These are the Asian films that will be screened during the 36th Mar del Plata International Film Festival which will take place online and in cinemas from November 18th – 28th (2021) in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina.

International Competition

20-year-old Jeonghee doesn´t go to college and works part-time. She goes to meet Minyoung, her old high school roommate, for the first time in a while. However, Minyoung, a college student, is busy sending correction emails for her credits and feels uncomfortable by Jeonghee´s visit. (Mubi)

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Altered State Competition

L is a student at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). She fell in love with K and they decided to be together but K had to leave back to his home village and the lovers got separated. (IMDb)

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Panorama – Auteurs

An aging, widowed actor seeks a chauffeur. The actor turns to his go-to mechanic who ends up recommending him to a 20-year-old girl. Despite their initial misgivings, a very special relationship develops between the two. (Mubi)

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She manages her daily life with a sense of mindfulness while keeping a grave secret to herself, and she decides to meet with a younger director who asked her to join his project, and after they meet there is sudden rainfall and thunder. (Filmaffinity)

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An orchid farmer visits her ill sister in Bogota. While there, she befriends a French archaeologist in charge of monitoring the construction project and a young musician. Each night, she is bothered by increasingly loud bangs which prevent her from getting any sleep. (Mubi)

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Panorama – Sea of Kids

Based on the “human drama” novel of the same name, which centers on a mother named Nikuko and her daughter, Kikuko, who live on a boat. The novel follows their paths in life, and their growth. (Mubi)

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9-year-old Da Yi knows his mother is about to depart soon, and so he secretly took a trip with his friends and made their last farewell. (Mubi)

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Zero Hour

Discover the twisted nighttime alleys of Seoul in the tense and thrilling MIDNIGHT, the gripping tale of a Deaf woman and the serial killer who has underestimated his opponent. (Mubi)

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Cha Woo Sol, a victim of school violence who was imprisoned in a boys’ prison due to an unexpected incident, meets mixed martial arts champion Jeong Do Hyeon and breaks his limit one by one in order to seek for revenge and make his bully pay. (IMDb)

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Machiko Kyō Retrospective

A Film in Three Parts. The first story concerns an attractive young woman who works in a Tokyo nightclub. Her plan for a solid financial future has a double whammy. In the second story, a beautiful young woman is employed by an unscrupulous real estate agent to convince male clients to invest in worthless property. The last story is about a widowed geisha who has no real financial worries and when she falls in love with a forger. (FILMAFFINITY)

Komajuro (Ganjiro Nakamura) leads a traveling acting troupe that performs cut-rate kabuki in the provinces. His mistress, Sumiko, is loyal to him, as are the other veteran actors. The troupe arrive to a town on the seaside. Komajuro goes to visit a woman who runs a saki bar. Her name is Oyoshi (Haruko Sugimura), and years earlier she bore the actor’s son. He is now a handsome young man named Kiyoshi (Hiroshi Kawaguchi), who works in the post office, and has been told that Komajuro is his uncle. The old actor is proud of his son, but embarrassed to admit his parentage. He wants to keep the secret, but Sumiko discovers it. (FILMAFFINITY)

A man getting on in years sets out to find a way to resurrect his flagging virility. (FILMAFFINITY)

In 1350, during an attempted coup, one of the court’s ladies in waiting disguises herself as the lord’s wife, and a loyal samurai conveys her from the city. This diversion allows the royal family to escape. After the coup fails, the samurai asks his lord to let him marry the woman as his reward. The lord grants the request and then discovers she is already married to one of the ruling family’s lieges. The samurai clings to his desire, importuning her to leave her husband, then challenging the husband to release her. Although the husband stays calm and she stays faithful, the samurai remains intemperate and stubborn, with tragic consequences. (FILMAFFINITY)

In a village not far from Tokyo, Akaza and his wife Riki worry about their childrens’ future. The eldest, Inokichi, is a gambler and a womaniser. The elder of the two sisters, Mon, has gone to Tokyo, and the parents are in the process of trying to marry off their younger daughter, San, to a local shopowner. When Mon comes home one day with the news that she is pregnant, Inokichi loses control and fights violently with the sister to whom he had always been so close. (FILMAFFINITY)

In the civil wars of 16th century Japan, two ambitious peasants want to make their fortunes. The potter Genjuro intends to sell his wares for vast profits in the local city, while his brother-in-law Tobei wishes to become a samurai. (FILMAFFINITY)

Based on the classic novel by Murasaki Shikibu, written over 1000 years ago. Genji, the son of the emperor, has gained renown among the nobility of Kyoto for his charm and good looks, yet he cannot stop himself from pursuing the one object of desire he must never obtain: his father’s young and beautiful bride. Following the tragic consequences of his obsession, Genji wanders from one affair to another, always seeking some sort of resolution to his life. (FILMAFFINITY)

For more information please go to: https://www.mardelplatafilmfest.com