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As we have seen many times in Malaysian cinema, the shamanism and the supernatural in general are intensely intermingled with everyday life, with Dain Said’s films, for example, highlighting the fact in the most eloquent manner. Chong Keat Aun directs a movie based on incidents from his personal life, taking an approach that moves towards the fantastical after a fashion. The movie earned him the Best New Director at the Golden Horse Awards, but soon afterwards, it was censored for its screening at the 4th Malaysian International Film Festival, for references to traditional folklore which were contrary to Islamic teachings.

“The Story of Southern Islet” is screening at Five Flavours Asian Film Festival

The story revolves around a rural family of four that is built in antithesis. Western-educated Yan is a rationalist, while her husband, locally educated Chang, believes intently in the supernatural and the folklore in general. When...

Korean director Hong Eui-jeong’s debut feature “Voice of Silence” stood out at Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival as the year’s best film from its Cheval Noir main competition section. The film, about two men who clean up after an organized crime organization, has enjoyed an impressive international festival run, having built up strong buzz as a project when it was selected to Venice’s Biennale College Cinema program in 2016.

“In a film festival that’s known as a melting pot of genres, ‘Voice of Silence’ feels like an excellent representative for the top prize in the Cheval Noir section. It’s earnest and sincere in tone but also unpredictable and experimental, impossible to pin down, and truly idiosyncratic,” said the jury in a statement accompanying the announcement.

Basque filmmaker Igor Legarreta was honored as the year’s best director for his sophomore effort “All the Moons,” a 19th...

Yoo Ah-in (Voice Of Silence), Zelda Adams (Hellbender) win acting prizes.

EuiJeong Hong’s South Korean thriller Voice Of Silence has won the 25th anniversary edition Fantasia International Film Festival’s Cheval Noir award for best film.

Hong’s film follows a mute low-level gangster tasked with taking charge of an 11-year-old kidnapped girl from a wealthy family. The jury described Voice Of Silence as “impossible to pin down, and truly idiosyncratic. Put simply, it’s unlike anything we’d seen before”.

Juried awards

In other Cheval Noir awards Yoo Ah-in who plays the mute man won best actor while...

The Story of Southern Islet Review — The Story of Southern Islet (2020) Film Review from the 74th Annual Locarno Film Festival, a movie directed by Keat Aun Chong, starring Jojo Goh, Season Chee, Hong Herr Wong, Wei Hern Teoh, Ling Tang, Pearlly Chua, Kok Hin Kuan, and Mei-Sim Hoon. Cinema is a memoir set to motion [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: The Story Of Southern Islet: A Detailed and Dense Slice of Malaysian Folk Horror [Locarno 2021]...

The 45th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF45) today announced 14 Firebird Award and Fipresci Prize winners, including The Day is Over, The Wasteland, Mr. Bachmann and His Class and Motorcyclist’s Happiness Won’t Fit Into His Suit.

In naming Qi Rui’s The Day is Over Best Film of this year’s Young Cinema Competition (Chinese Language), the jury praised it for “aptly portraying contemporary society’s lack of care for the young generation and the subsequent impact on the development of their personal values”. In the same section, Summer Blur garnered two awards – Best Director for Han Shuai for his “impressive ability in portraying the characters’ psyche” and Best Actress for Huang Tian for “intelligently guiding the audience into the tender inner world of a young girl”. The Best Actor Award went to Wuhai’s Huang Xuan, who “brilliantly exhibits the anguish and torment experienced by a man...

Mainland China youth drama “The Day is Over” was named the best Chinese-language film in the Firebird Young Cinema competition at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. The already celebrated Iranian film “The Wasteland,” directed by Ahmad Bahrami won the equivalent award in the overseas section.

The 45th edition of the festival kicked off on April 1 and will complete its run on Monday.

“The Day is Over,” directed by Qi Rui, tells a tale of mounting tragedies for a young girl who is humiliated by her classmates and ultimately hides out in a pond. The jury praised it for “aptly portraying contemporary society’s lack of care for the young generation and the subsequent impact on the development of their personal values”.

In the same section, “Summer Blur” garnered two awards: best director for Han Shuai for his “impressive ability in portraying the characters’ psyche” and best actress for Huang Tian.