CinemAsia
A collection of some of the best international Asian films, CinemAsia has always been an integral part of the festival’s vision, and this year’s crop is no exception, especially with new films from award-winners like Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Sion Sono, Ying Liang and more. From the harrowing morality play When Night Falls to the upbeat The Cheer Ambassadors, the diversity of world cinema is on full display. Enjoy!
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Beautiful 2012
Tae-young Kim, Ming Liang Tsai, Gu Changwei, Ann Hui / CinemAsia / Hong Kong / 2012 / 92 mins
Beauty is often so banal it’s invisible. But this omnibus of four short films, each by an acclaimed Asian director, wrest moments of rapture from unexpected places. A collaboration between the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society and the Chinese Internet TV company Youku.Beautiful 2012
Sundance Kabuki Cinemas
March 16, 2013 12:40 pm Buy Tickets Buy TicketsBeautiful 2012
Pacific Film Archive Theater
March 17, 2013 4:00 pm Buy Tickets Buy Tickets
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Beijing Flickers
Zhang Yuan / CinemAsia / China / 2012 / 96 mins
China’s prosperity may have enriched some people, but not others, and certainly not San Bao and his friends. In the latest film from controversial filmmaker Zhang Yuan, the displaced youth of Beijing may be down and out, but they find solace in a makeshift family—one another. With short Shanghai Strangers.Preceded by: Shanghai Strangers
Beijing Flickers
Pacific Film Archive Theater
March 16, 2013 8:20 pm Buy Tickets Buy TicketsBeijing Flickers
New People
March 21, 2013 9:45 pm Buy Tickets Buy TicketsBeijing Flickers
Great Star Theater
March 23, 2013 4:00 pm Buy Tickets Buy Tickets
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Comrade Kim Goes Flying
Anja Daelemans, Nick Bonner, Kim Gwang Hun, / CinemAsia / Belgium, UK, North Korea / 2012 / 81 mins
While working as a coal miner in the countryside, Comrade Kim resolves to follow her dream of becoming a circus trapeze artist in this sprightly, fairytale-like romantic comedy set in North Korea. The unexpected hit of the Toronto International Film Festival.Comrade Kim Goes Flying
Sundance Kabuki Cinemas
March 16, 2013 5:45 pm Rush OnlyComrade Kim Goes Flying
Pacific Film Archive Theater
March 23, 2013 8:45 pm Buy Tickets Buy TicketsComrade Kim Goes Flying
Great Star Theater
March 24, 2013 4:00 pm Buy Tickets Buy Tickets
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Go Grandriders
Hua Tien-hau / CinemAsia / Taiwan / 2012 / Documentary, Social Issue / 60 mins
Defying society’s expectations, a group of octogenarians embark on a thirteen-day motorcycle tour around Taiwan. Along the way, they experience accidents, hospitalizations, and more than a little joyfulness in this inspiring, delightful journey for those who, no matter their age, are always young at heart. With short How I Learned to Lie.Preceded by: How I Learned to Tell a Lie
Go Grandriders
Sundance Kabuki Cinemas
March 15, 2013 7:20 pm Rush OnlyGo Grandriders
Great Star Theater
March 23, 2013 2:00 pm Buy Tickets Buy Tickets
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Invoking Justice
Deepa Dhanraj / CinemAsia / India / 2012 / Documentary / 85 mins
Defiantly eschewing Western portraits of Muslim woman, Deepa Dhanraj (Something Like a War) explores the first Women’s Jamaat – traditionally a male institution – in South India, where women are raising their voices and enacting new interpretations of Sharia law to demand gender equality and an end to domestic violence.Invoking Justice
Sundance Kabuki Cinemas
March 16, 2013 1:00 pm Buy Tickets Buy TicketsInvoking Justice
Pacific Film Archive Theater
March 22, 2013 7:00 pm Buy Tickets Buy TicketsInvoking Justice
New People
March 23, 2013 7:15 pm Buy Tickets Buy Tickets
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Jiseul
O Meul / CinemAsia / South Korea / 2012 / 108 mins
Hiding from advancing government soldiers, a group of villagers takes refuge in a wintry cave in this potent Korean war drama, set during the notorious 1948 Jeju Island Uprising. “Visually, the film is breathtaking… Bela Tarr apostles may see a kindred spirit.”—Variety.Jiseul
Sundance Kabuki Cinemas
March 15, 2013 7:30 pm Buy Tickets Buy TicketsJiseul
Sundance Kabuki Cinemas
March 19, 2013 8:30 pm Buy Tickets Buy Tickets
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The Land of Hope
Sono Sion / CinemAsia / Japan / 2012 / Independent / 133 mins
An earthquake and nuclear crisis forces two Japanese families to decide what is worth sacrificing in the name of safety. Alternately naturalistic and surreal, this first feature inspired by the 2011 Tohoku-Fukushima disaster shows how love and loyalty can put people on opposite sides of the evacuation border. From the director of Suicide Club and Love Exposure.Land of Hope
Sundance Kabuki Cinemas
March 16, 2013 9:40 pm Buy Tickets Buy TicketsLand of Hope
Pacific Film Archive Theater
March 21, 2013 7:00 pm Buy Tickets Buy Tickets
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Mekong Hotel
Apichatpong Weerasethakul / CinemAsia / Thailand / 2012 / Experimental, Narrative / 56 mins
The Cannes-winning director Thai Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Syndromes and a Century; Tropical Malady) returns with this enigmatic portrait of a hotel, a region and a countryside, in this half documentary, half fiction, all magical look at the “Mekong Hotel,” along the Thailand/Laos border. With Jennifer Phang’s new science-fiction short, Advantageous.Preceded by: Advantageous
Mekong Hotel
Pacific Film Archive Theater
March 16, 2013 4:00 pm Buy Tickets Buy TicketsAdvantageous
Pacific Film Archive Theater
March 16, 2013 4:00 pm Buy Tickets Buy TicketsMekong Hotel
New People
March 17, 2013 2:10 pm Buy Tickets Buy TicketsAdvantageous
New People
March 17, 2013 2:10 pm Buy Tickets Buy Tickets
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Postcards from the Zoo
Edwin / CinemAsia / Indonesia / 2012 / 96 mins
Raised in Jakarta’s zoo, the orphan Lana only knows a world of elephants, hippos, and other animals, until she meets a handsome magician who leads her to the outside world, where far stranger beings await. A captivating, poetic portrait of Indonesia’s capital city, from the director of The Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly.Postcards from the Zoo
New People
March 17, 2013 4:15 pm Buy Tickets Buy TicketsPostcards from the Zoo
Pacific Film Archive Theater
March 22, 2013 8:45 pm Buy Tickets Buy Tickets
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Touch of the Light
Jung-chi Chang / CinemAsia / Hong Kong, Taiwan / 2012 / Bay Area Connection / 110 mins
A blind piano prodigy encounters challenges when he enters a university to study music, but his encounter with an aspiring dancer may help unshackle the two from their respective prisons. Blind pianist Huang Yu-Siang plays himself in this award-winning crowd-pleaser that was Taiwan’s official submission for the Oscars.Touch of the Light
New People
March 17, 2013 12:00 pm Buy Tickets Buy TicketsTouch of the Light
Sundance Kabuki Cinemas
March 21, 2013 6:00 pm Buy Tickets Buy TicketsTouch of the Light
Pacific Film Archive Theater
March 23, 2013 6:30 pm Buy Tickets Buy Tickets
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