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A first look at the Asian Selection of Slovakia’s Košice Art Film Fest 2018

The 26th edition of the oldest and biggest film festival will be held in the urban center of eastern Slovakia – Košice – from 15 to 23 June 2018.

Košice Art Film Fest’s primary goal is to present a compendium of contemporary world cinema in all its diversity of genres, themes and varieties, while also featuring classic and timeless pictures from throughout film history, emphasizing Slovak cinematic production.

The Festival intends to promote dialogue between professionals and the community, and to provide a unique venue for interaction between for international and local visitors. This inclusive project grants equal space for the screening of both professional and student work, as well as for talks and panel discussions on various topics.

Košice Art Film Fest is a a special treat for Asan movie fans as one whole section of the Festival called „Prísľuby Z Východu / Eastern Promises“ is entirely dedicated to the Cinema of East and Southeast Asia, featuring this year 7 films, and few more Asian movies are scattered among the othere sections.

Moreover the „Be2Can Starter“ section – as every year – will allow the viewers to get a glimpse of the main competitions at the Berlinale and Cannes. And Košice will host a screening of the latest Palme d’Or winner, Shoplifters by Hirokazu Kore-eda.

Here are all the Asian titles within the Programme:

BE2CAN STARTER

Shoplifters by Hirokazu Kore-eda (2018) – An opportunity to see the much anticipated Palme d’Or-winner at Cannes International Film Festival.

 

EASTERN PROMISES

A Taxi Driver by Jang Hoon (2017) – In May of 1980, the South Korean government crushed a citizens’ uprising in the city of Gwangju. German reporter Jürgen Hinzpeter managed not only to record the events, but to find a way out of the country. His daring undertaking is retold in this movie.

Our Time Will Come by Ann Hui (2017) –  A grounding in real history is shared by this story of a young teacher, her loved ones, and the courage of ordinary people face-to-face with the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during WWII.

The Sinking City: Capsule Odyssey by Nero Ng, Stephen Ng (2017) – Modern society is served up with a helping of humour in this comedy. A one-room flat subdivided into capsules becomes home to five men who simply don’t have the funds for their own housing. Their plan is to just get by, but when Corgi Aleck arrives, the plot thickens.

The Great Buddha+ by Huang Hsin-Yao (2017) – Documentarian Huang Hsin-Yao picked two small-town write-offs who, out of sheer boredom, learn more than they bargained for about the goings-on behind the scenes of a Buddha statue’s construction.

Marlina The Murderer in Four Acts by Mouly Surya (2017) – Young widow Marlina receives an offer she can’t refuse – at least in theory. But the local gangsters don’t count on the heroine of this contemporary Indonesian western keeping a cool head, specifically that of their boss, as she sets off to report them to the police with his severed head in to.

Die Tomorrow by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit (2017) – If you saw 2016’s Heart Attack, you already have some idea of Thai director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s distinctive sense of humour. With sensitivity and a touch of absurdity, his latest film ponders what the last day of a person’s life might look like.

Big Fish & Begonia by Liang Yuan, Zhang Chun (2016) – Riding high on a wave of imagination, the exquisite Chinese animated film tells a story of a girl from a mystical undersea world and a big fish that was once a young boy

 

LOVE & ANARCHY

Silent Mist by Zhang Miao-yan, 2017

Grass by Hong Sang-soo, 2017

Human, Space, Time and Human by Kim Ki-duk, 2018

 

VARIETY SELECT: ART FILMS

Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. By Steve Loveridge, 2018 (Srí Lanka et al.)

 

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION OF SHORT FILMS

Xiao Cheng Er Yue / A Gentle Night by Qiu Yang, 2017 (China)

Oh! Million Fist! byHugh Cho, 2017 (Hong Kong)

 

About the author

Adriana Rosati

On paper I am an Italian living in London, in reality I was born and bread in a popcorn bucket. I've loved cinema since I was a little child and I’ve always had a passion and interest for Asian (especially Japanese) pop culture, food and traditions, but on the cinema side, my big, first love is Hong Kong Cinema. Then - by a sort of osmosis - I have expanded my love and appreciation to the cinematography of other Asian countries. I like action, heroic bloodshed, wu-xia, Shaw Bros (even if it’s not my specialty), Anime, and also more auteur-ish movies. Anything that is good, really, but I am allergic to rom-com (unless it’s a HK rom-com, possibly featuring Andy Lau in his 20s)"

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