We present a list of seven film festivals you cannot miss this March 2019.

Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival
Yubari, Japan
Dates: March 7th – 10th, 2019
Web: http://yubarifanta.com

We start the month in Japan for the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival one of the first festivals held in a resort-like environment. They aim not only to promote films but also to interact locals, filmmakers and cinephiles from around the world with delicious foods of Hokkaido, skiing or snowboarding.

Tokyo Anime Award Festival
Tokyo, Japan
Dates: March 8th – 17th, 2019
Web: https://animefestival.jp/en/

One day later the Tokyo Anime Award Festival starts its activities. The festival aims for the discovery and the exploration of new creators, the dissemination of the information to the public and the permanence of animated film culture and history. The festival will open with the screening of Ethel & Ernest by Camilla Deakin & Sunao Katabuchi. The festival will also have a special program on Isao Takahata.

Osaka Asian Film Festival
Osaka, Japan
Dates: March 8th – 17th, 2019
Web: http://www.oaff.jp/2019/en/index.html

Also on the 8th the Osaka Asian Film Festival will start their festival but in Osaka. The festival aims to facilitate human resources development and exchange, to invigorate the Osaka economy, and to increase the city’s appeal, through providing opportunities to watch excellent Asian films, supporting filmmaking in Osaka and attracting filmmakers from Asian countries and regions to Osaka.

This year the opening film will be RANDEN: The Comings and Goings on a Kyoto Tram by Suzuki Takuji and the closing film will be Daddy Issues by Ochiai Ken. We talked about both movies in some recent post you can see them here: RANDEN’s post & Daddy Issues’ post.

For this festival we selected 15 films you cannot miss at this festival, to see our article about please follow the nest link: SEE MORE

9th Cambodia International Film Festival
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Dates: March 9th – 15th, 2019
Web: http://www.cambodia-iff.com/

Almost at the same time but in Cambodia the Cambodia International Film Festival will kick off. The festival highlights not only the quality productions made in and about Cambodia by national and international filmmakers but also focuses on films from all around the world in diverse formats such as shorts, feature, documentaries and animations.

Later we will look into their catalogue to recommend some films.

Pelikultura: The Calabarzon Film Festival
Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
Dates: March 13th – 15th, 2019
Web: https://pelikulturacff.wixsite.com/festival2018

Some days later in the Philippines we have the Pelikultura: The Calabarzon Film Festival. Organized by the UP Los Baños and PelikuLAB this regional festival provides a venue for Region IV-A’s (Calabarzon Region) budding, experienced independent filmmakers. This year the opening film will be Sa Palad ng Dantaong Kulang (In the Claws of a Century Waiting) by Jewel Maranan. The closing film will be Nunal Sa Tubig (1976) by Ishmael Bernal. We highly recommend attending this festival because the Student Short Competition will host some great films.

43rd Hong Kong International Film Festival
Hong Kong City
Dates: March 18th – April 1st, 2019
Web: https://www.hkiff.org.hk/

After that we have the 43rd Hong Kong International Film Festival one of Asia’s best Film Festival along with the Busan International Film Festival and the Tokyo International Film Festival. As we talked in a recent post (SEE MORE) the opening film will be Bodies at Rest by Renny Harlin (Hong Kong, China) and the closing film will be By the Grace of God by Francoise Ozon (France). The festival will also have a special program dedicate to the legendary Chinese actress Li Lihua and the 5th Generation of Chinese directors (SEE MORE). The HKIFF will screen winners of the 2019 Berlinale (SEE MORE), celebrate the Centenary of Korean Cinema with the screening of 10 iconic films (SEE MORE) and will organize three MasterClasses featuring Lee Chang-dong, Asghar Farhadi and Jian Wen (SEE MORE).

Later we will look into their catalogue to recommend some films

Seoul Independent Documentary Film & Video Festival
Seoul, South Korea
Dates: March 21st – 28th, 2019
Web: http://www.sidof.org/eng/

Almost at the end of the month we have the Seoul Independent Documentary Film & Video Festival. This festival aims to discovering new documentary filmmakers and leading the way with its catchphrase “Experiment, Progress, Communication” to spur social statements and aesthetic achievements owing to all the documentary filmmakers, researchers and audiences. This year the opening documentaries will be Observation and Memory by Somyi Lee and Queer Room by Aram Kwon.