Reel Asian celebrates this year its 13th year as Canada’s number one festival of Pan-Asian contemporary cinema. It runs from November 11th to the 15th. There are nearly 50 films from 14 different countries including Canada and nearly every Asian country. This time around there will be 12 World Premieres, 7 Canadian Premieres, 17 Toronto Premieres and dozens of guests attending.
Among the highlights this year:
Overhead (Dir. Alan Mak & Felix Chong, Hong Kong 2009, Canadian Premiere), this opening gala film a suspenseful cop drama starring Lau Ching-Wan, Louise Koo and Daniel Wu, this one is done by the creators of the incredible “Infernal Affairs” Trilogy, making this one of the much anticipated premieres.
Red Heroine (Dir. Wen Yimin, China 1929), which the organizers refer to as the centerpiece film: a rarely seen 1929 silent wuxia film, a uniquely rare silent “kung fu” film that was once banned in China by both sides of the civil war, this time with a new live musical performance by Devil Music Ensemble. While you won’t find much in the way of traditional martial arts here (wuxia films, with exceptions, tend to draw more from Chinese opera) this movie is a rare gem and nobody who cares one bit about the evolution of martial arts in movies should miss it.
Last but not least Breathless (Dir. Yang Ik-June, South Korea 2008), the closing gala movie and hard-hitting ultra violent film that has won recently more awards and prizes than any Korean production in recent memory. I believe it may have something to do with redefining the concept of a “family drama”
A couple of other relevant mentions are “The Ache” (Dir. Keith Lock, Canada 2009); a film with a unique take on family and erotica; and one that will make you think about the food you eat and just how you get it on your table , and perhaps more importantly, the people behind it all, “Agrarian Utopia” (Dir.Uruphong Raksasad, Thailand 2009)
Alternavox is happy to recommend “Reel Asian”. For more information go to http://www.reelasian.com/