We present a list of seven film festivals you cannot miss on April 2019.

5th Sinag Maynila Independent Film Festival
Metro Manila, Philippines
Dates: April 3th – 17th, 2019
Website: http://www.sinagmaynila.com

We start this month in Philippines for the Sinag Maynila Independent Film Festival. Started in 2015 by Brillante Ma. Mendoza and Solar Entertainment this festival aims to support local independent cinema. This year the festival will feature 5 Feature Films, 10 Short Films and 6 Documentaries. The opening film will be Lakbayan (Journey) by Brillante Mendoza, Lav Diaz and Kidlat Tahimik which will be screened at The Podium Cinema on April 3rd (7:30 pm). The film was premiered at the 23rd Busan International Film Festival last October 2018.

10th Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival
Taipei, Taiwan
Dates: April 12th – 21st, 2019
Website: http://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/ghfff

Some days later we switch countries for the start of the Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival. The festival is the first in Taiwan to aim at the theme of fantasy. The festival will open activities with the screening of Over My Dead Body by Lee Chung. Some days ago, we looked into their programme and we selected 12 films you cannot miss, you can check the article here: GO TO THE ARTICLE.

9th Beijing International Film Festival
Beijing, China
Dates: April 16th – 23rd, 2019
Website: http://www.bjiff.com/

Then we have China’s biggest festival of course we are talking about the Beijing International Film Festival which will take place from April 16th until the 23rd. The full programme will be updated soon.

11th Okinawa International Movie Festival
Okinawa, Japan
Dates: April 18th – 28th, 2019
Website: https://oimf.jp/en/

Two days later in Okinawa the Okinawa International Movie Festival will start. The festival has grown to become an “All-around entertainment festival” that includes movies, music, dancing, comedy, fashion, art, and sports, and has become a spring tradition in Okinawa. Later this week we will publish a list of recommended films.

7th Singapore Chinese Film Festival
Singapore
Dates: April 18t – 28th, 2019
Website: http://scff.sg/

At the same time but in Singapore we have the Singapore Chinese Film Festival. This festival will showcase 60 films, two panel discussions and more than 20 Q&A with filmmakers.

36th Busan International Short Film Festival
Busan, Korea
Dates: April 18th – 28th, 2019
Website: http://www.bisff.org/

We move to Korea for the start of the Busan International Short Film Festival. Launched in 1980 the BISFF aims to create the film-making friendly environment and finding talented film professionals.

North Luzon Film Festival
Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, Philippines
Dates: April 2019
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nlcinemaguild/

Finally, we end the month in Philippines for the North Luzon Film Festival. The festival aims to discover, encourage, and support the filmmakers from the region that articulate, interpret and express the Filipino cultural heritage. The festival is open for all students, amateurs and professional filmmakers who were born and/or is currently residing in North Luzon & Central Luzon (Region 1, 2, 3 and CAR). This year the organizers received 603 films for competition and 730 for exhibition. The programme will be updated this week so please stay tuned.