10 Asian films you shouldn’t miss at the 70th Sydney Film Festival

By Asian Film Festival on June 9, 2023 • ( Leave a comment )

These are ten Asian films you shouldn’t miss at the Sydney Film Festival which is taking place from June 7 – 18, 2023 in Sydney, Australia.

Note: The list includes films directed by filmmakers with Asian ancestry.

**Ajoomma** by He Shuming – Singapore, Korea | 2022 – 90 minutes

A Singaporean widow obsessed with Korean soap operas embarks on a crazy adventure in this feelgood winner starring national treasure Hong Huifang. (Sydney 2023)

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**Art College 1994** by Liu Jian – China | 2023 – 118 minutes

Liu Jian’s gorgeous 2023 Berlinale-selected animation is a slacker comedy-drama about a group of art students in China in the ’90s – a time of great change for the nation. (Sydney 2023)

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**Autobiography** by Makbul Mubarak – Indonesia | 2022 – 115 minutes

A naive young housekeeper is tempted into corruption and violence in this outstanding first feature from Indonesian filmmaker Makbul Mubarak. FIPRESCI prize, Venice 2022. (Sydney 2023)

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**Cobweb** by Kim Jee-Woon – Korea | 2023 – 134 minutes

Straight from Cannes, Kim Jee-woon’s (A Tale of Two Sisters, The Age of Shadows) latest is a deliriously funny and clever film about a director obsessed with re-shooting the end of his completed film. Stars Song Kang-ho (Parasite, SFF 2019). (Sydney 2023)

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**Gaga** by Laha Mebow – Taiwan | 2022 – 111 minutes

An Indigenous Taiwanese family is caught between traditions and modern challenges in this warm drama-comedy from Tayal filmmaker Laha Mebow. Best Director, Golden Horse Awards 2022 & Singapore International Film Festival 2023 – Asian Feature Competition. (Sydney 2023)

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**In water** by Hong Sang-soo – Korea | 2023 – 61 minutes

A double bill of optical experiments courtesy of prolific South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo and an eye-popping 3D short set in a Barcelona maze. (Sydney 2023)

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**Monster** by Kore-eda Hirokazu – Japan | 2023 – 127 minutes

Direct from the Cannes Competition, Monster is an intense, mysterious and morally complex drama from Kore-eda Hirokazu (Shoplifters, SFF 2018; Broker, SFF 2022), told through multiple perspectives. (Sydney 2023)

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**Past Lives** by Celine Song – USA | 2022 – 106 minutes

In this delicate, spellbinding romance, two school friends explore a lingering, deep connection that appears to transcend time and distance. Sundance and Berlinale 2023. (Sydney 2023)

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**The Fifth Thoracic Vertebra** by Park Syeyoung – Korea | 2022 – 65 minutes

A fungus that feeds on human spines attaches itself to a mattress in this beautifully bizarre body horror. Screens in the South Korean Strangeness Double Feature. (Sydney 2023)

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**When The Waves Are Gone** by Lav Diaz – Philippines | 2022 – 187 minutes

Amid the Philippines’ war on drugs, two policemen are on a deadly collision course in this searing drama by master director Lav Diaz (Season of the Devil, SFF 2018). (Sydney 2023)

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