Raymund Gutierrez will present “Imago” and Korean Park Young-ju “1Kilogram“.
Lastly, Cambodian Rithy Panh, another regular, will present “Exil” in a special screening
