Of this year’s 49 selections at the Black Movie International Independent Film Festival – Geneva, 12 — that is, roughly 25% — of them hail from Asia. The net is as wide as it is expansive: films range from the west reaches of the Caucasus in Azerbaijan to multiple entries from S. Korea. The notable Korean presence only speaks to the increased interest in S. Korean cinema as well, as their four entries include festival hits like Kim Yong-hoon’s “Beasts Clawing at Straws” and Berlinale Silver Bear “The Woman Who Ran” (Hong Sang-soo).
Black Movie International Independent Film Festival – Geneva first emerged from a desire to showcase African films. In 1999, the Black Movie expanded to include other members of the Global South — especially focusing on Asia and Latin America. Black Movie is known for its discovery of auteur cinema, including showcases of Apitchatpong Weerasethakul, Jia Zhangke, Carlos Reygadas, Wang Bing, Takashi Miike, João Pedro Rodrigues in Switzerland.
This year’s 10-day edition will span from 23-31 January, and will take place online. Full details can be found on their site.
The Island Within (Ru Hasanov, Azerbaijan)
O Black Hole! (Renee Zhan, China)
Red Post on Escher Street (Sion Sono, Japan)
The Horse Thieves (“Les Voleurs de chevaux”) (Yerlan Nurmukhambetov and Lisa Takeba, Kazakhstan)
Ulbolsyn (Adilkhan Yerzhanov, Kazakhstan)
The Death of Cinema and My Father Too (Dani Rosenberg, Israel)
The Pencil (Natalya Nazarova, Russia)
Lucky Chan-sil (Kim Cho-hee, S. Korea)
Beasts Clawing at Straws (“Lucky Strike”) (Kim Yong-hoon, S. Korea)
The Woman Who Ran (“La Femme qui s’est enfuie”) (Hong Sang-soo, S. Korea)
