The full line-up for the 2017 Osaka Asian Film Festival (OAFF) was revealed earlier today and for the 12th edition of OAFF., the number of selected films has reached an impressive 58 in total, including 16 films in Competition.
There will be films from 19 countries and regions, including China, Hong Kong, Korea, the USA, and Japan, will be screened and out of that selection there will be 16 world premieres, 4 international premieres and 1 Asian premiere. The festival takes place from March 03rd (Fri) until March 12th (Sun).
As mentioned in my post announcing the opening and closing films, this festival will be the place to watch many of the latest and greatest titles from across Asia as well as plenty of home-grown films.
There’s a strong showing from Hong Kong with an interesting father and son appearance for Eric and Derek Tsang. Both are actors with the former being of the same generation with and a collaborator of Jackie Chan, taking a leading role in an indie film called Mad World (2016), a film looking at the pressures of working-class society in Hong Kong as well as mental health. The latter is also a popular actor (see The Thieves) but he has moved into directing with the award-winning Soul Mates (2016), a film about the bond between two female best friends. It looks a lot like the Shunji Iwai classic Hana and Alice (2014) thanks to it two leading ladies who put in strong performances that critics raved about. Also putting in a strong performance is the lead actor in I Am Not Madame Bovary, Fan BingBing, who takes on the lead role of a woman swindled and dragged through the mud by her ex-husband and desperately trying to clear her name. It, like Mad World, is a bit political in its analysis of Chinese culture.
The Japanese film selection has a nice range of films focusing on females with Daisuke Miyazawa’s Yamato (California) taking a sideways look at US-Japan relations through the friendship between a Japanese and a half-Japanese half-American girl, both of whom like Hip Hop. Miyazawa has form in the industry having worked as an assistant director with Kiyoshi Kurosawa on Tokyo Sonata (2008). There’s also Natsuki Seta, an Osaka girl who is making a successful return home with her latest film, Parks (2017), a film that stars super-famous actors Ai Hashimoto and Shota Sometani. At the other end of the scale is Koji Segawa, whose film Tamayura Mariko (2016) is pure indie strangeness as it’s a story told from the increasingly twisted POV of the titular Mariko, a woman on the edge of breaking (or possibly already well over it) due to suspected infidelities committed by her husband.
There are many interesting films from around the world including lots that feature social-commentary and plenty of beautiful cinematography. I’m thinking specifically of the slightly politics slightly supernatural film Birdshot (2016). There are also some documentaries included that provide an insight into people smuggling from the perspective of a tough-as-nails North Korean woman.
Here’s the line-up. I will make this post a sticky and update it with information as it is released:
Films: [WP]: World Premiere [IP]: International Premiere [AP]:Asia Premiere
Opening and Closing Films
Opening: MRS K Dir: HO Yuhang (何宇恆)/2016/Malaysia, Hong Kong
Closing: PARKS [PARKS パークス] Dir: SETA Natsuki/2017/ Japan [WP]
Competition Section
This section will present 16 films chosen from films completed on or after 1st October 2015 and unreleased in Japan. The international jurors will choose the winners of the Grand Prix and Most Promising Talent Award.
1. 10,000 MILES [一萬公里的約定] Dir: Simon HUNG/2016/Taiwan
2. 29+1 Dir: Kearen PANG/2016/Hong Kong[AP]
3. 77 HEARTBREAKS [原諒他77次] Dir: Herman YAU/2017/Hong Kong [WP]
4. BLISS Dir: Jerrold TAROG/2017/Philippines [WP]
5. BY THE TIME IT GETS DARK [DAO KHANONG] Dir: Anocha SUWICHAKORNPONG/2016/Thailand, Netherlands, France, Qatar
6. COME, TOGETHER Dir: SHIN Dong-il/2016/Korea [IP]
7. INTERCHANGE Dir: Dain ISKANDAR SAID/2016/Malaysia, Indonesia
8. KITA KITA [I SEE YOU] Dir: Sigrid Andrea P. BERNARDO/2017/Philippines [WP]
9. MAD WORLD [一念無明] Dir: WONG Chun/2016/Hong Kong
10. ONE DAY Dir: Banjong PISANTHANAKUN/2016/Thailand
11. REVELATIONS Dir: Vijay JAYAPAL/2016/India
12. SISTERHOOD [骨妹] Dir: Tracy CHOI/2016/Macao, Hong Kong [IP]
13. SOMETHING IN BLUE [呼吸正常] Dir: LI Yunbo/2016/China
14. SOUL MATE [七月與安生] Dir: Derek TSANG/2016/Hong Kong, China
15. TISAY Dir:Borgy TORRE/2016/Philippines [IP]
16.YAMATO (CALIFORNIA) [大和（カリフォルニア)] Dir: MIYAZAKI Daisuke/2016/Japan, USA, Netherlands, Taiwan
Special Screenings
1. 52HZ, I LOVE YOU Dir: WEI Te-Sheng/2017/Taiwan
2.AFTER SPRING, THE TAMAKI FAMILY… Dir: HUANG Yin-Yu/2016/Taiwan, Japan
3. HEMA HEMA: SING ME A SONG WHILE I WAIT Dir: Khyentse NORBU/2016/ Bhutan, Hong Kong
4. I AM NOT MADAME BOVARY [我不是潘金蓮] Dir: FENG Xiaogang/2016/China
5. MRS. B, A NORTH KOREAN WOMAN [Madame B., histoire d’une Nord-Coréenne] Dir: YUN Jero/2016/France, Korea
6. PARKS Also to be screened as Closing Film
7. SORI: VOICE FROM THE HEART Dir: LEE Ho-Jae/2016/Korea
Special Programs
In & Out of Work: Looking at Asia through the Prism of Employment
This program will reveal the true face of Asian societies and people through films that depict their labours.
1. APOCALYPSE CHILD Dir: Mario CORNEJO/2015/Philippines
2. JAGAT (BRUTAL) Dir: Shanjhey Kumar PERUMAL/2015/Malaysia
3. MY STUPID BOSS Dir: Upi/2016/Indonesia, Malaysia
4. PING PANG [ ピンパン] Dir: TANAKA Yoichi/2016/Japan
5. THE REFUGEE [亡命記] Dir: NOMURA Yoshitaro/1955/Japan
6. SUMMER NIGHT Dir: LEE Ji-won/2016/Korea
New Action! Southeast Asia
This special program features new movements in film bringing action to art films to heat up Southeast Asian Cinema.
1. BAKA BUKAS (MAYBE TOMORROW) Dir: Samantha LEE/2016/Philippines
2. BIRDSHOT Dir: Mikhail RED/2016/Philippines, Qatar
3. A GIFT Dir: Chayanop BOONPRAKOB, Jira MALIGOOL, Nithiwat THARATORN, Kriangkrai VACHIRATAMPORN/2016/Thailand
4. GOODBYE MR LOSER [令伯特煩悩] Dir: Adrian Kean Kok TEH(/2017/Malaysia [WP]
5. MRS K Also to be screened as the Opening Film
6. PATINTERO: THE LEGEND OF MENG THE LOSER Dir: Mihk VERGARA/2016/ Philippines
7. SAVING SALLY Dir: Avid LIONGOREN/2016/Philippines, France[IP]
8. SINGING IN GRAVEYARDS Dir: Bradley LIEW/2016/Malaysia, Philippines
9. SUDDENLY TWENTY Dir: Araya SURIHARN/2016/Thailand
10. TAM CAM: THE UNTOLD STORY [Tam Cam: Chuyen Chua Ke] Dir: NGO Thanh Van/2016/Vietnam
11. A YELLOW BIRD Dir: K RAJAGOPAL/2016/Singapore, France
Special Focus on Hong Kong 2017
This program will present Hong Kong films by a new generation of filmmakers in cooperation with Hong Kong Special Administration Region Economic and Trade Office Tokyo.
1. HUSBAND KILLERS [女士復仇] Dir: Fire LEE (火火)/2017/Hong Kong[WP]
2. 29+1 Also to be screened as a Competition film
3. 77 HEARTBREAKS [原諒他77次] Also to be screened as a Competition film
4. MAD WORLD [一念無明] Also to be screened as a Competition film/HONG KONG NIGHT Screening
5. SISTERHOOD [骨妹] Also to be screened as a Competition film
6. SOUL MATE [七月與安生] Also to be screened as a Competition film
130th Anniversary of Thailand-Japan Diplomatic Relations: Thai Film Promotion
To celebrate the 130th Anniversary, this program will focus on Thai films including the masterpiece DUAY KLAW (THE SEED)(1987).
1. DUAY KLAW (THE SEED) Dir: Bundit RITTAKOL/1987/Thailand
2. BY THE TIME IT GETS DARK Also to be screened as a Competition film
3. A GIFT Also to be screened as a [New Action! South East Asia] film
4. ONE DAY Also to be screened as a Competition film/THAI NIGHT Screening
5. SUDDENLY TWENTY Also to be screened as a [New Action! South East Asia] film
Indie Forum
This program will present 12 films by new innovative and challenging Japanese talents including 3 CO2 (Cineastes Organization Osaka) supported films. The JAPAN CUTS AWARD will be presented by Japan Society to the selected film from this section.
1. DYNAMITE WOLF [おっさんのケーフェイ] Dir: TANIGUCHI Kohei/2017/Japan/13th CO2 Grant-recipient Film [WP]
2. HIZUME [蹄] Dir: KIMURA Asagi/2017/Japan/13th CO2 Grant-recipient Film [WP]
3. VISUALIZED HEARTS [可視化する心たち] Dir: IGARASHI Akiko/2017/Japan /13th CO2 Grant-recipient Film [WP]
4. BAMY [バーミー] Dir: TANAKA Jun/2016/Japan [WP]
5. BREATHLESS LOVERS [息ぎれの恋人たち] Dir: SHIMIZU Shumpei/2017/Japan/Supported by Housen Cultural Foundation [WP]
6. GOOD-BYE [さよならも出来ない] Dir: MATSUNO Izumi/2016/Japan
7. HER MOTHER Dir: SATO Yoshinori/2016/Japan
8. I WANT TO BE LOVED [海の底からモナムール ] /Besoin d’ amour] Dir: Ronan GIRRE/2017/Japan, France
9. LOVE AND GOODBYE AND HAWAII [恋とさよならとハワイ] Dir: MATSUMURA Shingo/2017/Japan [WP]
10. PING PANG [ピンパン] Also to be screened as a [In & Out of Work: Looking at Asia through the Prism of Employment］film
11. POETRY ANGEL [ポエトリーエンジェル] Dir: IIZUKA Toshimitsu/2016/Japan
12.TAMAYURA MARIKO [たまゆらのマリ子] Dir: SEGAWA Koji/ 2016/ Japan
Supported Program
Housen Cultural Foundation: Support for film study and production
Based in Osaka, the Housen Cultural Foundation supports film study and production in graduate schools. This program will show the films supported by the Housen Cultural Foundation. One of the films has been selected to be screened in the Indie Forum section.
1. COOPERATION AND COMMUNITY [績（う）みの村] Dir: IKEDA Keishiro/2015/Japan [WP]
2. ICARUS AND THE SON [イカロスと息子] Dir: SANADA Kohei/2015/Japan
3. PROMISES [子供たち] Dir: ENDO Mikihiro/2015/Japan [WP]
4. BRIGHT NIGHT [レンコーンの夜] Dir: KONNO Yasumasa/2016/Japan [WP]
5. SWEETEST TRUTH [スイーテスト・トゥルース] Dir: Evdoxia KYROPOULOU/2015/Japan, Greece [WP]
This list will be updated with more information as and when I get it. I hope to add reviews to the blog and then update the list as well so if you’re a fan of Asian films, you might want to check back every so often.
