54th Visions du Reel International Film Festival Nyon – Asian Presence 2023

By Asian Film Festival on April 14, 2023 • ( Leave a comment )

We take a look at the Asian films that will be screened at the Visions du Reel International Film Festival Nyon which will take place from April 21 – 30, 2023 in Nyon, Switzerland.

* The list includes films directed by filmmakers with Asian ancestry*

– Feature Films –

**Baby Queen** by LEI Yuan Bin – Singapore | 2022 – 61 minutes*

With her extravagant looks, Singaporean drag queen Opera Tang is the talk of the town. Chronicling her elaborate performances as much as her private life—including her relationship with her grandmother—Baby Queen paints a tender portrait of a character in the making, while denouncing the City-State’s homophobia against LGBTQIA+ communities. (VdRNyon2023)

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**Defectors** by Hyun kyung Kim – Korea | 2023 – 84 minutes*

Combining a humorous and affectionate family portrait, a historical film and a search for identity, Defectors confronts the impact of the Korean War on different generations. Through encounters with a North Korean defector, Hyun kyung Kim reflects on her separation from her loved ones — such as her whimsical mother, whom she left behind in Korea upon moving to the United States. (VdRNyon2023)

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**Guián** by Nicole Chi Amén – Costa Rica | 2023 – 75 minutes

Born into the Chinese community in Costa Rica, filmmaker Nicole Chi Amén was never able to communicate with her grandmother Guián, who couldn’t speak Spanish. After her death, Nicole heads to China to rediscover her roots. The result is a sublime cinematic travelogue in which sensuous shots capture the essence of a place, in spite of linguistic differences. (VdRNyon2023)

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**Mother Saigon** by Khoa Lê – Canada | 2023 – 100 minutes*

In Saigon, a vibrant city that never sleeps, family ties endure even when blood ties are broken. Despite feeling restricted by the city, members of the LGBTQIA+ community who live there love it all the same. Via a series of intimate and sparkling portraits, Khoa Lê explores the love, desire and flamboyant pride that run through the city’s queer community. (VdRNyon2023)

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**This Woman** by Alan Zhang – China | 2023 – 90 minutes*

In this impressive and courageous first feature, Alan Zhang follows the journey of a young woman in order to profoundly question the role of women in contemporary Chinese society. To what obligations and expectations are they subjected, and how can they free themselves from these constraints? A political and timely film, with a wonderful protagonist and a playful tone. (VdRNyon2023)

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– Short Films –

**Dear Daughter** by Hsu Pan Naing – Myanmar | 2023 – 12 minutes

Every year, thousands of Burmese women enter into forced marriages in China. Naing Hsu Pan uses animation to bring the moving account of one of these women to life. Using a wash drawing technique, the filmmaker paints a subtle portrait of a woman torn apart by homesickness, the oppression she has suffered and her love for her daughter. (VdRNyon2023)

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**Dentures** by Nikhil Lama & Siddharth Potade – India | 2023 – 15 minutes*

Today is a day of celebration for Ajju: his father is turning 90. However, the old man no longer recognises his loved ones and embarks on a singleminded quest to find his lost dentures. In this playful and humorous film, the protagonist’s constant memory losses result in disorienting time slips, and an explosive chaos ensues! (VdRNyon2023)

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**Losing Ground** – Myanmar | 2023 – 18 minutes*

In February 2021, Myanmar wakes up to the sounds of a military coup. The hopes of an entire generation are extinguished. Protests are held, but the dictatorship is too powerful: arrests, imprisonments and threats of execution ensue. The capital becomes a large open-air prison, but a few anonymous voices still have the strength to cry out. (VdRNyon2023)

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**Songs Along a River** by Aisha Jain – India | 2023 – 20 minutes

Upstream, the Kukadi River has dried up. Downstream, it has been dammed and its waters exploited. Filmmaker Aisha Jain explores the activities that take place along this river that runs through rural India, as well as the more intimate relationships people have with its waters. An inventive portrait of a territory and the people who inhabit it. (VdRNyon2023)

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**Under One Roof** by Yu Wang – China, France | 2023 – 20 minutes

Bin and Yuan are brother and sister. When they’re not working, they share a small apartment in Marseille. This is their haven, a space where they can rest. Here they can be connected to the outside world at all hours of the day and night, and especially to their home country, China, to which Yuan is planning to return. (VdRNyon2023)

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