100 Asian Films you cannot miss (2017) – Part 2

By Asian Film Festival on February 21, 2018 • ( Leave a comment )

We present the 2nd part of our list of 100 Asian Films & Documentaries from 2017 you cannot miss.

We continue with our list of films…

Duck Town by Yoo Ji-young – South Korea | 2016 – 88 min.
Narrative

Oh Hee-jungwas born and raised in the city of Daegu. With hopes of transferring to auniversity in Seoul, Hee-jung studies hard while dreaming of escaping her hometown. She works at a paddleboat rental ticketing office to save up for her tuition. One day while she dozes off on the job, unexpected accidents happen where she unintentionally watches on. When she returns to the site of the accident that night to drop a life jacket into the water, CHA Young-mok catches her red-handed. Once Young-mok gets involved in Hee-jung’s life, things start to get messy.

Trailer

Factory Youth by Guo Xizhi – China | 2016 – 196 min.
Documentary

Shenzhen, yet another economic miracle of contemporary global China. What do the towering skyscrapers, the glossy malls and the endless apartments mean, however, to those scraping to survive in this new Industrial Revolution. Starting from visions of the factory floor as their bleak life space, Guo Xizhi follows youths through the city where they seek tawdry escape and the damaged countryside they are now alienated from, probing the depths of change and loss that are marking a generation.

Trailer

February by Kim Joonghyun – Korea | 2017 – 112 min.
Narrative

Min-gyeong is preparing for a public servant’s test by stealing lectures. She steals change from the dumpling restaurant she works at part time. Her father’s settlement costs and custody costs aside, she cannot even pay her overdue rent. She must look for a place to sleep. She goes to see her one-time roommate and college friend Yeojin, who suffered depression and had attempted suicide many times. Somehow, a happy Yeojin does not ring quite right with Min-gyeong, but having found a place to stay, she is relieved. Her stay does not last long, though. Having to find another place to stay, she gets help from a man with whom she had sex for money. His son Seonghun hopes that Min-gyeong becomes his mom, and Min-gyeong slowly begins to feel attached to him. February is a story about a woman who keeps making bad choices. Her crimes are not big, but morally condemnable, and she keeps running away from a chance at a fresh start. True, her surroundings are no help to that fresh start either.(NAM Dong-chul – BIFF Catalogue)

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Finding Phong by Thao Tran Phuong and Swann Dubus – Vietnam | 2015 – 92 min.
Documentary

Since his childhood in a small Vietnamese town, Phong felt himself like a girl prisoner into a boy’s body. After coming to the university at 20 in Hanoi, he discovered that he was not alone in this predicament. He dreamed to “find himself” and decided to physically change sex, several years later. Phong’s story is chronicled through his intimate video journal, through encounters with his family, friends, workmates and doctors – all of whom must come to terms with the boy’s determination to exist as a complete girl.

Trailer

Fireworks, Should We See it from the Side or the Bottom? By Akiyuki Shinbo & Nobuyuki Takeuchi – Japan | 2017 – 90 min.
Animation, Narrative

Norimich is in love with Nazuna but she transfers to another school as her mother is remarried. The two elope but soon after Nazuna gets caught. Norimichi fail to save her and broken-hearted. When he throws away the marble, he goes back to the past.

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For Vagina’s Sake by Kim Bo-ram – South Korea | 2017 – 73 min.
Documentary

Woman’s body bleeds regardless of her will. Through untold ages, this bleeding has been the symbol of secret, mystery, fervor and disavowal. The process of bleeding which has been taken care of with any absorbent materials, however, has undergone changes through critical moments of human history. NPR, the public channel in USA declared the year 2015 as ‘The Year of the Period,’ and ‘Free Bleeding Movement’ arose also in Korea. Numerous startup companies launched products for “New Bleeding.” Over a million viewers are visiting pages of sanitary-products-reviewing youtuber, and politicians start to talk about the blood. The walls of information collapse, and women choose their own way of “how to bleed.”

Trailer

Forgetting and remembering 2: Reflection by 4.16 Act Media Committee
Documentary

April 16, 2014. A cruise ship with 476 passengers left for Jeju Island. And 304 passengers were never able to come back. Everyone watched the scene of 304 universes disappearing through live broadcasting. In the face of this painful disaster, some struggled to remember and some tried their best to erase the whole thing. This film records the collective trauma of Korean society after the disaster and asks why the 304 victims can’ t peacefully rest in the eternal sleep. [Via: Diaspora Film Festival 2017]

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Happy Bus Day by Lee Seungwon – South Korea | 2016 – 113 min.
Narrative

For final birthday party, a family gathers in the house of eldest son, a monster. Mother asks each of them to stay in the monster’s room for 10 minutes. Each person puts down personal wounds and secrets.

Trailer

Headshot by Timo Tjahjanto, Kimo Stamboel – Indonesia | 2016 – 118 min.
Narrative

Uwais plays a young man who washes ashore, an amnesiac with a serious head injury whose past comes back to haunt him shortly after being nursed back to health by a young doctor. Violence ensues. Sweet, sweet violence. (Imdb.com)

Trailer

Hide Tide by Tara Illenberger – Philippines | 2017 – 108 min.
Narrative

When Unyok lost both his parents to super-typhoon Ising, he lost his ability to speak. He and his family used to live in a small island with about 20 other families, but due to climate change, the sea level has become so erratic and dangerously high that the small island has become a “no-man’s-land”. As a disaster risk-reduction measure, the local government forcibly resettled all the families to the mainland. Now, he lives in the mainland coastal village with his friends Dayday and Laila. Every low-tide they would go look for clams together in the shoreline. What little income they would get from selling clams they would give to their father, Tibor, who does back-breaking labor in the bangus fishpond of a rich man. When the girls’ mother becomes seriously ill, they frantically search for clams to help their father with the increasing hospital expense. Unfortunately, the supply of clams in the mainland coastline anymore is depleting. In an attempt to help, Unyok leads the girls to cross his old island just when the tide is incredibly low. They discover that there’s an abundance of clams in the deserted island. But can the children go home safely before the high tide comes back in? (Tara Illenberger)

Trailer

Hotel Salvation by Shubhashish Bhutiani – India | 2016 – 99 min.
Narrative

Daya Kumar (Lalit Behl) believes that his end is near, so he tells his family that he wishes to die in the holy city of Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges. The stubborn old man drags along his reluctant adult son Rajiv (Adil Hussain) and they check into the Hotel Salvation, where people come to die. But once there, Daya gets his lust for life back, making new friends with the other “dying” residents. Daya and Rajiv are forced to reconnect – both to each other and to the world around them. Described as an “arthouse take on the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”, Hotel Salvation is a wonderfully accomplished film that captures the vibrancy and strangeness of Varanasi with gentle humour. It was awarded the UNESCO Prize at Venice for the film that best represents the values of peace and human rights.

Trailer:

I am Not Madame Bovary by Feng Xiaogang – China | 2016 – 137 min.
Narrative

Li Xuelian stages a sham divorce to secure an apartment only for her husband to unexpectedly remarry. Li protests to the courts without success since the divorce paperwork is in order. When her husband further defames her, she sets out on an absurdly ten-year journey to reclaim her reputation.

Trailer:

Let Me Eat Your Pancreas by Tsukikawa Sho – Japan | 2017 – 115 min.
Narrative

The title seems horrifying, but it actually is a romance depicting the love and relationships of high school students. The screen brims with a very Japanese mood of cherry blossoms, sweet music and colors. The title is a magical word a terminally ill girl mutters to overcome death. The plot wherein the main character looks back at a memory from 12 years before reminds us of Love Letter, and the story about naive high school students suffering from an incident involving matters of life and death recalls Your Name. This is a transmedia film, where the bestselling novel of the same name was adapted into a cartoon, and then readapted into a movie. After a boy who doesn’t make any friends happens to pick up a popular girl’s diary that details her fight against her illness, their relationship begins. After that, they continue their friendship and love secretly. Oguri Shun and Kitakawa Keiko play the adult roles of the main characters, putting the puzzle together, crossing the two axes of past and present. (JEONG Minah – BIFF Catalogue)

Trailer:

I want to go home by Wesley Leon Aroozoo – Singapore, Japan | 2017 – 60 min.
Documentary

On March 11, 2011, Yasuo Takamatsu lost his wife in the tsunami during the Great East Japan earthquake. Since that fateful day, he has been diving in the sea every week in search for her. I Want To Go Home is a journey of one man’s determination to reunite with his wife and fulfill her final wish. (SGIFF Catalogue)

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If Cats Disappeared from the World by Akira Nagai – Japan | 2016 – 103 min.
Narrative

Young mailman finds out he has no time left due to a terminal disease. Suddenly he is approached by a devil that offers him to live more time if he eliminates something from the world. Young mailman then thinks about his relationship with friends, ex-partners, family.

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I’m drunk, I love you by JP Habac – Philippines | 2017 – 140 min.
Narrative

Days before graduation, two college best friends go on one last road trip where they settle how they really feel for each other. But to put it upfront, this is not a love story. (IMDB.com)

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Inmates by Ma Li – China | 2017 – 287 min.
Documentary

In a confined section of a psychiatric ward in Northeast China, patients of schizophrenia, mania, depression, compulsive sexual behaviour and alcohol addition receive the mandatory treatment. As soon as their heads are cleared, they try to break free but always fail. Under the control of drugs and unquestionable discipline, they begin to reflect on their souls, will, desire and thoughts.

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Kita Kita by Sigrid Andrea P. Bernardo – Philippines | 2017 – 95 min.
Narrative

A blind woman falls in love with a man who uses kindness and humor to make a connection with her.

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Last Child by Shin Dongseok – Korea | 2017 – 123 min.
Narrative

A couple that owns an interiors shop had a son, Eunchan, who died saving a friend, Gihyeon, from drowning during a trip six months earlier. The father is still suffering from the loss and is barely holding on. One day, he witnesses Gihyeon being bullied by a group of young people. Deciding to help out, the father teaches Gihyeon interior work, and his wife also opens up to Gihyeon. Soon the three become like family, but the closer they become, the more guilty Gihyeon feels. Unable to hold out, he finally confesses to them the truth about their son’s death. Last Child poses a different question at each half of the film. In the first half, the question is what to do with the boy that survived instead of their son. Later, the question becomes how to cope with the truth if the death of their son is not the noble sacrifice known to the world. Both questions present the survivors with a hard choice to make. (NAM Dong-chul – BIFF Catalogue)

Trailer:

Lipstick under My Burkha by Alankrita Shrivastava – India | 2016 – 117 min.
Narrative

In rural India, a burkha-clad college girl struggles with issues of cultural identity andher aspirations to become a pop singer. A young two-timing beautician seeks to escapethe claustrophobia of her small town. An oppressed housewife and mother of three livesthe alternate life of an enterprising saleswoman. A 55-year-old widow rediscovers hersexuality through a phone romance. Caught in a conservative society, these women setforth to break the mold, in search of a little freedom.

Trailer

Lone Existence by Sha Qing – China | 2016 – 77 min.
Documentary

A filmmaker who has not left his home or spoken to anyone in years. The only thing sustaining him is his desire to observe with his camera the existences of others that project his hidden self. A film by Sha Qing, director of Wellspring.

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Love and Goodbye and Hawaii by Matsumura Shingo – Japan | 2017 – 94 min.
Narrative

Rinko has been living with Isamu for three years. They have decided to break up, but are still living together. Rinko feels that she still loves Isamu. One day, Rinko finds out that a young girl who studies with Isamu has feelings for him. And it seems that Isamu is becoming attracted to her. Now, Rinko is faced with a tough decision.

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Love Education by Sylvia Chang – China, Taiwan | 2017 – 121 min.
Narrative

Mother intends to relocate Grandpa’s grave so he could be re-buried with Grandma. However, her decision sparkles a conflict with Nana, Grandpa’s first wife. Weiwei, caught between her mother and Nana, is turning the fight over the grave into a reality TV show. However, after having spent time with Nana, she learns a new understanding of life.

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Machines by Rahul Jain – India | 2016 – 75 min.
Documentary

Moving through the corridors and bowels of an enormous and disorientating structure, the camera takes the viewer on a descent down to a dehumanized place of physical labor and intense hardship. This gigantic textile factory in Gujarat, India might just as well be the decorum for a 21st century interpretation of hell. An environment of suffering it’s inhabitants can hardly escape from, we learn their narratives with strong indelible images and dispersed personal narratives of inequality, oppression and the huge divide between rich, poor and the perspectives of both. In the factory, man and machine seem to have fused into one being. It is dark and dank, and barely any daylight penetrates the space. The labor is heavy and mind-numbing, and the work days seem endless. We are drawn into a gloomy world where the cacophonous beat of machinery sets the rhythm of toil. There is a mysterious connection between worker and product.

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Mad World by Wong Chun – China | 2016 – 101 minutes
Narrative

From producers Derek Chiu and Heiward Mak, Mad World is the rare Hong Kong film that tackles the subject of mental illness. Director Wong Chun’s drama takes a humanist approach to the story of bipolar disordersuffering Ah Tung, who was committed to a mental hospital after a horrible incident resulting in the death of his ill mother. With the help of his estranged father, Ah Tung tries to reconnect with the society.

Trailer