We take a look at the Asian films that will be screened at the FilmFest Hamburg, which will take place from September 26 – October 5, 2024 in Hamburg, Germany.

A Boat Departed From Me Taking My Away by Cecilia Kang – Argentina, Singapore | 2023 – 81 minutes | Documentary

DOCUMENTARY With great sensitivity, the film accompanies an actor who because of a role she has to play faces traumas experienced by many Korean women during the Japanese occupation in World War 2. Melanie, a young Argentinian-Korean actor, has a huge problem when she is asked to read the evidence of a so-called “consolation woman” – one of the women who were used as sex slaves by the Japanese army in World War 2 and whose plight has been ignored by society up till now. Melanie prepares extensively for the monologue and at the same time tries to master her everyday life. But the more she learns of the traditions of her people and her own family history, the more she realizes how many traumas live on inside her. (FFH 2024)

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Black Dog by Guan Hu – China | 2024 – 110 minutes | Fiction

Director Guan Hu tells a story full of melancholy and humour about two outsiders. Black Dog won Best Film in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes. After a long stay in prison, Lang returns to his home town on the edge of the Gobi desert. The city is in uproar, buildings have been approved for demolition and stray dogs roam the streets. A few weeks before the Olympic Games in Beijing, the authorities decide to go after the pack of dogs, in particular the Black Dog, which has hitherto evaded capture. Hired as a dog-catcher, Lang gains the animal’s trust, it seems to be a loner like him. Together they set out on a new journey. (FFH 2024)

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Blue Sun Palace by Constance Tsang – USA | 2024 – 117 minutes | Fiction

An unusual triangular relationship lies at the heart of this intimate portrait of working-class Chinese migrants in New York. Didi and Amy share an apartment and work together at a shabby massage salon in Queens. Their close friendship helps get them through everyday life at the salon and its ghastly clientele. Didi starts dating Cheung, a charming, but married workman, whose family is in Taiwan. At the festival of the Lunar New Year, a tragic incident shocks the women and causes them to reconsider their elective relationships and reshape their own precarious existence. (FFH 2024)

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Cloud by Kiyoshi Kurosawa – Japan | 2024 – 123 minutes | Fiction

In his thriller about the chasms in the online economy, Japanese cult director Kyoshi Kurosawa paints a picture of an anonymous, digital society in which anything seems possible, but with unforeseeable consequences. Yoshii is a seller of goods that he buys cheap and resells on the Internet. But a sinister element creeps in to his increasing success, threatening messages and accusations are being spread. In the network of his business, a collective mania grows that ends in a spiral of violence. (FFH 2024)

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Desert of Namibia by Yoko Yamanaka – Japan | 2024 – 137 minutes | Fiction

With the portrait of a young woman in Tokyo, which oscillates between intoxication and perplexity, director Yôko Yamanaka paints a precise and revealing picture of an entire generation. 21-year-old Kana lives with her docile boyfriend Honda, works in a beauty salon and lets herself drift through her life without a plan or passion. When she meets the self-confident Hayashi, something finally seems to be moving, and she plunges into an affair. But soon she is confronted with the troubles of the levels again, and the tensions in the new relationship continue to come to a head. (FFH 2024)

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It’s Okay! by Kim Hye-young – South Korea | 2023 – 102 minutes | Fiction

Dancing is In-young’s life. After losing her mother in a tragic accident, she suddenly has to take care of herself and secretly moves in to the dancing school. The other dancers are envious of her talent and quarrel with her. This however also brings the girls together. The anniversary performance is looming and with it the question of who will be allowed to dance. And will the new friendships last? (FFH 2024)

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Pooja, Sir by Deepak Rauniyar – Nepal, USA, Norway | 2024 – 115 minutes | Fiction

A brilliantly staged thriller against the backdrop of political unrest in Nepal. When two boys are kidnapped in a border town, policewoman Pooja is sent from Katmandu to take over the case. But when she arrives, the situation is more complex than she had thought. Not only is Pooja confronted with the prejudice of patriarchal Nepalese society, her investigation also gets caught up in the vortex of protest and unrest in the Madhesi minority. With the help of her Madhesi colleague Mamata, Pooja has to fend off political interference and find out the hidden motives for the kidnapping. (FFH 2024)

Sister Midnight by Karan Kandhari – India | 2024 – 110 minutes | Fiction

A wild film about an arranged marriage in Mumbai and the uncanny revolt against the patriarchal order. An unlikely couple sits crammed together in a tiny hut with wafer-thin walls, but the distance between them could not be greater. While her clumsy husband flees from the oppressive togetherness in the direction of work, his wife Uma develops increasingly bizarre behaviour. Her impulses, which become uncontrollable, first amaze the neighbours, then horrify, while the protagonist beats herself into the night to the sounds of the rousing eclectic soundtrack. (FFH 2024)

Stranger Eyes by Yeo Siew Hua – Singapore, Taiwan, France, USA | 2024 – 125 minutes | Fiction

Director Yeo Siew Hua portrays a case of kidnapping as a disturbing mystery about voyeurism and interwoven perspective, starring the legendary actor Lee Kang-Sheng. Following the mysterious disappearance of their young daughter, a couple are sent strange videos – someone is obviously observing their everyday life and filming even their most intimate moments. In an attempt to catch the voyeur, the police start a surveillance operation. But, as their secrets are revealed in the omnipresent observation through the eyes of a stranger, the family façade starts to crumble. (FFH 2024)

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To Kill a Mongolian Horse by Xiaoxuan Jiang – Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Thailand, USA | 2024 – 97 minutes

An impressive debut film with an amateur cast about a Mongolian rider is a polyphonic swansong about disappearing ways of life. In the middle of the harsh wintery steppes marking the border between Mongolia and China, Saina spends his days looking after the family’s ranch. During the evening he’s a performer in a horse show which portrays the legendary life of Mongolian riders for tourists. In contrast to the majestic rider he plays in the show, Saina’s real life as a herdsman is threatened by structural change and the greed of big Chinese corporations. (FFH 2024)

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More info: https://www.filmfesthamburg.de/en/