10 Must-see films from the 18th CinemAsia Film Festival 2026

By Asian Film Festival on April 8, 2026 • ( Leave a comment )

These are ten films you shouldn’t miss at the CinemAsia Film Festival, which will take place from April 8 – 12, 2026 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Amoeba by Tan Siyou – Singapore, Netherlands, France, Spain, South Korea | 2025 – 99 minutes

Choo, a school dropout, has recently been transferred to an elite, authoritarian all-girls high school in Singapore. Her rebellious attitude instantly bonds her with 3 other misfits in her class—Vanessa, Sofia, and Gina. Together, they secretly form a gang, inspired by stories about the triad gangs that ruled the streets of colonial Singapore and defied the authorities openly. The girls become inseparable to each other, but as graduation approaches and the question of life after school looms, cracks begin to form. (CinemAsia 2026)

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Family Matters by Pan Ke-Yin – Taiwan | 2025 – 99 minutes

Spanning 4 distinct seasons over 2 decades, Family Matters portrays the everyday lives of the Hsiao family, a seemingly ordinary Taiwanese family that has been keeping their secrets within. The stories are told from the perspectives of each member of the family—the elder sister, Spring, is in search of her true identity; the younger brother, Summer, stumbles upon his origins by chance; the mother, Autumn, remains trapped in a shame carried from her past; and the father, Winter, desperately tries to turn his life around. (CinemAsia 2026)

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Girl by Shu Qi – Taiwan | 2025 – 124 minutes

Growing up in 1980s Taiwan, the quiet, curious Hsiao-Lee navigates her desires and aspirations while taking care of her younger sister and enduring hardship at home. Her deadbeat father comes home every night drunk and violent; her mother, bearing the brunt of his violence, struggles to properly care for Hsiao-Lee. When the carefree Li-Li is transferred to her school, the two become friends, opening Hsiao-Lee to a world of possibility and a journey of growth. (CinemAsia 2026)

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Human Resource by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit – Thailand | 2025 – 122 minutes

Following the sudden exit of the secretary of her toxic boss, Fren, a human resources worker, is tasked with recruiting a new replacement while quietly navigating the early stages of pregnancy. Preoccupied with her ambivalence about motherhood, she interviews a stream of ambitious candidates—overachievers confident in their market value—entering a hostile corporate environment where reality quickly dismantles their dreams. The situation absurdly mirrors Fren’s own struggle as she grapples with whether to bring a child into such a difficult world. (CinemAsia 2026)

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Lost Land by Fujimoto Akio – Japan, France, Malaysia, Germany | 2025 – 99 minutes

Following decades of persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar, 4-year-old Shafi and his 9-year-old sister Somira leave a refugee camp in Bangladesh to embark on a perilous journey to Malaysia, where their uncle awaits. Armed with little more than vague directions and each other’s company, they cross borders by sea into southern Thailand, only to be left alone after an incident with the border patrols. Lost in a foreign land, they depend on their resilience and the kindness of strangers while navigating a world shaped by smugglers, fear, and exploitation. (CinemAsia 2026)

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Papa by Philip Yung – Hong Kong | 2024 – 129 minutes

Café owner Nin’s ordinary, peaceful life is shattered when his 15-year-old son brutally murders his mother and younger sister one evening. His son is diagnosed with schizophrenia and immediately remanded to a psychiatric hospital. Faced with unfathomable loss and a son awaiting trial, Nin attempts to continue his everyday life, trying to understand what his son did and how he can possibly move on. (CinemAsia 2026)

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Pinch by Uttera Singh – India, USA | 2025 – 83 minutes

Maitri, a young aspiring travel blogger, lives with her mother in a tight-knit Indian apartment block. Hoping to capture some content, she tags along on a temple visit during the Navratri festival with her mother and their neighbours, including their landlord Rajesh. When Rajesh gropes Maitri on the bus to the temple, she is left shocked and isolated. As she confides in her mother and other elders, she must grapple with deeply embedded social structures of shame and denial. Her daring search for retribution becomes a story of resistance, leading her community to reckon with what values they truly seek to uphold. (CinemAsia 2026)

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Republic of Pipolipinas by Renei Dimla – Philippines | 2025 – 105 minutes

Local farmer Cora Vitug faces eviction as a corrupt government project seeks to turn her family land into a trash dump. Angry and disillusioned, Cora renounces her Filipino citizenship and declares her own micronation called the Republic of Pipolipinas. At first ridiculed around town, she soon finds herself leading a group of “citizens” who have come to support her cause. Navigating this newfound political community and growing online attention, Cora works against the clock to expose the web of corruption and greed that threatens the town and her home. (CinemAsia 2026)

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Shape of Momo by Tribeny Rai – India, South Korea | 2025 – 112 minutes

After quitting her job in Delhi, Bishnu returns to her hometown in the Himalayan mountains to live with her mother and grandmother. Met with the pressure of marriage and potential suitors, Bishnu grows increasingly frustrated with the patriarchal norms of her community. She judges her family for the roles they play in upholding them, especially her pregnant sister. Yet returning home also forces Bishnu to confront her sheltered urban reality, far from the class divides, cultural inheritance, and sacrifices her family have made. As tensions surface, the family must navigate a path to understanding and acceptance, held together by a love and care that transcends their differences. (CinemAsia 2026)

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Two Seasons, Two Strangers by Miyake Sho – Japan | 2025 – 89 minutes

In the summer, two strangers—Nagisa, a young woman from the city, and Natsuo, a man visiting his relatives— meet by the sea, where they share awkward yet calm and tender moments together. In the winter, Li, a Korean screenwriter living and working in Japan, travels to a snow-covered village to escape from her creative block. There, she stays at a desolate guesthouse run by the enigmatic Benzo, and the unlikely duo embark on an unexpected journey. (CinemAsia 2026)

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