Considering the recent success of films like “Minari”, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”, and “Past Lives” the necessity for such a list became dire, even though film critics and programmers around the world are still fighting about the genuine origin of the movies that are Asian-themed, but are either produced by companies from countries outside Asia, or by individuals of Asian descent (second, third generation etc). In that fashion, we also decided to include co-productions where the non-Asian element is quite intense either in terms of production or crew. The +1 is obviously there due to the particular director, although the film is Hollywood in every other aspect.
Without further ado, here are the best Asian Diaspora Movies of 2023, in reverse order, and, as always, with a focus on diversity in style, directors, and country of origin. Some films may have premiered in 2023, but since they mostly circulated in 2023, we decided to include them. When the film was produced only by a non-Asian country, we included the Asian theme in the origin parenthesis)
15. Good Filipino Kids by Andrew Acedo (USA, Phillipines)
“Good Filipino Kids” is an excellent movie that manages to make its comments in eloquent and entertaining fashion, while benefitting the most by the acting, the direction and the production values, in a testament to the progress of Asian-American cinema. (Panos Kotzathanasis)
14. Kim's Video by David Redmon and Ashley Sabin (USA, Korea)
As the credits rolled, “Kim's Video” was met with uproarious applause. When Youngman Kim himself — now bearded — showed up at the Q&A, the room tittered. He spent some time to thank his collaborators and recount his first immigration experience in the US. Then he summarized the film in a word: “Kim's Video was known as a bootleg store — but that's not the point.” Kim's Video was – and always has been – much less about the destination than it has been about the journey. (Grace Han)
13. The Accidental Getaway Driver by Sing J. Lee (USA, Vietnam)
“The Accidental Getaway Driver” is based off a real story wherein an elderly Vietnamese cab driver, Long Mã (played by Hiep Tran Nghia here), unwillingly gets caught up in three convicts' escape plan. Lee laughs. The movie is also about the “tender story beneath the surface,” he shoots back. “It's about the fragility of longing, of feeling like not deserving love… It's this observational story of fragmented characters who are searching for the same thing in some way.” (Grace Han)
12. Shortcomings by Randall Park (USA, Korea)
As such, Randall Park invites his viewers to relate to not just one, but each character in the film, seeing reflected pieces of themselves in the shards of the characters on-screen. The pitch-perfect colloquial banter and linguistic details aside, “Shortcomings” really excels as a character study of everyday millennial life. (Grace Han)
11. The Persian Version by Maryam Keshavarz (Iran, USA)
Maryam Keshavarz‘s sophomore feature, “The Persian Version,” premiered with pizzazz at Sundance this year. In-person screenings – even those starting at eight in the morning! – saw packed theaters, inviting audiences to laugh (and cry) each time. In this ode to the director's own family, Keshavarz maps out the relational entanglements of a lesbian, Iranian American woman (played by fresh faces Layla Mohammadi and Chiara Stella) born to a household of seven boys, who — by some off-chance one-night-stand — becomes pregnant. In this heartfelt mother-daughter tale, Keshavarz invites her audiences on a rollercoaster of tenderness and tough love that spans from New York City to a village in Iran. (Grace Han)
10. Tokyo Cowboy by Marc Marriott (USA, Japan)
“Tokyo Cowboy” is an endearing film from start to finish, balancing deadpan humor and subtle drama in its familiar yet satisfying story of self-discovery, greatly enhanced by good performances and clever writing. Its humorous depiction of culture shock thankfully never derails into a series of stereotypical vignettes, instead having a relatable believability, nor does its emotional sections ever feel manipulative, rather being touching in its warm depiction of human vulnerability. Everything is nicely held together through Marc Marriott's great direction and Dave Boyle and Ayako Fujitani's terrific screenplay. (Sean Barry)
9. Seven Winters in Tehran by Steffi Niederzoll (Iran, France, Germany)
“Seven Winters in Tehran” is a documentary that will not leave anyone cold. As Reyhane's story unfolds, the viewer in confronted with a series of incredible crimes against the young woman who was firstly denied any contact to her family, and whose hearing took place a year and a half after the arrest. Before the trial that condemned her to death by hanging for premeditated murder without one single piece of evidence pointing in that direction, she received, just in case, the punishment of 30 lashes. Reyhaneh didn't stand a chance with her ‘victim' coming from a very influential, conservative family who didn't want to pardon her unless she changed her statement and incriminated herself, which she refused to do. Her bravery has inspired many women to continue their fight for basic human rights. (Marina D. Richter)
8. Between Revolutions (Vlad Petri Romania, Qatar, Iran, Croatia)
Two friends from studies, Maria and Zahra, their relationship and their experiences with involvement in two revolutions ten years apart (the Islamic revolution in Iran and the anti-communist one in Romania) stand in the cenre of Vlad Petri's documentary Between Revolutions. Well, »documentary« might be the problematic term, given that the characters are composites and the letters as the core narrative material are actually composed, taking the inspiration from the secret service archives. However, the filmmaker uses the rarely-seen archival material in a unique way and speaks the unpleasant truth in his impressive effort. (Marko Stojiljković)
7. Starring Jerry as Himself (Law Chen, USA, China)
The first element that draws attention is the whole case of how Jerry ends up being an undercover agent, with the flashback approach Chen implements working excellently here while highlighting the outstanding job done in the editing of the movie. Seeing an old man forced to become an undercover agent, secretly taking photographs and recording conversations is a joy in itself, but the fact that you know that the actor is the actual person in the case, makes the whole endeavor even more intriguing. (Panos Kotzathanasis)
6. Total Trust by Jialing Zhang (Germany, Netherlands, China)
Following the case of two lawyers who have been imprisoned and interrogated by the Chinese authorities, Zhang draws a frightening image of how individual freedom is repressed. While one of them was lucky enough to be set free eventually, his colleague is still being kept by the police in an unknown location, and with no contact to his wife and child. The continuous attempts of the authorities to monitor the family's movements, to silence them and frighten them seem more like something out of a dystopian story, but are in fact a sinister truth of a political system trying to control every aspect of everyday life and also the way it is represented to the outside world. At the same time, we hear an interview with a female officer, tasked with observing a large number of people and who is more than eager to out the new technology into practice, because, after all, it will certainly “make work easier”. (Rouven Linnarz)
