The 68th BFI London Film Festival has just announced the line-up and – as always – a wide variety of Asian films is included in the vast Programme. Over 12 days, the LFF will showcase 255 works from 80 countries, featuring 64 languages and including 112 projects made by female and non-binary filmmakers.
The London Film Festival, officially called the BFI London Film Festival is organised annually by the British Film Institute (BFI) since 1953. It is the UK’s largest public Festival of its kind and is visited by thousands of film enthusiasts who have the the ability to see films, documentaries and shorts from all over the world. The festival will take place at London’s BFI Southbank and The Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, as well as cinemas and venues across central London, and will run from 9 to 20 October 2024.
All the info about tickets and booking are HERE.
And now, let’s browse the selection of Asian Titles of the BFI London Film Festival:
OFFICIAL COMPETITION
Living in Two Worlds by Mipo O – Japan
Writer-director Mipo O’s highly anticipated sixth feature follows the complex inner journey of Dai, a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), as he navigates worlds of sound and silence.
The Wolves Always Come at Night by Gabrielle Brady – Mongolia
The hybrid documentary is taken to new levels with this stunningly crafted and fascinating portrait of life for one family in rural Mongolia.
FIRST FEATURE COMPETITION
Crocodile Tears by Tumpal Tampubolon – Indonesia
Mixing genres with abandon, writer-director Tumpal Tampubolon’s atmospheric and eerie debut is the latest example of South East Asia’s vibrant cinema culture.
Happyend by Neo Sora – Japan
Following his moving concert film Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus, Neo Sora presents a playful yet highly allegorical coming-of-age story set in a near-future Tokyo.
Santosh by Sandhya Suri – India
In this taut, north India-set thriller, a housewife-turned-cop is sucked into a high-profile case that has polarised the local community.
To a Land Unknown by Mahdi Fleifel – Palestine
Mahdi Fleifel’s first fiction feature is a combination of buddy drama and tense thriller.
DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Kamay by Ilyas Yourish, Shahrokh Bikaran – Afghanistan
An intimate documentary portrait of a family seeking justice and a sister remembering her sibling, who died under mysterious circumstances on the campus of Kabul University.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
All We Imagine As Light by Payal Kapadia – India
The lives of three women intersect and overlap in a haunting drama that sees the city of Mumbai play a central role.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig by Mohammad Rasoulof – Iran
Iran’s Mohammad Rasoulof delivers a gripping dissident drama, about an official whose ambitions bring him into conflict with his family and the system he serves.
BFI Flare Special Presentation
A Nice Indian Boy by Roshan Sethi – USA/Canada
It’s impossible not to say ‘I do’ to Roshan Sethi’s delightful romantic comedy, starring Karan Soni and Jonathan Groff.
THEMATIC STRANDS
LOVE – …in all its glory
All Shall Be Well by Ray Yeung – Hong Kong
Winner of the Teddy Award at the Berlin Film Festival, this touching drama follows a woman’s journey of resilience after her partner of 30 years dies unexpectedly.
DEBATE – Sparking conversations
Black Box Diaries by Shiori Itō – Japan
Japanese journalist Shiori Itō’s self-documented journey to seek justice against the man who sexually assaulted her is brave and empowering beyond words.
Youth (Homecoming) by Wang Bing – China
Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Wang Bing’s latest work is an act of witness and solidarity with young migrant workers as they seek to rise above brutal labour conditions.
LAUGH – From riotous romcoms to skewering satires
A Traveler’s Needs by Hong Sangsoo – South Korea
Isabelle Huppert is reunited with Korean maestro Hong Sangsoo in an irresistibly enigmatic comic vignette about language, poetry, exile and the art of communication.
DARE – Pushing the boundaries
Caught by the Tides by Jia Zhangke – China
Jia Zhangke filters a prismatic contemplation of twenty-first century China’s seismic shifts through two decades of his own films, anchored by regular collaborator Tao Zhao.
Don’t Cry, Butterfly by Dương Diệu Linh – Vietnam
Dương Diệu Linh’s striking directorial debut is a vividly surreal portrait of a middle-aged woman who finds out her husband is cheating on her.
My Stolen Planet by Farahnaz Sharifi – Iran
A mesmerising collage of archive materials reveals a hidden history of collective resistance within Iran’s regime.
Viêt and Nam by Trương Minh Quý – Philippines – Vietnam
Trương Minh Quý’s achingly beautiful queer romance ruminates on ghostly spaces where personal yearnings and the suppressed collective psyche both dwell.
THRILL – From the wildest ride to the slowest burn
Stranger Eyes by Yeo Siew Hua – Singapore / Taiwan
A psychological thriller with a powerful political subtext, Yeo Siew Hua’s quietly spooky film questions the very basis of our narcissistic existence.
CULT – From the mind-altering and unclassifiable to fantasy, sci-fi and horror
Sister Midnight by Karan Kandhari – UK
A genre-bending comedy about a frustrated and misanthropic newlywed who discovers certain feral impulses that land her in unlikely situations.
JOURNEY – Stories to shift our perspectives
Shambhala by Min Bahadur Bham – Nepal
Min Bahadur Bham’s captivating film finds a young Nepalese woman embarking on a quest to find her missing husband in the Himalayas.
CREATE – The electricity of the creative process
Abiding Nowhere by Tsai Ming-liang – Taiwan
Tsai Ming-liang returns with the tenth episode in his Walker series, featuring both protagonists from Days: the magnificent Lee Kang-sheng and singular Anong Houngheuangsy.
The Way We Talk by Adam Wong Sau-Ping – Hong Kong
The complex lives of young deaf people are explored in all their intricacies in this earnest, superbly performed drama, set in contemporary Hong Kong.
Superboys of Malegaon by Reema Kagti – India
A ragtag crew of filmmakers with no resources end up creating a cult phenomenon in this uplifting true-story tale.
EXPERIMENTA – Artists and the moving image.
A Fidai Film by Kamal Aljafari – Palestine
Composed of archival fragments, A Fidai Film reconstructs the visual memory of Palestine, reclaiming images that were plundered from the Palestine Research Centre in Beirut in 1982.
A Night We Held Between by Noor Abed + No Exorcism Film by Komtouch Napattaloong – Palestine/Thailand
Two films about ritual, myth and national history from Palestine and Thailand.
Small Hours of the Night by Daniel Hui – Malaysia
Composed of arresting 16mm close-ups, Daniel Hui’s sombre chamber piece implores us to find connections between divergent acts of political dissidence across history.
FAMILY – Films for the young… and young at heart
The Colours Within by Naoko Yamada – Japan
In Naoko Yamada’s colourful anime, a trio of teen outsiders form a band, enabling them to escape the challenges of everyday life.
Magic Candies (short) by Nishio Daisuke – Japan
Dong Dong tries some magic sweets with startling results.
TREASURES – Restorations from the world’s archives.
The Churning by Shyam Benegal – India 1976
This potent, political landmark of Indian independent filmmaking – famously funded by 500,000 farmers – explores the ugly truths of class and caste in rural Gujarat.
Manji (All Mixed Up) by Yasuzô Masumura – Japan 1964
In the mood for melodrama? Masumura’s sexploitation classic of obsessive desire brilliantly balances its sensual assault with surprising subtlety.
The Sealed Soil by Marva Nabili – Iran 1977
This beautiful restoration, a history-making debut from Marva Nabili, follows LFF 2020’s Treasures entry The Chess of the Wind as another unearthed gem of Iranian cinema.
