Best of Fest Encore Screening

He Shuming’s directorial debut wowed audiences at the Busan International Film Festival and was Singapore’s official entry for this year’s Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards. Ajoomma (Korean for ‘auntie’) is a heartwarming story of love and acceptance and… soap operas. 

Director Kamila Andini calls Before, Now & Then, “a simple period film,” but Indonesia’s tragic history reverberates throughout this tale of a woman’s lost love and her eventual redemption. “[A]n intoxicating work that holds the viewer in a tight, loving embrace that won’t let go.” –Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter

MSPIFF Encore Starts April 28 at The Main Cinema - Tickets Coming Soon Here

The first Pakistani film to appear in competition at Cannes, and winner of the Queer Palme, Joyland is Saim Sadiq’s delirious and romantic debut feature film. “Tartly funny and plungingly sad in equal measure, this is nuanced, humane queer filmmaking.” –Guy Lodge, Variety

This complex, captivating drama from Kôji Fukada, an MSPIFF favorite (The Harmonium, A Girl Missing, MSPIFF 2017 and 2020, respectively) features stunning performances by Fumino Kimura and Kento Nagayama, and has been widely regarded as Fukada’s masterpiece. “??[A] vital melodrama about the difficulty of moving on.” –Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com

July Jung’s scathing examination of workplace ethics received a 7-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, and is highlighted by fierce performances from Kim Si-eun and Bae Doona. “Amid such a bleak and slow burn of a premise, Jung’s Next Sohee is surprisingly warm-hearted.” –Manuel Betancourt, Variety  

MSPIFF Encore Starts April 28 at The Main Cinema - Tickets Coming Soon Here

A merry mash up of sisterly affection, parental disappointment and bold action, Polite Society follows martial artist-in-training Ria Khan who believes she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting the help of her friends, Ria attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of independence and sisterhood.

From prolific Mongolian director Janchivdorj Sengedorj comes an insightful coming-of-age story that takes place primarily in… an Ulaanbaatar sex shop. The Sales Girl won Best Feature at the 2022 New York Asian Film Festival. “[T]his candid big-city coming-of-age story deserves international exposure.” –Peter Debruge, Variety

Best of Fest Encore Screening

Asan moves to a small village in Kyrgyzstan with his sister and mother, and waits for his father to join them. This third feature film by Aibek Daiyrbekov is a sweeping and moving coming-of-age story. 

Winner of the prestigious FIPRESCI prize at the Locarno Film Festival, Stone Turtle is Woo Ming Jin's stunning thriller that evokes Groundhog Day and Woman in the Dunes. “[A] beguiling, all-around-gorgeous reimagining of Southeast Asian folklore.” –Peter Debruge, Variety

“Observations of a post-Tik Tok China” is how directors Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka summarize their newest film. Selected as part of the 2022 New York Film Festival, this cinematic study of a young woman freefalling through China’s hyper-capitalist economy “refuses to offer easy answers.” –Steph Green, IndieWire

Director Nisha Pahuja Attending.

In To Kill a Tiger, Ranjit, a farmer in Jharkhand, India, takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. In India, where a rape is reported every 20 minutes and conviction rates are less than 30 percent, Ranjit’s decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented.

From MSPIFF favorite Rima Das (Village Rockstars, Bulbul Can Sing) comes this poignant tale of a kindly man struggling to keep his life above water during the ravages of the COVID lockdown. “[A] documentary-style sense of life unfolding rather than engineered drama.” –Wendy Ide, Screen Daily

Festival favorite Hong Sang-soo returns to MSPIFF with Walk Up, the acclaimed director’s delightful study of family, friendship and architecture. “[A] sparkling diversion about alternate lives that runs circles around even his recent output for storytelling satisfaction.” –Jessica Kiang, Variety

Philippine director Lav Diaz’s latest is another slow-cinema masterpiece, examining President Duterte’s reign of terror, fusing the supernatural and police procedural. “[L]ike Dostoevsky, Jacobean tragedy and High Noon, in one brutal cocktail.” –Jonathan Romney, Screen International