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Somewhere in Bangkok, Aood (Ice Natara) sits alone in a car listening to the radio. Meanwhile in New York, Boss (Tor Thanapob) yuks it up with the ladies as a bartender. If nothing else, the ostentatious camera movements drive home the fact that this guy really is—wait for it—a boss. It’s not until much longer that he gets a call. It’s Aood. The two were best friends, and Aood has called to let him know that, like his own father beforehand, he has terminal cancer.

Boss flies back to Thailand; the two hit it off like nothing’s changed. As expected, they wax nostalgic about their pasts. Also as expected, they ride around visiting Aood’s old flames, among them a dance instructor (Ploi Horwong) and an actor (Aokbab Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying). As for another thing to be expected? It seems Aood has something up his sleeve...

The overloaded Thai equivalent of one of those YA weepies where terminally ill teens scramble to fulfill their bucket lists before expiring at a young age, all-the-feels buddy movie “One for the Road” is determined to leave audiences both shaken and stirred. Your mileage may vary as director Baz Poonpiriya (“Bad Genius”) packs this concoction with a lifetime’s worth of romances, breakups and reconciliations; a cancer diagnosis; a cheek-tweakingly adorable kid; all sorts of overdue apologies; several family surprises; and one of those scenes where the music swells as someone’s ashes are scattered to the winds.

Seeing so many emotions squeezed into 137 minutes surely explains why Sundance Film Festival programmers picked this broadly appealing international selection as one of half a dozen films to screen on opening night of the 2021 virtual edition. Well, that and the fact it was produced by Wong Kar Wai, whose blessing gives this...

The Sundance Film Festival, the largest independent film festival in the United States, celebrates bold, creative, and distinctive voices. The upcoming 2021’s edition will offer an online platform featuring seven days of premieres, events, artist talks, and cutting-edge Xr exhibitions. It will also be partnering with independent cinema communities across the U.S. to safely host in-person events. From January 28 through February 3, adventurous audiences and indie film lovers everywhere will come together to be the first to discover exciting new creative visions that people will be talking about all year.

This year the Festival will downsize to 72 feature films (from last year’s 128) but still including a 50% of the total of female directors, more than 50% of the total of filmmakers of color and a number of genderqueer artists.

The full line-up includes few interesting Asian titles. Here they are:

“Fire in the Mountains“

a searing portrait of the power dynamics...

Chinese filmmaker Wong Kar Wai has boarded upcoming buddy film One For The Road from helmer Nattawut (Baz) Poonpiriya, the director behind 2017 Thai crime comedy hit Bad Genius, which grossed more than $40m in China.

Wong Kar Wai’s Jet Tone Films has attached to the pic as a producer, and the Chinese filmmaker’s Block 2 Distribution will handle worldwide sales.

The project is already shooting, with photography kicking off in New York last week. It will transfer to locations in Thailand at the end of the year.

One For The Road will follows Boss, a high end club owner living in New York, who receives a call from his friend in Thailand, Aood, revealing he is in the last stages of terminal cancer. When Aood opts to forego chemo, the pair set off on a road trip to see and thank each of his ex-girlfriends whom he has wronged.

Wong Kar-wai is producing “One For The Road,” a new film that reunites the director and star of 2017 Thai hit “Bad Genius.” Production in New York and Thailand will begin by the end of the year.

The film is a buddy drama and a road movie that sees two old friends who have been separated for years embark on final road trip when they discover that one of them has terminal cancer. But there is also another agenda behind the trip.

Directed by Nattawut (Baz) Poonpiriya, the picture will be produced by celebrated Hong Kong-based auteur Wong through his Jet Tone Films. International sales are to be handled by the related company Block 2 Distribution.

The screenplay is written by Poonpiriya, Nottapon (Kai) Boonprakob and Puangsoi Aksornsawang. Director of photography is Phaklao Jiraungkoonkun.

The Thai cast includes Thanapob (Tor) Leeratanakachorn, Nattarat (Ice) Noprattayakorn, Violette Wautier, Ploi Horwang, Siraphun (Noon) Wattanajinda and Chutimon (Aokbab) Chuengcharoensukying,...

New section sees three up-and-coming Filipino directors competing with five indie filmmakers from Southeast Asia.

The Philippines’ QCinema International Film Festival is launching a new competition section, Asian Next Wave, that will focus on emerging filmmakers from the Southeast Asian region.

The new section sees three up-and-coming Filipino directors, who received production funding from the festival, competing with five indie filmmakers from other countries in Southeast Asia.

The three local films in competition are Rae Red’s Babae At Baril, Arnel Barbarona’s Kaaway Sa Sulod and The Cleaners from Glenn Barit, while Southeast Asian titles include Mattie Do’s The Long Walk,...