These are six Asian short films you shouldn’t miss at the BFI London Film Festival which will take place from October 4 – 15, 2023 in London, UK.

Note: The list may include movies made by filmmakers with Asian ancestry.

Blood (Ratthum) by Vathana Suganya Suppiah – UK, Australia | 2023 – 10 minutes
Against the backdrop of a Tamil coming-of-age ceremony where fertility is celebrated, Shanti struggles to keep her secret hidden. (BFIFF 2023)

Trailer:

Boat People by Thao Lam, Kjell Boersma – Canada | 2023 – 10 minutes
Fleeing the war in Vietnam, Thao and her mother find salvation in stories of ants and their resilient communities. (BFIFF 2023)

Desert Dreaming by Abdul Halik Azeez – Sri Lanka | 2022 – 12 minutes
Playful cut-and-paste digital collaging activates a dialogue on labour migration from Sri Lanka to Southwest Asia in the 1970s. (BFIFF 2023)

Foreigners Only by Nuhash Humayun – Bangladesh, USA | 2023 – 15 minutes
In Bangladesh, a tannery worker searches for an apartment but when landlords request ‘foreigners only,’ he finds a grisly solution. (BFIFF 2023)

Graveyard of Horses by Xiao Xuan Jiang – China | 2023 – 17 minutes
A pregnant herder and her young daughter search for their missing flock on the desolate Mongolian steppe. (BFIFF 2023)

Trailer:

Mangosteen by Tulapop Saenjaroen – Thailand | 2022 – 40 minutes
This offbeat, subtly humorous work explores the slippage of reality and imagination, and the possibility of fiction for bringing new forms into being. (BFIFF 2023)

Trailer:

More information: https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff/Online/