23rd Udine Far East Film Festival: “My Missing Valentine” Review

Taiwanese romantic comedies can touch one’s heart regardless of their Rotten Tomatoes rating or the narrative itself. And despite the genre, the country’s cinema has always highlighted its culture and people against the wonderful landscapes and pictorial compositions of local architecture. Although rom-coms are filled with cliches, some storylines make the audience analyse their own…

23rd Udine Far East Film Festival: “Keep Rolling” Review

On the set of her 2017 film Our Time Will Come, Ann Hui is slapping wet mud all across the backs of actors. Her other hand is clutching a walking cane. She stands in the pouring rain, puffing cigarettes, and yelling orders. Reaching 70 years of age – and spending the past 40 plus years…

Japan’s “Midnight Swan” Wins the 23rd Udine Far East Film Festival.

UDINE – 10 thousand participants on site in Udine and 15 thousand digital participants from 38 countries around the world: that’s the  summary of the success of the Far East Film Festival 23, in its most  experimental form yet. The public understood and enthusiastically supported the opening plan (which it might be more accurate to call a…

23rd Udine Far East Film Festival: “A is for Agustin” Review

Despite the importance that has been attached to education on a global scale over the years, the world still faces enormous inequalities in terms of access to education. The immediate and most telling effect of not receiving education is illiteracy. While only 3% of people in Europe are illiterate, in South America, Asia and Africa…

23rd Udine Far East Film Festival: “Money Has Four Legs” Review

Wai Bhone (Okkar Dat Khe) sits across from his producer in his office. His producer pours over Wai Bhone’s latest film script. He crosses out lines and spits out suggestions – cut out smoking scenes – they set a bad example, make the criminals more polite – we must show how polite Burmese people are,…

23rd Udine Far East Film Festival Sets New Dates and Location

Among Asian film festivals that take place in Europe, the Udine Far East Film Festival is the cherry on the cake. Often filled with a superb film programme and unforgettable guests, the festival was defeated by the pandemic last year. Although it took place online, there were still great films to choose from, not many…

22nd Udine Far East Film Festival: Victim(s) Review

Audiovisual texts, mainly film, are a desirable tool in the axiological education of many people. Thanks to the projection-identification mechanism, we can often relate to a film character and experience various emotional states with them, self-reflect and, like pedagogues, improve our quality of life by analysing our own emotions. There is one particular subject that…

22nd Udine Far East Film Festival: The House of Us Review

Wise upon her years, 12-year-old Lee Hana (Kim Na-yeon) is the backbone of her family; acting as a peacekeeper as she tries to calm raging arguments between her parents who are going through a divorce. Constantly cooking dinners in an attempt to bring her family back together – Hana’s gastronomic displays of affection aren’t appreciated…