I present the last part of my list of the best Asian short films from 2022.

This list was created considering films I watched last year, awarded films from Class A festivals, and movies I recommended during 2022. You might find some films from 2021 that I consider worth mentioning since they are cinema gems. Please remember that AFF covers festivals from East Asia, South Asia & Southeast Asia. If you enjoy this article, please share it with your friends. As always, thanks for your support. – Sebastián Nadilo

At the endless dark dawn, a student writes something and agonizes at his desk. A woman walking in the hallway, is followed by something. A student tied with a string around his wrist takes the test. Suddenly, something is connected to the string. Two men crossing the road, are connected with a string. In the middle of the road, one of the men stops walking and a car runs toward them. (BIKY 2022)

Jiho’s sister comes home fifteen years after she went missing. Together with her sister and mother, Jiho goes around Seoul to remove the missing person posters that her family put up. (JeonjuIFF 2022)

Trailer:

Lynn leaves her family behind and traverses the harrowing roads of the Cordilleran highlands to try her luck in the city as a country singer. (ReelAsian2022)

Trailer:

In 2015, in the aftermath of the world’s greatest financial sham, a Malaysian child found solace and guidance from an unlikely figurehead. The docu-fiction uses the juxtaposition of its namesake as a jumping-off point to create a highly evocative odyssey through the Malaysian youth consciousness. (SeaShorts 2022)

The elderly at the nursing home have their heads shaved. The protagonist who works there sees them but can’t read their expressions. However, from one instance, he finds himself looking closely at their faces. (BIFAN 2022)

Teaer:

Seed who can’t get under the sun and the shadow who needs light to exist is the meaning of life for each other. Seed wants to be with the shadow on a journey in this strange world. (TGHFF 2022)

Trailer:

With the use of a phone recording and Google Maps found images, the film recreates the scene of two hit-and-run accidents that happened in 2020, and also ten years ago, 2010. By looking at the moment and trauma of losing a loved one, the piece looks into the validity of online/personal archival images, how images are uploaded, downloaded and stored digitally, memorized as well as forgotten in one’s head. (SeaShorts 2022)

Along a river that undergoes a major change, Baby, a middle-aged transwoman, shuttles between her job as a companion-for-hire for strangers and her duty to her father. As the people around Baby start to disappear, she realizes that she has been left behind in a stagnating city. (QCinema 2022)

Trailer:

When an asteroid hits the Earth leading to underwater volcanic eruptions, the inhabitants of a small riverside town start to flee inland. Before she leaves, Nian decides to say goodbye to her childhood friend. Her memories of the town start to become clearer and clearer in her mind on this journey. (NaraIFF 2022)

Trailer:

As a young Chinese filmmaker returns to his hometown in search of himself, a long-overdue conversation with his mother drives them into a quest for acceptance and love. (Sundance 2023)

Trailer:

To see Part 1 please go HERE
To see Part 2 please go HERE
To see Part 3 please go HERE
To see Part 4 please go HERE