Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival (YIDFF) 2025, the largest biennial festival focusing on documentary in Asia, gathers outstanding works from 2023 to 2025 to navigate the observance from intimate family matters to the turbulence of our living world. 

This year, the witness of diverse ‘home(land)’ in chaos enshrines the perseverance within people, from Palestine to Afghanistan, from Japan to Korea, from Taiwan to Hong Kong; their voices are preserved in camera and echo in audiences. Documentaries are capable beyond simply listening, but capturing feeble yet resonant sonic waves.

Apart from the major International Competition, New Asian Currents and Palestine—Memory of the Land are two non-negligible sections that expand the landscape of Asian cinema expression and storytelling. These sections avoid sensationalism or melodrama; instead, they frame forceful insights into humanitarian crises through calm, peaceful narratives that unfold gently on screen. This understated approach allows the gravity of the stories to sink in naturally, stirring deep, unshakable sentiments and leaving a quiet sense of reflection, even resignation, lingering in the air. Questions arise unbidden as audiences engage with these films: Where is our home? Are they still our home? Where do we belong if not home? Once confined to the context of war-torn countries, these questions have now evolved into a universal concern, driven by the gradual vanishing of culture. As external, “exotic” penetration slides into local communities, they chip away at the authenticity of traditional cultures little by little, turning the search for belonging into a global struggle.

YIDFF 2025 does not seek to offer easy answers to the complex questions it raises about home, belonging, and cultural loss. Instead, it serves as a space for reflection, inviting audiences to confront the shared humanity in these diverse stories. By centring the voices of those often marginalized by global chaos, the festival underscores the fact that the struggle to hold onto “home” is not just a regional issue, but a universal one, binding people across continents in their desire to feel rooted, seen, and connected to something greater than themselves. In doing so, YIDFF 2025 reaffirms the role of documentaries as more than just entertainment or documentation; they are a bridge between cultures, a mirror reflecting our collective fears and hopes, and a reminder that even in chaos, the human spirit’s longing for “home” endures.

Written by Jane Wei

Featured image courtesy of Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2025

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