Presented by Objectifs
7 to 10 September 2016
Ratings: TBC
Presented by Objectifs
Asian Film Focus (AFF) presents cutting edge films based on a thematic approach from the region. With screenings and dialogue sessions with Asian programmers and filmmakers, the programme strives to promote dialogue and exchange between players in the Asian independent film industries, their audiences, and their peers.
This year, AFF will feature films from South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Theme: Youth Today
Situated in the transitional period between childhood and adulthood, many Asian youths today live in environments saturated with media and technology that are also bound by traditional attitudes. As such, we hope to explore ideas about what it means to be a youth in an Asian society at present. What are their aspirations and fears? Do youths today share the same concerns as previous generations? What is the impact of Asia’s obsession with youth? Through looking at the differences and similarities of youth culture across Asian societies, the programme hopes to then connect to broader issues and concerns in contemporary Asia.
This theme will be explored through short films that have been selected by curators from the focus countries. The curators are:
- Teresa Kwong (Hong Kong)
- Pimpaka Towria (Thailand)
- Leong Puiyee (Singapore)
- Vanessa Yun (South Korea)
Click here for the line up. For more about the film programmers, click here.
Special programme:
Power of Asian Cinema Documentaries from the KBS Busan Headquarters and the Busan International Film Festival
– Thailand
– South Korea
– Kazakhstan
Click here for more information.
Dialogue Sessions
If art mirrors life, how does cinema capture the fleeting essence of youth, and how does it reflect reality? These sessions will examine the portrayal of youth onscreen and its socio-cultural connotations.
Click here for more information.
Ticketing Details
Tickets are $5 per screening. To purchase tickets, please go to: http://aff2016.peatix.com/
Tickets are also available at the door before each film screening.
The Dialogue Sessions are free.
With support from the Singapore Film Commission.
YOUTH TODAY: SHORT FILMS
Film Screening / 7 Sept, Wednesday, 830pm / 107 min
Tickets here: http://aff7sept.peatix.com/
There will be a post screening Q&A session
Chak is a sentimental boy who enjoys indulging in his imaginary world. Ellen is an imaginative girl who likes to talk to her soft toy hippo. When Ellen vanished into thin air, her secret admirer Chak, feeling heartbroken, decided to totally forget about her and starts falling in love with Yan. But Chak slowly realised that his dream should be Ellen, the girl who has a vivid imagination like him. Yet, what Chak has to face is the brutal reality.
Film Screening / 8 Sept, Thursday, 830pm / 83 min
Tickets here: http://aff8sept.peatix.com/
There will be a post screening Q&A session
Film Screening / 9 Sept, Friday, 730pm / 99 min
Tickets here: http://aff9sept.peatix.com/
There will be a post screening Q&A session.
Film Screening / 10 Sept, Saturday, 1pm / 89 min
Tickets here: http://aff10sept.peatix.com/
There will be a post screening Q&A session.
SPECIAL PROGRAMME: POWER OF ASIAN CINEMA
POWER OF ASIAN CINEMA is a documentary series co-produced by KBS Busan Headquarters and the Busan International Film Festival. Comprised of ten episodes, the series aims to improve our understanding of Asian cinema as well as to ascertain its growth and bright future. Each episode covers films and history of cinema of a different Asian country. From his/her own perspective, the filmmaker looks into the past and the present of the cinema in one’s country. Under this Special Programme, the documentaries from Thailand, Kazakhstan and South Korea will be screening at Asian Film Focus.
Power of Asian Cinema / 10 Sept, Saturday, 5pm to 9pm
The Scala opened its doors in 1970. It had one thousand seats and every night, they were filled. In those days, going to the movies was something special. The cinema was a place where people got dressed up, went on dates, and fell in love. But today, everything has changed. There is a multiplex in every mall and the young generation watch movies on their phone. But at The Scala, time has stood still. The cinema is still run by many of the same staff who have been there from the beginning. It is now the last remaining standalone cinema left in Bangkok. And soon, its time will come to an end too.
A film director and an actor have worked till midnight at a film studio. A security guy locked all doors and so now our heroes have to look for an exit, walking through the studio and meeting various people on their way – famous Kazakh film directors, film critics and just strangers, who start discussing, suggesting, arguing, threatening, and chasing them. And this all leads to discovering and understanding what makes up the cinematic language of Kazakh filmmakers.
Memory in Cinema rewrites the history of Korean cinema through cineastes and their distant memories and faded films. The pivotal moments of Korean cinema remembered by the major figures in Korean film history are transformed into a documentary. The most memorable sequences that director Im Kowntaek remembers is the five minute long take shot in Seopyonje, in which he cinematises the Korean sentiment to sings one’s sorrows away and draws strength to carry on. Having lived through the Korean Way, he confesses his painful experience merged with his cinematic life and enabled him to make more honest films. Actor Ahn Sung-ki spent his whole life with film. When Korean cinema industry in the 1970s was unstable, he strayed. And when it was back on the right track in the 1980s and 1990s, he returned cinema. Lee Yong-kwan, Festival Director of the Busan International Film Festival, remembers the birth of the Festival as a crucial moment in Korean film history. As a man who has devoted his life to cinema, he will never forget the moment when the 1st BIFF opening film Secrets & Lies was screened.
DIALOGUE SESSIONS
Join us as we discuss this year’s AFF theme with filmmakers, film curators, and writers.
Panelists: Teresa Kwong (Hong Kong), Pimpaka Towira (Thailand), Tan Jingliang (Singapore), Dapho Moradokphana (Thailand)
Moderated by: Amanda Lee Koe, writer
Tiger mothers, cram school, snapchat– these are but some of the markers of the youth experience in Asia. Framed in an East and Southeast Asian context, this session will look at how youth is depicted in films, and how these representations are symptomatic of growing up in a specific culture and society.
Panelists: Vanessa Yun (South Korea), Ghazi Alqudcy (Singapore), Choi Byungkwon (South Korea), Ng Chak Hang (Hong Kong)
Modearted by Silke Schmickl, Curator/Manager (Programmes), Institute of Contemporary Arts, LASALLE College of the Arts
Looking across generations, this dialogue session will focus on the changing depictions of youth in cinema and its correlation to societal trends, starting with iconic American teen films from the 1980s such as The Breakfast Club, to dystopian cult titles like Battle Royale. How have depictions evolved over time, and are there characteristics of the experience of youth that persist?
ABOUT THE FILM PROGRAMMERS
Teresa Kwong / Hong Kong
Teresa Kwong is a promoter, curator and producer for film and media arts. Currently the Programme Director of the Hong Kong Arts Centre, she is committed to promoting and nurturing multidisciplinary creative talents in the region. Previously, Teresa led the Incubator for Film and Visual Media in Asia between 2004 and 2014. She is a member of the
Network for Promoters of Asian Cinema) and has served on the jury of various international film festivals, including Busan and Rotterdam. Teresa is also a film producer, having worked on films such as Addicted to Love (2010), Big Blue Lake (2011), Flowing Stories (2014) and Dot 2 dot (2014).
Leong Puiyee / Singapore
Puiyee is responsible for the film programme and projects at Objectifs. She has managed film events such as the Singapore Short Film Awards, cINE65 Short Film Competition and the Fly By Night Video Challenge. She is also the Programme Manager (Short Films) for the Singapore International Film Festival. An occasional zine artist, Puiyee has taken part in the 2013 Tokyo Art Book Fair and Print Lab: Art and Design publication exhibition under Grey Projects. Puiyee graduated with a diploma in Arts Management from Lasalle College of the Arts.
Vanessa Yun / South Korea
Vanessa is currently the International Sales Manager at Central Park Films, a Korean film distribution company whose short film offerings have traveled to international film festival such as Cannes, Vancouver and Busan. She studied film at Chung-ang University and has directed four short films and a web drama series that was released on Youtube. She is now working on a feature film project.
Pimpaka Towira / Thailand
Recognised as the first female Thai director to be noticed by international viewers and critics, Pimpaka is a pioneer on the Thai independent film scene. She has worked as a producer, a film writer, a video artist and a film lecturer. Pimpaka was previously programme director for the Bangkok Film Festival and has served as jury for international film festivals like Oberhausen and Yamagata. In 2009, Pimpaka received the Silapathorn Award (an honour for Thai contemporary artists), which was presented by the Ministry of Culture in Thailand. She is the co-founder of Mosquito Films, a sales and festival distribution company based in Thailand with other leading Thai filmmakers.