Asia House presents the 2nd Pan-Asia Film Festival at the Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly Circus, 7th November – 11 December 2009
Asia House, the UK’s leading pan-Asian cultural organisation, is teaming up with Apollo Cinemas to present the Asia House Pan-Asia Film Festival 2009, a compelling selection of the best new cinema from across Asia, from the latest work by Oscar-nominated director Zhang Yimou (House of the Flying Daggers, Hero) to films by award-winning film-makers and emerging talent from China, Japan, Iran, Taiwan Bhutan and the Philippines.
The Asia House Pan-Asia Film Festival 2009, which runs from 27 November to 11 December, provides a unique snapshot of current film-making across Asia and supports the Asia House mission of contributing to the understanding and knowledge of Asia in the UK. The festival films, presented this year at the Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly Circus reveal film-making talent in unexpected places including Bhutan and the Philippines, and confirm the influence and depth of cinema from countries with established film industries including China, Japan and Iran. New for 2009 is an evening of award-winning short films from Asia selected by Future Shorts, the world’s leading short film label.
The festival programme includes two UK premieres: Those Three, a beautiful atmospheric debut feature by award-winning Iranian short film maker Naghi Nemati; and Bakal Boys, about the boys who dive for scrap metal in the harbour slums of Manila, directed by acclaimed Filipino screen writer and documentary maker Ralston Jover. Audiences will also have a rare opportunity to see Milarepa, a new feature film by Bhutanese director Neten Chokling which follows the life of the legendary 11th century Tibetan Bhuddist mystic and saint Jetsun Milarepa.
The Asia House Pan-Asia Film Festival 2009 features a range of styles from the sumptuous and epic cinematography of Bhutanese director Neten Chokling and Chinese director Zhang Yimou, to the impressionistic cinema verité approach of Filipino and Taiwanese directors Ralston Jover and Yu-Chieh Cheng.
This year’s selection of films also offers unique insights into the lives – both fictional and real – of people from a variety of Asian countries, small and large. A number of characters in the films make journeys – literal and metaphorical – across epic and beautiful landscapes and unfamiliar territories. They embark on pursuits of self-discovery and encounter hidden corners of their own or other lands. In Zhang Yimou’s Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles a Japanese father journeys across China on a quest for reconciliation with his dying son; the Iranian feature Those Three tracks a trio of conscripts who become lost in the frozen wilderness of the country’s Northern mountains; the beautiful star of the quirky movie Instant Swamp travels to the forgotten corners of Japan to discover the antiques dealer who may be her lost father.
The Asia House Pan-Asia Film Festival 2009 will build upon the success of the 2008 launch festival, which featured films from China, Iran, Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea. This year’s festival moves to the fabulous Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly Circus in the heart of the West End.
Sumi Ghose, Director of Public Programmes at Asia House commented: “At Asia House we are proud of our programmes celebrating the richness and diversity of Asian cultures. The Pan-Asia Film Festival reveals the extraordinary depth and creativity of Asian film-making today and contributes to a deeper understanding of Asia in the UK.”
Tony Rayns, Film Critic and BFI Film Programmer commented: “East Asian cinema continues to go through the process of renewal which has made it perhaps the world’s most vibrant film-making area in recent years. In one country after another, the old studio systems and filmmaking habits are being swept away. In their place, a new generation of more cosmopolitan and modern-minded filmmakers is producing engaged and innovative work which leaves much western filmmaking looking old-fashioned.”
The Pan-Asia Film Festival 2009 Listings
All Bookings through Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly Circus(Except Future Shorts, 5 December)Tel: 0871 220 6000
www.apollocinemas.com
Asia House Booking – Future Shorts only
Tel: 020 7307 5454
Tickets: £12
Asia House Friends and Cons: £8
(Except Future Shorts, £10, Asia House Friends & Concs £5)
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
Mandarin and Japanese with English subtitles
Friday 27 November, 7.30pm
Includes opening reception
Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly Circus
Bakal Boys – UK Premiere
Tagalog (Filipino) with English subtitles
Thursday 3 December, 7.30pm
Followed by discussion with Tony Rayns
Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly Circus
Moving Screens: Future Shorts Asia
Friday 4 December, 7.30pm
Screening at Asia House
Instant Swamp
Japanese with English subtitles
Saturday 5 December, 8.00pm
Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly Circus
Those Three
Farsi with English subtitles
Wednesday 9 December, 8.00pm
Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly Circus
Milarepa
Bhutanese with English subtitles
Thursday 10 December, 8.00pm
Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly Circus
Yang Yang
Mandarin with English subtitles
Friday 11 December, 7.30pm
Includes closing reception
Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly Circus
For further information on Asia House please visit www.asiahouse.org/net
