A rough guide to contemporary cinema from Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and other parts of Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia is an expansive region that produces diverse cinema, much of which now reaches the international festival circuit. Yet only a relatively limited number of titles receive overseas commercial release, usually based on the director’s prestige or […]
10 great modern Southeast Asian films Read More »
Top Picks in Jakarta, Bandung, and Bali 13-19 March 2017 JAKARTA Fast Fashion – The Dark Side of Fashion, Now – 9 April 2017, Gudang Sarinah Ekosistem, Jakarta Presented as part of Goethe Institut Indoesia IKAT/eCUT project, Fast Fashion – The Dark Side of Fashion, invites audiences to view the textile and fashion industry, as
13 – 19 March 2017: Indonesia Read More »
The Vault: Becoming Mother, 19 Mar, 4pm, Centre 42 Dance practitioners and researchers Dr. Nidya Shanthini Manokara and Jocelyn Chng investigate motherhood in its various manifestations – from creating life to producing creative work. Grounded in their dance practices of bharatanatyam and ballet respectively, Shanthini and Jocelyn respond to themes of creation and creativity in
13 – 19 March 2017: Singapore Read More »
In many of Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s films, the membrane that separates dream from reality is a porous one. In Syndromes And A Century, snatches of dialogue are repeated, with slight variations, as if to recreate the sensation of déjà vu. In Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, a long lost son returns
Warming Up to Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s ‘Fever Room’ Read More »
For the first time, this year’s edition will be held in the spring, where Eloy expects it to remain in coming years. The lineup is an intoxicating mix of local and regional films, with Western offerings sprinkled throughout, as well as a celebration of local music, arts and dance. Because of the range of films,
The Phnom Penh Post Guide to the Cambodia International Film Festival Read More »
Top Picks in Jakarta and Bandung 6-12 March 2017 JAKARTA Of Horizon Landscape, 6 March 2017, 7 PM, Hall B – Gudang Sarinah Ekosistem, Jakarta Of Horizon Landscape is a performance art by artists involved in the 69 Performance Club, a study platform for performance art created by Forum Lenteng. A landscape can be
6 – 12 March 2017: Indonesia Read More »
Top Picks in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Bali 20-26 February 2017 JAKARTA E-MOTIONS 2017, 26 February 2017, 2 & 7 PM, Teater Besar, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta Gigi Art of Dance has risen in the last few years to become Jakarta’s beloved home for dance. This year, Gigi Art of Dance returns with their annual
20 – 26 February 2017: Indonesia Read More »
Cloud Gate 2 – A Triple Bill, 7-8 Feb, 8pm Cloud Gate 2, the sister company of internationally acclaimed Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan brings to Singapore’s Esplanade Theatre three dance works by groundbreaking Taiwanese choreographers Cheng Tsung-lung and Huang Yi: Wicked Fish, The Wall and Beckoning. More information. Watch Local 2017: Singapore Telemovies, 7-11
6 – 12 Feb 2017: Singapore Read More »
By Philip Jablon (1634 words, 15 minute read) I have vivid memories of the movie theaters that once peppered the streets of downtown Philadelphia. They were a key part of my childhood. The films that my parents took me to see in them blur with memories of the city into a vision of childhood that
Southeast Asia’s Forgotten Cinemas Read More »
Malaysian-Hong Kong action thriller “Mrs K” has been set as the opening film of the Osaka Asian Film Festival. The festival, which runs March 3-12, will close with the world premiere of teen music drama “Parks” by Osaka-born director Seta Natsuki. Tags: Malaysian Film
Malaysian Ho Yuhang’s ‘Mrs K’ to Open Osaka Asian Festival (via Variety) Read More »
A film by Indonesian newcomer director Mahesa Desaga, Nunggu Teka (Waiting to Arrive), was named winner of a short film competition in the 2017 Australia-Indonesia Cinema Festival (FSAI) at XXI Senayan City cinema in South Jakarta on Sunday. The 14-minute film follows a mother who lives alone in an old traditional house. While waiting for her only son to come home during
Short film by Malang director wins Australia-Indonesia cinema competition Read More »
Top Picks in Jakarta, Solo, Bali, Yogyakarta from 30 January – 5 February 2017 JAKARTA Kompilasi Festifal Film Dokumenter, 30 January 2017, 7:30 PM, Kineforum, Jakarta Kineforum, the alternative cinema in Jakarta, presents 4 out of the 8 documentaries that was submitted to the Festival Film Dokumenter Yogyakarta in 2016. The 4 films
30 Jan – 5 Feb 2017: Indonesia Read More »
In Railway Sleepers, a minutely observed film shot entirely on-board a Thai train, we see kids on school trips, young men travelling north and south, hawkers selling food and horoscope books, families and lovers, vacationers who turn the sleeping car into a party venue. They’re passengers, and they’re also humans. They are, as director Sompot
Top Picks in Jakarta from 22 – 29 January JAKARTA Islamic Art Public Lecture, Komunitas Salihara Black Box Theatre, 24 Jan, 7:00 PM Komunitas Salihara, supported by Institut Francaise Indonesia, presents an Islamic Art public lecture featuring Yannick Lintz, Director of Islamic Art Department at Louvre Museum, Paris. The lecture will explore two
23 – 29 Jan 2017: Indonesia Read More »
SWF POP #15: Screening of Between The Lines: Rant & Rave II, 18 Jan at The Projector This is a screening of a recorded theatre production, Between The Lines: Rant & Rave II, a 2012 play by award-winning playwright Chong Tze Chien. Restaged at the Singapore Writers Festival 2016 featuring actors Serene Chen and Jean Ng,
16 – 22 Jan 2017: Singapore Read More »
We’re barely into the new year, but the dedicated art lover is, no doubt, already exhausted from the recently concluded M1 Singapore Fringe Festival and Singapore Art Week. Pace yourselves, as there are more festivals across Southeast Asia over the next month. January M1 Fringe Festival: Art & Skin, Singapore : 4 – 15 January 2017
Southeast Asia in Arts Festivals: Jan – Feb 2017 Read More »
… anyone who gained the respect and friendship of the late Benedict Anderson, author of the immensely important critique of nationalism “Imagined Communities,” is entitled to as much cake as they want. The creative invention and emotional candor of Weerasethakul’s exhibition “Ghosts in the Darkness” at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum sucker-punched me after my
The special effect of Apichatpong Weerasethakul Read More »
Tags: The Nation World Film Festival of Bangkok
The Nation’s preview of World Film Festival of Bangkok (Jan 23 – Feb 1) Read More »
By Satpal Kaler (630 words, 6 minute read) Back in university, my Botswanian friend told me that there is a high demand for executioners back in her country, because very few locals want to do the job. They see it as murder; even if it is done in the name of the law. Boo Junfeng’s
Learning the Ropes: A Review of ‘Apprentice’ Read More »
Meta’s Top Picks in Bali, Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Jakarta from 9 – 22 January BALI Way Up Project, 8 January – 11 February 2017, Cata Odata, Bali Cata Odata’s Street Art Collaboration continues with an exhibition featuring 20 street artists’ works. The term “Way Up” is used in the project to refer to
9 – 22 Jan 2017: Indonesia Read More »
Tags: Die Beautiful Metro Manila Film Festival
Die Beautiful Film Review Read More »
By Chan Sze-Wei (903 words, 5 minute read) Many things have been written about Mattie Do, the pioneering female film director from Laos. She’s put her country’s horror films on the world festival map. “She wears international laurels including the BFI London Film Festival and is an alumni of the Cannes Film Festival’s Les Cinemas du Monde
Mattie Do: Horror Film? It’s all Ballet. Read More »
Meta’s Top Picks in Solo, Jakarta, Bandung, and Bali from 12 – 18 December Meta is a freelance arts administrator and a traveling yogi. She spent 16 years of her life as an art practitioner and the last few years as an arts administrator. Her first love in the arts is dance. She left her
12 – 18 Dec 2016: Indonesia Read More »
In Search of Salt by Passerby Projects at Centre 42, 16 – 17 Dec This original play staged by performance collective Passerby Projects was written to pass the Bechdel Test and will be performed in a theatre-in-the-round setting. It’s a mystery-thriller story revolving around a girl trying to uncover the meaning behind messages she receives from
12 – 18 Dec 2016: Singapore Read More »
Tags: The Southeast Asian Movie Theater Project
Art and community meet at the cinema Read More »
By Akanksha Raja (810 words, 8-minute read) First screened at the International Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival 2016 this summer, A Yellow Bird is K Rajagopal’s first feature film after many acclaimed, award-winning short films. His body of work shows a concern for the lives of Indians in Singapore, drawing from his experience
Outside Looking In: “A Yellow Bird” Read More »
Cheng Ran: In Course of the Miraculous (Southeast Asian premiere) by Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore Sunday 11 Dec 2016, 11am-9pm Following its world premiere at the 14th Istanbul Biennial in 2015, and screenings at Art Basel, K11 Art Foundation in Hong Kong and across China earlier this year, this 9-hour film will have its
5 – 11 Dec 2016: Singapore Read More »
Meta’s Top Picks in Yogyakarta, Solo, Jakarta, Bandung, and Bali from 5 – 11 December Meta is a freelance arts administrator and a traveling yogi. She spent 16 years of her life as an art practitioner and the last few years as an arts administrator. Her first love in the arts is dance. She left
5 – 11 Dec 2016: Indonesia Read More »
If you’re in withdrawal now that the 27th Singapore International Film Festival 2016 has ended, you have two days left to catch the Luang Prabang Film Festival (LPFF). Founded in 2010 by Gabriel Kuperman, the Luang Prabang Film Festival has been dubbed the Sundance of Southeast Asia. Only minus the sub-zero temperature and celebrities looking
Sundance of Southeast Asia: Luang Prabang Film Festival 2 – 7 Dec 2016 Read More »
