Press Release AFF19

Asian Film Festival: the 19^th edition will take place in Rome from April 7 to 13, 2022, at Farnese Arthouse

 The 19th edition of the Asian Film Festival will be held from Thursday, April 7, to Wednesday, April 13, 2022. The location chosen for the “in-person” scheduling of this outstanding showcase of the best art-house cinema of Eastern Asian countries is once again Cinema Farnese in Rome, Campo De’ Fiori square.

The international festival – which has been organized by Cineforum Robert Bresson and directed by Antonio Termenini – will show 30 feature films coming from 8 countries of the Far East (China, South Korea, Philippines, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand), including arthouse products with a particular attention to young directors whose works will be presented in the rich Newcomers’ section.

The films that will be presented this year from Japan are truly remarkable; among them, The Mule Song Final and The Great Yokai Wars: Guardians (sequel to The Great Yokai War, 2005), both directed by master filmmaker Takashi Miike, and Moonlight Shadows, which is based on Banana Yoshimoto‘s novel of the same name and directed by the award-winning Edmund Yeo, centered on the processing of grief.

This theme is also the central subject of Tsuyukusa, the new film by director Hideyuki Hirayama. The renowned director Takahisa Zeze will instead present the crime film In the Wake. A particularly intriguing film is instead Hokusai, directed by Hajime Yashimoto and based on the life of the most famous Japanese painter in the world, best known for his artworks in ukiyo-e style. 

Throughout the festival will be also presenting films coming from the Philippines, such as On the Job: The Missing 8, a thriller directed by Erik Matti which has already been in the contest at the last edition of the Venice Film Festival, where it won the prize for best actor. There will be also the screening of two new feature films by Brillante Mendoza, one of the most important and awarded Filipino directors: Gensan Punch, a true and painful story of a boxer with a physical disability, and Rasbak, a story of violence and revenge of a young thief towards his ruthless boss.

The films coming from Thailand will be The Edge of Daybreak, a family drama by Taiki Sakpisit, The Medium by Banjong Phisantankun, Come Here, a mystery drama by Anocha Suwichankong and Anatomy of Time by Jachavral Nilthamrong, a film that is divided between past and present, where memory is the only connection between these two moments.

Other significant films that will be screening at this edition of the festival are the Japanese film Somebody’s Flowers, directed by Yusuke Okuda, and Anita by Longman Leung, based on the life of famous singer and actress Anita Mui. Traditional family dramas will once again be in the spotlight with Three Sisters by South Korean director Lee Sungwong.

Finally, the schedule includes films by debuting directors such as the Chinese You Zhou with The way back in the mirror, Tang-yu Quiang with the drama The Wheat, Yunbo Li with Ms. Pearl, and Qi Rui with The Day Is Over. Coming from South Korea is Ran-hee Lee with his first work A Leave, while from the Philippines comes Daniel Palacio, with his second work entitled The Brokers.

Some of the expected and so far confirmed guests will be director Brillante Mendoza and actor Vince Rillon.

Throughout its almost twenty years of activity, the Asian Film Festival has proved to be a showcase for the best art-house cinema from Far Eastern countries. Together with screenings of original films, it has also organized countless retrospectives devoted to the masters who have been the festival’s gala guests in past editions.