We present the films in the Asian New Force Category that will be screened at the ifva Festival which will take place from February 24th until March 14th (2021) at the Hong Kong Arts Centre.

About the Awards:
ifva was founded by the Hong Kong Arts Centre in 1995. Over the years, ifva has established itself as Asia’s pioneering force in short film, animation and media arts, by providing a unique and professional platform for Hong Kong and Asian creative talents to unite, exchange and promote their works.

Asian New Force Category:
In these ten short films from different parts of Asia, while the sites and scenes might be different, the one indispensable element is always human beings. The struggle of gender and identity, the fight between justice and law and order, and the difficulties of humanity and survival, are all challenges that both bring us hardship and hope. May we all stand and fight like comrades.

Date & Place: March 12th, 2021 (Frida) | Hong Kong Arts Centre | 7:30 pm (with after-screening discussion)

A man and a woman take their seven-year-old daughter to the hospital. The man can’t afford to buy his daughter’s expensive drugs and she is on the verge of dying. Her mother makes an unexpected decision to buy her daughter’s medicine.

Yan is an illegal second child born under the one-child policy. To avoid being punished by the government, Yan’s parents hid their older daughter in the countryside and raised Yan as a girl. Now a young adult, Yan struggles with his gender identity and is being treated as an outcast in a conservative society. His sole escape is drifting his father’s old taxi through abandoned parking lots.

A transgender female dancer, Shin-mi, gets a call from the Military Manpower Administration.

Eight-year-old girl Chasuna travels from her home on grassland to visit her father who lives in the big city. However, at her father’s birthday party, Chasuna finds out that he has remarried to a Chinese woman. Chasuna has to learn how to accept her as part of the family.

Aram and Mihemed, a pair of teenage brothers, earn a living through collecting recycling paper. Their father lost a leg in a terrorist attack while working for the American army. The boys cruise the streets of the city of Erbil in Kurdistan, Iraq. Depicting their everyday struggle to make ends meet, the camera stands by in the plight of these wounded men and boys.

Mina is locked in the Juvenile Detention Centre for murdering her own father. The real killer is her mother, who has asked her to admit the crime, hoping there will be a pardon for a minor. Mina’s birthday is getting close, which means she could be executed as an adult murderer. She escapes the prison to prove her innocence, but she finds out something new about about her mother’s life.

Yijun is a Taiwanese woman who moved to Japan for her Japanese husband, but the two have been growing apart. One night, she storms out of the house and whilst roaming around Tokyo, happens to meet Aki who is also struggling with her life. They feel immediate connection without exchanging too many words. This profound encounter helps them step forward in their lives.

An orphanage of various sounds. An ocean without witness of the crowds. The child of nowhere, longing for returning home.

After six months of waiting, Elaheh is finally allowed to visit her husband, who is a political prisoner. She and her little daughter Tara have one single day to prepare for this important meeting.

The Moniri and Kheradmand families are in the park for a picnic. After finishing their meal, it is revealed that they are here for something else.

For more information, please visit the official website of the festival: https://www.ifva.com/page/?langcode=en&id=T3S25OQdLoI