但願人長久
Drama
Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese, Mandarin, Hunan Dialect, Japanese
Subtitles: English and Czech
Directing: Sasha Chuk
Starring: Sasha Chuk, Angela Yuen, Wu Kang-ren
Distributor: Golden Scene
Guest: Sasha Chuk

TRAILER

Opening ceremony of the 20th year of the FILMASIA festival in the theme of WOMEN OF ASIAN CINEMA in the presence of the director of the opening film, SASHA CHUK.

In the crucial year of 1997, eight-year-old Yuen arrives in Hong Kong to reunite with her father (Wu Kang-ren), who had immigrated to the city a while ago. Later, her sister arrives as well, and we follow their efforts to integrate into society despite social and language barriers. Fly Me to The Moon tells the story of a family, divided into three acts across twenty years. In each act, it gives the audience a glimpse into how the sisters cope with their surroundings in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

Sasha Chuk, who based the film on her own book, has proven herself to be a sensitive director, writer, and actress. Under the mentorship of Hong Kong great Stanley Kwan, she has found the tools to build on domestic film traditions in a progressive way. The film’s key narrative principle is recurring division and connection. The family is repeatedly shattered, relationships to one’s roots and identity are broken and restored again. The father, phenomenally portrayed by Wu Kang-ren, is similarly torn between the position of a loving parent and problematic drug user.

Fly Me to the Moon highlights the social barriers and prejudices faced by refugees, but also the complexity of family relationships, and empathetically shows where these can lead. But it also shows something else, the arrival of a huge filmmaking talent that every Hong Kong film fan should notice – Sasha Chuk.

花椒之味
Drama
Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese, Mandarin
Subtitles: English and Czech
Directing: Heiward Mak
Starring: Sammi Cheng, Megan Lai, Li Xiaofeng
Distributor: Media Asia Film
Guest: Heiward Mak

TRAILER

The film will be introduced by director HEIWARD MAK, and the screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director.

During a family funeral, Hong Kong native Acacia (Sammi Cheng) discovers that her father had two other daughters. Branch (Megan Lai) grew up in Taiwan and Cherry (Li Xiaofeng) in mainland China. Their father’s death reunites the three separated sisters, who come from different environments, to work together and save the family restaurant and learn the recipe for his special soup. In the process, they come to understand what family really means to them.

Brilliant filmmaker Heiward Mak has one of the strongest voices in contemporary Hong Kong cinema. Her work is characterised by vibrant characters being challenged by pressing issues. Fagara brings out the theme of confronting family history, such as the secrets of our parents, but also the vast intergenerational differences leading to toxic family relationships. The narratives of the individual characters evolve into a more general dialogue between the three regions of China that the women come from. Mak’s combination of powerful women’s themes with subtle humour follows the tradition of Hong Kong social dramas and, in particular, the poetics of the legendary Ann Hui who also produced Fagara. The star, Sammi Cheng, excels in the lead role, brilliantly oscillating between different kinds of acting. Fagara is based on a text by popular writer Amy Cheung and features several acting surprises for Hong Kong film fans.

Despite the said parallels, Heiward Mak remains distinctly unique and exceptional. With confidence, she takes contemporary Hong Kong dramas in a new direction and that is what makes Fagara one of the most inspiring films of recent years.

다음 소희
Drama
South Korea
Language: Korean
Subtitles: English and Czech
Directing: July Jung
Starring: Kim Si-eun, Bae Doona
Distributor: Finecut
Guest: July Jung

TRAILER

The film be introduced by director JULY JUNG, and the screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director.

A radical and shocking film that reveals the many levels on which a system can fail an entire generation and rob them of their future. A promising student, Sohee, joins a telecommunications company to gain experience for future employment. Her career optimism is replaced by a disillusionment with the relentless and toxic corporate culture, eventually culminating in a disaster. Detective Yoo-jin arrives to investigate the girl’s suicide while uncovering the truth about the working conditions in the company.

Next Sohee is a unique film inspired by a true story that makes viewers feel the hopelessness of working life of an entire generation of Koreans. The investigation is not simply a great corporate crime drama, but also manages to expose a series of institutional failures. Schools fail to provide students with mental health care, corporations exploit employees, nurturing a toxic and chauvinistic work culture, and employees exploit desperate customers on the phone lines. As the cycle of despair continues, will Yoo-Jin be able to solve the case? The problem is there is no definite explanation, rather a whole series of wrongdoing and the apathy of everyone around.

This sensitive and uncompromising criticism of Korean work culture is much better on the big screen as an intellectually stimulating punch to the groin. Director July Jung has made one of the most important Korean films of recent years.

春行
Drama
Taiwan
Language: Mandarin, Taiwanese
Subtitles: English and Czech
Directing: Wang Ping-Wen, Peng Tzu-Hui
Starring: Jieh-Wen Kin, Kuei-Mei Yang, Joe Shu-Wei Chang
Distributor: Diversion

TRAILER

This powerful Taiwanese debut tells the story of a couple who are struck by a sudden and unexpected death. Khim-Hok (Jason King) loses his wife, Siu-Tuan (Yang Kuei-Mei), and in a state of complete denial places her body in the freezer. Although it might seem so at first, A Journey In Spring is definitely not a crime story or a gripping thriller. Quite the contrary, it is a melancholic exploration of deep love that endures despite death.

Debuting women directors Wang Ping-Wen and Peng Tzu-Hui draw a mosaic of the daily activities and rituals that fill the lives of an aging couple. These everyday chores reflect the emotional bond built up over the years the bond that represents unshakable certainty in their life together. But Khim-Hok is suddenly forced to continue the journey alone. The directors have made an outstanding illustration of life before and after the breaking point, as well as the husband’s inability to face loneliness. With slow camera movements, they paint a melancholic portrait of love hidden in the corners of the most mundane activities. The film, rich in imagery and sound, does in no way exploit the audience. Wang Ping- Wen and Peng Tzu-Hui captivate with their carefully staged and meditative aesthetic, drawing on the strongest traditions of slow cinema to pass the harrowing journey to a new phase of life.