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The 2010 Tokyo International Film Festival will commemorate the life and enduring influence of Bruce Lee with a special tribute at the festival’s Winds of Asia Middle-East section, entitled The 70th Anniversary: Bruce LEE to the Future.

Screenings will include the film that finally catapulted him into the mass populace, Enter The Dragon, sadly released just after his death, and a rare chance to see the Japanese version of Game Of Death, distributed in 1978. There will also be exciting new films that pay homage to Lee nearly 30 years after his death, including Derek Kwok and Clement Cheng’s Gallants and Luu Huynh Luu’s The Legend Is Alive.

The 23rd TIFF will be held from October 23-31, 2010 at Roppongi Hills and other venues in Tokyo.

Find out more from their official website »

It’s often easy to forget korean cinema has much more to offer than taught thrillers and action films, and Hong Sang-soo is a great example of a much ‘quieter’ filmmaker whose work is often overlooked, despite his film Hahaha being awarded the Un Certain Regard prize this year at Cannes this year.

From Wednesday 1 to 28 September, the BFI Southbank celebrates his work with a complete overview of his work, including a preview of Hahaha and a personal appearance by Hong Sang-soo himself this Friday. Curated by the ICO, the 10-film retrospective will tour major cities in the UK over the next few months.

For more information on the retrospective and to book, see the BFI’s website »

Over the next month the BFI Southbank celebrates Akira Kurosawa and his influence over cinema, screening not only his finest work, but also that of the filmmakers he inspired. The season includes:

» Yojimbo together with remakes A Fistful Of Dollars by Sergio Leone and the underrated Last Man Standing by Walter Hill;
» Rashomon,  Martin Ritt’s The Outrage, Zhang Yimou’s Hero and Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring;
» Seven Samurai and (of course!) The Magnificent Seven;
» Hidden Fortress (recently remade), Ikiru, Sanjuro and many more.

(Although oddly Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, which famously copied the central theme of an epic story as seen by two lowly servants, has been left off the list. Come on, BFI, don’t be so pretentious!)

Rashomon will also be screened in cinemas around the UK.

Find out more and book tickets from the BFI website »

Director Apichatpong Weerasethakul has become the first Thai filmmaker to win the coveted Palme d’Or at this years Cannes. The 63rd Cannes Film Festival closed yesterday evening with the announcement of the jury prizes, led by US director Tim Burton.

Weerasethakul’s film Lung Boonmee Raluek Chat (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives) concerns a dying man who is visited by his late wife and his missing son, who has become an ape. Uncle Boonmee is played by Thanapat Saisaymar, a roof welder from north-east Thailand whose previous acting experience was limited to TV commercials. The director had previously won the third-place jury prize at Cannes with his 2004 film Tropical Malady.

Lee Chang-Dong won best screenplay for Poetry. And another Korean filmmaker, director Hang Sangsoo, won the Un Certain Regard Prize for Hahaha.

Find out more on the official Cannes website »

The BFI’s biennial Anime celebration returns from today with a weekend of screenings and special guests including director Koji Masunari and producer Tomonori Ochikoshi for Welcome to the Space Show. Other screenings include Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone and Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance, a re-imagining of the classic Neon Genesis Evangelion series, and K20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces, a live-action manga-based tale.

Find out more on screenings and how to book from the BFI website »

Still glowing from last years success, the Terracotta Far East Film Festival for a second run with a fantastic lineup of 15 hand-picked films from Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand. (more…)

THE TERRACOTTA FAR EAST FILM FESTIVAL IS BACK IN LONDON, UK TO PRESENT ITS SECOND ROUNDUP OF CHOICE FILMS FROM THE FAR EAST!

From Thursday 6th to Sunday 9th May 2010, there’s fantastic lineup of 15 hand-picked films from Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand – http://terracottafestival.com/

The festival opens with the UK premiere of Little Big Soldier starring Jackie Chan. Set during the tumultuous period when China had yet to be born from the unification of seven warring states, this story follows Big Soldier (Jackie Chan), an ex-farmer and reluctant conscript from the state of Liang.

A brilliant comedy and touching tale reportedly 20 years in the making, Little Big Soldier looks set to be a new favourite for fans of Jackie Chan fans, action flicks and road trip movies and will be released theatrically later in the year, courtesy of Cine Asia.

Phobia (out on DVD from 10th May 2010 courtesy of Icon Home Entertainment) features four chilling tales from modern-day Thailand by four masters of horror. In the last decade, Thai filmmakers have brought a new and refreshing perspective to the face of horror. Black magic, superstition and the scary side of the supernatural abound in this collective of four tales, which are sure to take root in the more terrifying depths of your imagination.

The closing night film is the multi-award winning Bodyguards and Assassins and another UK premiere. Hong Kong, 1905. Revolution instigator Sun Yat Sen is about to visit Hong Kong for five hours only, for a covert meeting with the leaders of a planned coup from all the provinces in China. On hearing this, the Imperial Court dispatches an elite team of assassins to Hong Kong to deal with him. Fervent revolutionary and Sun’s contact in Hong Kong, Chen Shaobai (Tony Leung Ka Fai), is alerted, and out of desperation he assembles a motley crew of inexperienced fighters to escort Sun safely to his meeting and back.

Brilliantly shot with large-scale recreations of Hong Kong during the turn of the 20th century, this film is a fast-paced cat-and-mouse game which will have you on the edge of your seat. Bodyguards and Assassins will be playing at selected UK cinemas and is available to buy on DVD (courtesy of E1 Entertainment) on 31st May 2010.

The line-up for the years Cannes Film Festival has been announced. As always, there’s a strong selection of new Asian cinema including Takeshi Kitano’s Outrage, Lee Chang-Dong’s Poetry, Hideo Nakata’s new horror Chatroom, Hong Sangsoo’s Ha Ha Ha, Xiaoshuai Wang’s Rizhao Chongqing (Chongqing Blues) and Im Sangsoo’s Housemaid. The festival takes place between 12 and 23 May.

For more information on the Cannes Film Festival »

The line-up for the years Cannes Film Festival has been announced. As always, there’s a strong selection of new Asian cinema including Takeshi Kitano’s Outrage, Lee Chang-Dong’s Poetry, Hideo Nakata’s new horror Chatroom, Hong Sangsoo’s Ha Ha Ha, Xiaoshuai Wang’s Rizhao Chongqing (Chongqing Blues) and Im Sangsoo’s Housemaid. The festival takes place between 12 and 23 May.

For more information on the Cannes Film Festival »

The BFI Southbank celebrates all things Anime with a whole weekend devoted to the genre. Films showing include: Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone, a blockbuster re-imagining of the Neon Genesis Evangelion series; Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva, the star of the enormously popular Nintendo game leaps to life on the big screen; Stormy Night, A goat and a wolf strike up an unlikely, secret friendship; K20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces, a live-action, manga-based tale set in an alternate 1949; and Welcome to the Space Show, a visually spectacular adventure set to be one of the most anticipated anime titles of the coming year.

For more information and details on how to book, click here »

The BFI continues to support Asian cinema in the UK with a special preview of Xiaolu Gu’s She, a Chinese on Wednesday 10 February, which will feature a Q&A with the director and novelist himself whose previous work includes How is Your Fish Today and A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers. The film concerns an enigmatic young Chinese woman raised in a backwater, longing for a different life.

Find out more and book tickets »

More good news for London-based film fans, as Asia House follows the success of their Pan-Asia Film Festival 2009 with a new monthly series at the Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly Circus. The series kicks off this Wednesday, 3 February, with Special Jury Prize Sundance Film Festival 2007 winner The Pool, followed by a director Q&A with Chris Smith. Shot in Goa and featuring incisive observations about the class divide and the mysteries of the human heart, this is a tale of a boy’s obsession with a glittering swimming pool and how it changes four lives in India.

23 March features what is described as a pre-release screening of God Man Dog (hey, isn’t that on DVD?) by acclaimed Taiwanese director Singing Chen. God Man Dog follows the emotional and literal journeys of a middle class Taipei couple, an alcoholic Taiwanese aborigine and his estranged daughter, and an amputee who drives on a truck glowing gods dispensing good fortune. Half road movie, half social-realist drama, this three-part narrative is interspersed with moments of beautiful comedy. Starring Jonathan Chang (A One and A Two).

On 27 April Asia House presents a special screening of 24 City, Jia Zhang-ke’s chronicle of the thunderous fall of a state-owned munitions factory and its conversion into a luxury high-rise apartment complex. Jia weaves the stories of three generations of factory workers into a fascinating history of post-revolutionary China. Blending documentary and fiction, interviews with workers are intercut with real and staged vignettes on life before and after 24 City.

Find out more on the screenings and book tickets »

It’s the Chinese New Year on February 14, year of the Tiger, and to celebrate the BFI are showing a short season of Chinese movies starting this Thursday. These include Xie Jin’s Two Stage Sisters from 1964, Chen Kaige’s groundbreaking Yellow Earth, featuring cinematography by Zhang Yimou, and Yimou’s own The Road Home. (Which is free, but only for seniors!)

Find out more and book tickets online from the BFI’s website »

The BFI kicks off the New Year with an exhaustingly comprehensive season celebrating the work of the acclaimed film director Yasujiro Ozu. Promising nearly every surviving work by Ozu (over 30 films!), the season runs throughout January and February – starting with a nationwide UK release for his masterpiece Tokyo Story.

Best known for tales of family tensions and troubles, such as Tokyo Story itself and other films like An Autumn Afternoon, Story of Floating Weeds, Late Autumn and Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family, the season also offers the chance to see lesser known comedies (like Days Of Youth) and gangster films (Dragnet Girl). The BFI are also running a special offer, buy tickets for four films, get a fifth free!

The retrospective will be accompanied by a season highlighting Ozu’s influence on filmmakers throughout the world, including Ang Lee’s Eat Drink Man Woman, Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train and Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Three Monkeys.

Read more about the Ozu season at the BFI »

The BFI kicks off the New Year with an exhaustingly comprehensive season celebrating the work of the acclaimed film director Yasujiro Ozu. Promising nearly every surviving work by Ozu (over 30 films!), the season runs throughout January and February – starting with a nationwide UK release for his masterpiece Tokyo Story.

Best known for tales of family tensions and troubles, such as Tokyo Story itself and other films like An Autumn Afternoon, Story of Floating Weeds, Late Autumn and Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family, the season also offers the chance to see lesser known comedies (like Days Of Youth) and gangster films (Dragnet Girl). The BFI are also running a special offer, buy tickets for four films, get a fifth free!

The retrospective will be accompanied by a season highlighting Ozu’s influence on filmmakers throughout the world, including Ang Lee’s Eat Drink Man Woman, Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train and Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Three Monkeys.

Read more about the Ozu season at the BFI »

Something of a reduced service here at easternKicks, while I move house and wait an eternity to get my broadband sorted out, but time to highlight the success of Breathless, the debut film by Korean actor turned director Yang Ik-June, at this years Tokyo Filmex, walking off with both the Grand Prize and Audience Award.

Already the recipient of numerous international film awards, the film is an accomplished first work, brutal and uncompromising in its portrayal of the caise and effect of domestic violence, it’s also poetic, funny, and surprisingly uplifting. On paper, a strange mix, but on screen easily one of the best Asian films of the year. The film opens in selected cinemas around the UK on 29 January 2010, distributed by Terracotta Distribution, and is a must-see.

We’ll be bringing you an exclusive interview with Yang Ik-June, who also stars, wrote and edited Breathless, and happens to be a lot more affable in real life than you might expect from his role, as well as a review of the film itself.