ASEAN Film Festival: A Window on Regional Cinema

Description

Co-produced by the Hong Kong-ASEAN Foundation and part of M+ Cinema’s diverse summer season, the fourth ASEAN Film Festival is shaped by themes of song, shape and nostalgia.

Opener After the Curfew is a milestone of regional cinema and the first Indonesian film to be internationally restored — after which it was screened at Cannes Films Festival in 2012. Directed by Usmar Ismail, the 1954 film is an important document of post-colonial Indonesia, focusing on an idealistic wartime veteran’s struggles to reintegrate into a rapidly shifting society following independence. 

Described as “meditative,” “hypnotic” and “dreamlike,” Turn Left Turn Right (2016) focuses on a free-spirited young woman working menial jobs in the Cambodian capital, its unhurried chapters mixing dance and fantasy, while “structured like a concept album.” Its star Kanitha Tith will host a post-screening talk at the 30 August screening alongside associate producer Davy Chou.

On the same day, Filipino filmmaker Martika Ramirez Escobar will also host a talk following a screening of her debut feature Leonor Will Never Die. A surprise winner of the Special Jury Award for Innovative Spirit at the Sundance Film Festival, this pulpy and playful meta-homage to the golden age of Philippine cinema, focusing on a titular action-movie director struggling into old age.

Finally, the shorts selection New Frequencies:Short Films of Youth and Whimsy takes the pulse of the region’s contemporary cinema talent with a curated selection of seven recent works in Bengali, Filipino, Indonesian, Khmer and Tamil.

Screenings are free with registration on a first-come, first-served basi