Asian Film Festival - Introduction

The strong presence of films from the Far East in several sections of the 2009 Cannes festival, together with the quality of the titles presented, confirmed once again the vitality of cinematography in these countries. Not only are South Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan truly a part of the context of international cinematography, but also those countries traditionally considered “exotic”, mysterious and extremely distant from our traditions and our cultural and artistic sensitivity such as Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. And it is with particular pleasure that, on the occasion of its seventh edition, the Asian Film Festival places Singapore right at the core of its rich program. This includes three films in competition: My Magic by Eric Khoo, Here by Ho Tzu Nyen and Hashi by Sherman Ong, a Focus on Singapore and a whole series of initiatives promoted by the Singapore Film Commission and Media Development Authority that focus on this city-state of South East Asia, crossroad of diverse populations, cultures and sensitivities.
Although the main structure has remained unchanged, the Asian Film Festival has slightly reduced the number of films in competition, bringing them to sixteen, while the latest titles of masters such as Wong Kar-wai and Tsai Ming-liang were included out of competition, since they obviously do not need to compete to reveal themselves to the Italian public. A competition made of works by younger directors, therefore more experimental and in general less well known. Next to this, a small section, Newcomers from Taiwan, that, together with the three films in competition, further enhances our relations with Taiwanese cinematography, always at the forefront in the Asian Film Festival.
However, the main characterising event will clearly be the retrospective on Jia Zhang-ke, one of the major contemporary filmmakers, the main exponent of the sixth generation of directors from the People’s Republic of China, winner of the Golden Lion in 2006 with Still Life and who will present one of his early films, Going Home, during the festival.
Between the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 the “Robert Bresson” Cineforum has continued to vary and enrich its initiatives in view of a profitable exchange between Italy and countries of the Far East. At the end of 2008 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, we have promoted an important homage to Italian cinema, while in June 2009, aside from participating in the Italian Film Festival in Bangkok, Thailand, we have collaborated with the Agency for Promotion of Tourism of Rome and Latium to advertise the less known images of the city of Rome and of the Latium region in the East. Other important dates have been programmed in the upcoming months in India and again in Malaysia. The reciprocity of exchanges of culture and of other aspects such as tourism and commerce remains therefore one of the strongholds of the activity of the “Robert Bresson” Cineforum and of “Italy-Far East”, the other association founded last year.

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