Having shared the spotlights in Rotterdam, Hong Kong, and ahead of its premiere in Shanghai, director Ang Geck Geck Priscilla’s debut feature Ah Girl, 13 years in the making, presents a bittersweet self-healing childhood of a 7-year-old curious girl Swee Swee (Xuanjing ONG) in the post-divorce turbulence of her parents. Ah Girl comes from a…
Category: Film events and festivals
“Ah Girl”: A Heartwarming Look at Family and Loneliness – Review
Inspired by director Ang Geck Geck Priscilla’s own childhood experiences and long-held reflections, the Singaporean filmmaker’s debut feature Ah Girl follows the resilient Swee Swee (Ah Girl) as she journeys through a childhood scarred by hardship and bruises. Set in the 1990s, the 7-year-old Ah Girl (Xuanjing ONG), and her younger sister Ah Tian (Sydney…
Raindance Icon Award 2026 Recipients: MIRIAM MARGOLYES and LLOYD KAUFMAN + EDDIE COCHRAN RECEIVES POSTHUMOUS ICON AWARD
Actress, writer, and comedian Miriam Margolyes and American filmmaker Lloyd Kaufman have been named recipients of the 2026 Raindance Icon Awards, part of the festival’s 34th edition running from 17–26 June in London. Margolyes will receive her award at the Raindance Opening Gala on 17 June, following the UK premiere of April X (dir. Michel…
Raindance Film Festival Returns to London with Bold Line-Up of Indie Voices and Global Stories
The Raindance Film Festival returns to London from 17–26 June for its 34th edition, presenting one of its most wide-ranging programmes to date. This year’s programme includes 85 narrative and documentary features alongside 112 short films, with more than half of the feature selection coming from first-time directors. The festival also expands its immersive strand,…
79th Cannes Film Festival: “We Are Aliens” Review
Japanese animation is in a class of its own, with a style that is hard to match. While many countries produce visually impressive animated films, very few reach the same level of thoughtful storytelling that Japanese animation delivers. Its real strength is not just the beauty of the artwork or the technical skill behind it,…
79th Cannes Film Festival: “Che Guevara: The Last Companions” Review
Before Che Guevara became a symbol on posters and T-shirts, he was a revolutionary who helped change Cuba forever. Alongside Fidel Castro, he helped overthrow the Batista regime in 1959, promising dignity and equality for ordinary Cubans. Decades later, whether admired or criticised, Che’s shadow still hangs over Cuba and much of Latin America. His…
79th Cannes Film Festival: “Blaise” Review
Dimitri Planchon and Jean-Paul Guigue’s Blaise takes something very ordinary – the fear of saying the wrong thing and the need to be liked – and turns it into one of the strangest and funniest animated films in recent years. Beneath its dry humour and absurd situations lies a painfully honest portrait of people who…
79th Cannes Film Festival: “Flesh and Fuel” Review
Screened at the 65th Critics’ Week and featured in the Special Screenings section at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Pierre Le Gall’s Flesh and Fuel is set within the often unseen world of European truck drivers. The film depicts the exhausting pace of life on the road and the emotional emptiness that can grow within…
79th Cannes Film Festival: “9 Temples to Heaven” Review
Thai cinema has always held a special place in Asian filmmaking, even if Western audiences overlooked it for many years. Early Thai films were often built around folklore, ghost stories, romance, and family drama, mixing spirituality with everyday life. During the 1970s and 1980s, Thai films were extremely popular in their domestic market, but internationally…
28th Far East Film Festival: In Conversation with Giddens Ko (Director) and Kai Ko (Actor) of “Kung Fu”
The 2026 Far East Film Festival opened with a duo of films by directors who were accompanied by their long-time cinema muses; the first was Singaporean director Anthony Chen, who arrived in Udine with Yeo Yann Yann, the lead actress of the final film of his Growing Up trilogy, a drama, We Are All Strangers….
28th Far East Film Festival: In Conversation with Chung Ji-young, Director of “My Name”
Centered on the painful and long-silenced history of the Jeju April 3rd Incident, My Name becomes a way of looking back at what has been forgotten. In our interview with director Chung Ji-young, he talks about the emotional responsibility of dealing with a history that was suppressed for decades, and how he chose to approach…
28th Far East Film Festival: In Conversation with Herman Yau (Director) and Anson Kong (Actor) of “We’re Are Nothing At All”
Herman Yau’s filmmaking in We’re Nothing at All is driven by curiosity about how stories move between truth and structure. Fragments of a real case, a few mentions of a policeman and a gay couple found online, became, in his hands, a loose framework to build the story. Instead of making a film strictly based…
28th Far East Film Festival: “Ghost in the Cell” Review
In a prison in Indonesia, a mysterious ghost begins brutally killing inmates, arranging their mutilated bodies into elaborate art installations. Who is responsible, and who will be next? As fear spreads through the cell block, prisoners must now band together to stop the murders while trying to keep their heads on their shoulders. Such is…
28th Far East Film Festival: In Conversation with Fan BingBing – Fearless and Endlessly Versatile
In all honesty, few actresses in Asian cinema have built a career as remarkable as Fan Bingbing. Fearless and endlessly versatile, Fan has spent decades proving herself as one of the most unforgettable actresses of her generation. She is known not only for historical films such as Sacrifice and Lady of the Dynasty, but also…
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