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As we have mentioned many times the past few years, it seems that the future of Asian cinema lies somewhere among the Asean countries, with the filmmakers from the particular region having both the inspiration and the command of the medium to present new things, both in terms of stories and cinematic approach. Malaysia in particular seems to have one of its greatest years in that regard, with the huge success of “Tiger Stripes” being the tip of the iceberg. Indonesian audience seems to have returned to cinemas even more massively than before the pandemic, the Filipino film industry is also experiencing a boom in the last few years, particularly in amount of titles, while the rest of the countries in the region are following close by, mostly through approaches that combine genre with art-house filmmaking.

Without further ado, here are 30 movies that highlighted all the aforementioned in 2023, in reverse order,...

Pham Thien An’s “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” which previously won the Golden Camera at Cannes, has won the Asian Feature Film Competition at the 34th Singapore International Film Festival.

Yoon Eun-Kyung won best director for “The Tenants,” which also won the Fipresci award. “Dreaming & Dying,” by Singaporean director Nelson Yeo earned a special mention. Yu Yi-Hsun won best screenplay for “A Journey in Spring” and the film also won best performance for Yang Kuei-Mei.

The Audience Choice Award went to “Goodbye Julia” by Mohamed Kordofani.

In the Southeast Asian Short Film Competition, the best Southeast Asian short film was awarded to “The River That Never Ends” by J.T. Trinidad, which also scored a special mention for actor Emerald Romero. “I Look Into the Mirror and Repeat to Myself” by Giselle Lin won best Singapore short film. Best director went to Sam Manacsa for “Cross My Heart and...

Nothing brings out intimacy visually better than a roll of Super 8 footage. The main strength of Giselle Lin's personal project “I Look into the Mirror and Repeat Myself” stems from that assumption. The film, in its essayistic, fragmentated form, tackles the issue of sibling connection and shared experience of growing up alienated from one's parents.

I Look into the Mirror and Repeat Myself is screened in Locarno Film Festival

The characters (Lin and her actual sisters) discuss the memories of dealing with a demanding mother and an emotionally detached and psychologically abusive father. Five perspectives shed light on the dynamic between the siblings, the shared trauma, but also the individual experiences which vary due to favoritism in the family. “I Look…” is separated into segments, in which each of the sisters is given a platform to talk about her childhood memories. Sometimes in the form of a dialogue,...

The 15th Psarokokalo International Short Film Festival continues faithful to the path it has set until today and, from July 2 to 14, opens its eyes to a cinema worth discovering!! This year's Psarokokalo returns with a multitude of tributes, events, and surprises, aspiring to arouse the interest of cinephiles in Greece for another year.

In its established international competition section, which this year includes 94 selected short films from 34 countries, Psarokokalo turns its attention to new creators as well as to those familiar to the Greek public such as Efira Virginie, Niels Schneider, Joseph Wilson, Nadav Lapid. While in the national competition section, it offers a selection of new emerging talents from Greece and Cyprus and is the main program that promotes the festival around the world.

Of particular interest is the dedication to the environment and architecture, innovative, ambitious, diverse, and impressive focus on channeling constructive collective action and providing a cross-cutting analysis of politics,...

Singapore-based film production outfit Potocol, whose “Tomorrow is a Long Time,” by Jow Zhi Wei bowed at the Berlin Film Festival’s Generation 14plus competition, has revealed a diverse Asian slate.

Potocol’s recent triumphs include Bangladeshi filmmaker Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s Cannes selection “Rehana Maryam Noor” and Indonesian director Makbul Mubarak’s Venice winner “Autobiography.” The company, led by Jeremy Chua who is currently at the Berlinale, has a growing reputation for championing the rise of young filmmakers from across Asia.

Potocol has four films in post-production and several more in development. Nicole Midori Woodford’s debut feature “Last Shadow at First Light” is a supernatural road trip drama that follows a Singaporean teenager tracing the footsteps of her missing mother in Japan and explores the ripple effects of a traumatic event subconsciously buried within the family unit.

A winner of several project development and market prizes at Seafic,...