CinemAsia Film Festival will screen a selection of this year’s award winners and festival favourites during CINEMASIA ON TOUR to KINO Rotterdam in the weekend of the 5th and 6th of May. This selection includes the latest feature-films from Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Indonesia, such as the Japanese film WHAT’S FOR DINNER, MOM? (ママ、ごはんまだ？).
CinemAsia also has its own talent development program FilmLAB, that encourages upcoming Dutch-Asian filmmakers to produce their Asian diaspora film. The theme of CinemAsia FilmLAB 2018 is ‘Lost in Translation’ and contains five shorts film, such as the Dutch-Japanese diaspora films HIROFUMI’S SUITCASE and TRUTH WILL OUT.
Besides the film screenings, the Rotterdam audience can sing their heart out at the CinemAsia RAINBOW KARAOKE night on Saturday 5th of May from 23.00.During the weekend, the KINO kitchen will also serve Japanese and Korean food. All films during CinemAsia On Tour will be spoken in its original language and come with English subtitles.
WHAT’S FOR DINNER, MOM? (ママ、ごはんまだ？, Japan, 2017)
A moving foodie drama, directed by Mitsuhito Shiraha, celebrating mother’s cooking, based on the early life of Taiwanese-Japanese singer-composer Yo Hitoto. A culinary journey full of love, family and home-made delicacies that will stir up both the heart and the appetite. After being notified that their childhood home is planned for demolition, sisters Tae (Haruka Kinami) and Yo (Izumi Fujimoto) decide to pay it one last visit. While going through all the furniture and effects, Tae stumbles upon her mother’s recipes and letters, who passed away twenty years ago. It brings back memories of how their teenage days were brightened by her mother’s efforts to keep memories of their Taiwanese father alive through cooking. The screening of this film is on Sunday 6th of May from 15.30.
THE GREAT BUDDHA+ (Taiwan 2017)
A stylish noir-thriller that’s also immensely funny, THE GREAT BUDDHA+ exposes the social and financial disparity in Taiwan society. A quirky, dark comedy that tips its hat at the Coen Brothers, Huang Hsin-Yao’s critically acclaimed debut swept the major film awards in Taiwan and signals the arrival of a major talent. This film, directed by Huan Hsin-Yao, won the CinemAsia Student Jury Award 2018 and will be screened on Saturday 5th of May from 19.00.
A TAXI DRIVER (South-Korea 2017)
Based on a true story, A TAXI DRIVER examines a turning point in South Korea’s fight for democracy: The Gwangju Massacre. After receiving a tip about the protests in Gwangju, a German journalist (Thomas Kretschmann) hires a struggling taxi driver (Song Kang-ho) to get him to the city. Upon arrival, the two men find a city under siege. This film, directed by Jang Hoon, won the CinemAsia Audience Award 2018 and will be screened on Saturday 5th of May from 21.20.
1987: WHEN THE DAY COMES (South-Korea 2017)
Based on a true story, this breathtaking ensemble drama traces how a student’s death by torture became a catalyst for the overthrow of military dictatorship in South Korea. Set seven years after the Gwangju Massacre, this is an indispensable companion piece to A TAXI DRIVER and THE ATTORNEY as moving testaments to the fight for democracy and human rights. This film, directed by Jang Joon-Hwan, won the CinemAsia Jury Award for Best Director 2018 and will be screened on Sunday 6th of May from 19.00.
KARTINI (Indonesia, 2017)
19th Century Indonesia. In a time when The Netherlands were still ruling over the archipelago and women were only aspire to become brides, a brave woman takes a stand on the island of Java. Her name is Kartini (Dian Sastrowardoyo) and her fight for both gender equality and the right to education is a relentless one. Kartini must convince her family to share her ideals, and at the same time oppose the rules and traditions consecrated in her own culture. KARTINI is a beautiful drama about one of the most important heroines in Indonesian history, set against a lush and authentically recreated Javanese social milieu. This film will be screened on Sunday 6th of May from 21.20.
CinemAsia FilmLAB 2018 ‘Lost in Translation’ (Netherlands 2018)
Five shorts films about the power and frustration of language: the theme ‘Lost in translation’ embraces the communication issues that occur between people whether on the basis of contrasting languages, colours, ethnicities, ages or social classes. Language is a cunning master. There are just so many! There’s the regular type with words, there’s body language, the language of love, one can go on with examples. It is also a vehicle of memory and tradition, of culinary delights and difference. But some things lack a perfect translation or can only be understood by words unspoken. The screening is on Saturday 5th of May from 15.30.
The Dutch-Japanese FilmLAB titles of 2018 are:
HIROFUMI’S SUITCASE (Netherlands 2018)
An introverted Japanese expat gives his all to express his love for his Dutch language instructor. What will it take to get the message across? This film, directed by Natasja Pattipeilohy, won the CinemAsia FilmLAB Award 2018.
THE TRUTH WILL OUT (Netherlands 2018)
Hiromi (34) returns home to her Dutch boyfriend Tom (26) after a brief trip to visit her family in Japan. Their reunion seems happy at first, but the tension between the two grows. Although Tom doesn’t say it, Hiromi seems to know something is going on. This film is directed by Michael Creutzburg.
The other CinemAsia FilmLAB 2018 shorts are the Chinese diasporafilms FATHER AND SON by Jimmy Tai, INBURGERING by Alex Lai and the Korean diasporafilm HANGUL BLUES by Daan Vree. All five shorts films will be screened as omnibus.
KINO Rotterdam can be found on the Gouvernestraat 129-133 in Rotterdam. More information can be found on the website of CinemAsia, this is also the place to be to buy your tickets.
Source: Press Release CinemAsia
