These are ten films you shouldn’t miss at the Five Flavours Asian Film Festival which will take place in cinemas from November 15 -21 in Warsaw, Poland, and online from November 15 until December 3, 2023.

Abang Adik by Lay Jin Ong – Malaysia | 2023 – 114 minutes | Polish Premiere
Abang and Adik come from Pudu Pasar, one of the poorest districts of Kuala Lumpur. They spent their whole lives on the loud, narrow streets of the huge market in the heart of the urban bustle they always dreamed of escaping. The younger brother, Adik, is a petty swindler. The deaf Abang is trying to break out of the precarious reality. The problem is, the brothers are not listed in any government register and thus cannot work legally. One day, when a tragic accident wipes away the brothers’ chances for a better future, their relationship is put to a test. (Five Flavours 2023)

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Amiko by Yusuke Morii – Japan | 2022 – 104 minutes | Polish Premiere
Amiko sees the world very differently from her peers. Withdrawn from reality, she likes to march to the beat of her own drum, and shapes the surrounding reality according to her inner narration, often explaining it in magical terms. She can be both defiant and somehow naive, often saying whatever comes to her mind, which makes her an outcast at school. As she awaits the arrival of her new sibling, she spends most of her time with her older bother, exploring the outskirts of Hiroshima. When Amiko’s family is faced with a loss, the girl will have to find a new way to cope with reality. – Łukasz Mańkowski (Five Flavours 2023)

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Dreaming & Dying by Nelson Yeo – Singapore, Indonesia | 2023 – 78 minutes | Polish Premiere
Three friends, who were once more than that, meet years later to reminisce about the olden days. Diving back into the past leads them deep into the surprising corners of their memories, and their alcohol-enhanced minds color reality with unexpected, oneiric hues. Hidden emotions, old grudges, and romantic disappointments begin to resurface.

Nelson Yeo’s debut is a modern take on the 1948 Chinese classic “Springtime in a Small Town.” The story is reimagined in the Singaporean context and enclosed in the space of the cult Haw Par Villa entertainment park. “Dreaming & Dying” is a mixture of a fairy tale, a pastiche of artistic cinema, and a deeply personal story filled with the director’s past, deep sadness, and the mistakes of adolescence. In the interviews, Yeo says that the making of the film was directly inspired by a memory of his first cigarette. (Five Flavours 2023)

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Glorious Ashes by Bui Thac Chuyen – Vietnam, France, Singapore | 2022 – 117 minutes | Polish Premiere
Thom Rom village, the southern coast of Vietnam. The plot of “Glorious Ashes” is made up of three love stories, intertwined in the Mekong delta. We are watching the daily lives of three women over a few years, their struggles with nature, their duties, their routines. This is the place where the way of life is shaped by both patriarchal rules, and the rhythm of the river. It is not a place where a sense of fulfillment is easy to achieve. But the frustration lurking in the trembling hearts of the protagonists will have to eventually find an outlet. – Łukasz Mańkowski (Five Flavours 2023)

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Phantom by Lee Hae-young – Korea | 2023 – 133 minutes | Polish Premiere
In 1933, Korea is under the brutal Japanese occupation. The only ray of hope is the thriving resistance, making the occupant’s life miserable. Feeling threatened, the Japanese authorities gather five suspects at a secluded, elegant hotel to reveal the true identity of the elusive Phantom’s, a prominent figure among the rebels. An exciting game of life and death begins, which both sides are determined to win. Will find out who Phantom really is? Or whether he exists at all? – Marcin Krasnowolski (Five Flavours 2023)

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Ripples by Naoko Ogigami – Japan | 2023 – 120 minutes | Polish Premiere
Yoriko’s life seems to be very well-organized. Her days are filled with meeting the members of a religious sect, praying at her home altar, and grooming the Zen stone garden which replaced the flowerbeds her husband cared for before he disappeared from her life without a word. His sudden return disrupts the routine and the skin-deep harmony of Yoriko’s existence, cutting through it like ripples troubling a calm surface of water. (Five Flavours 2023)

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Side by Side by Chihiro Ito – Japan | 2023 – 130 minutes | European Premiere
Miyama (Kentaro Sakaguchi) is a young man of an unknown past and an enigmatic look in his eyes. Apart from the fact that he is with Shiori (Mikako Ichikawa, known from “Rent-A-Cat”), we know very little about his life. He suddenly appeared in a small town and the locals welcomed him with open arms – probably because of his ability to read the minds of others. His unique talent turns him into a local witch doctor, despite his best efforts. Calmness and distance are the foundations of his personality, he is also an attentive listener, tuned to the physical and emotional ills of his surroundings. But the spiritual transformations of Miyama’s “patients” take a toll on his own psyche. With time, he becomes haunted by mysterious apparitions that only he can see. – Łukasz Mańkowski (Five Flavours 2023)

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Which Colour? by Shahrukhkhan Chavada – India | 2023 – 96 minutes | Polish Premiere
As the first rays of light start peeking into the small room, the camera begins its slow, unintrusive observation. A woman is following her usual daily routine. Her daughter helps fold the laundry. The husband is planning a new rickshaw business. The kids are playing games on the busy street. It’s time to pray. The believers from the Muslim district of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, are gathering among the rhythmic chants. Through this simple, everyday record, Shahrukhkhan Chavada manifests his protest against the systemic erasure. The current politics of Nahendra Modi’s government does not recognize the presence of Muslims in the Indian society, removing them from the official picture. – Łukasz Mańkowski (Five Flavours 2023)

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Wild Roomer by Lee Jeong-hong – Korea | 2022 – 136 minutes | European Premiere
Gi-hong works as a construction carpenter. He lives from contract to contract, inhabiting a big, mostly empty house in the suburbs, and befriending its owner and his wife. One day, the three of them discover a strange dent in the roof of Gi-hong’s car. Gi-hong launches a private investigation to get to the bottom of the case. The answer to the mystery introduces a new character that will shake the foundations of the lives of Gi-hong and those around him. – Marcin Krasnowolski (Five Flavours 2023)

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Your Mother’s Son by Jun Robles Lan – Philippines | 2023 – 100 minutes | European Premiere
Sarah and her son Emman live in a small town they moved to a couple years before. She spends all her time working – teaching online and making dessert popular in the local community. The son is less ambitious – he lost his job, sleeps in, and secretly meets up with Amy, his mother’s helper, and the two of them get high together. Emman knows Sarah can never know about his romance. What will happen when the secret is revealed? Will the family stay together? – Marcin Krasnowolski (Five Flavours 2023)

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