Eleventh edition of the festival specialized in cinema from the Asia-Pacific region organized by Casa Asia. The Asian Film Festival of Barcelona is a reference event that brings the best filmography of the Asian continent, facilitating the meeting between professionals of the sector and the film industry.
The AFFBCN projects on the screens productions of different cultures and ethnicities that come from Iran, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Mongolia, Nepal and, of course, from countries with such consolidated film industries as Japan, South Korea, China, India and Hong Kong.
AFFBCN 2024: a hundred films from more than 20 countries
The Asian Film Festival Barcelona | AFFBCN reaches its twelfth edition, to be held from October 24 to November 3, 2024. This festival, dedicated to Asian auteur cinema, maintains its essence with a program that includes a hundred experimental and independent films. The selection comes from more than twenty countries in Asia and the Pacific, consolidating the AFFBCN as a benchmark for new Asian cinema.
Five competitive sections
The festival is divided into five competitive sections: Official, Official Panorama, Discoveries, NETPAC and Special. The opening film will be "Citizen of a Kind" by director Park Young-ju (Korea, 2024) at Phenomena, while "Time Still Turns the Pages" by Nick Cheuk (Hong Kong, 2023) will close the festival at Cinemes Girona. In addition, FILMIN and BETEVÉ will be the festival's online platforms.
Innovations and surprises in the program
Menene Gras Balaguer, director of AFFBCN, highlights that this year's program contains "numerous surprises" that will update knowledge about the ever-changing and innovative Asian film industry. New features include a course on Asian cinema, round tables, and presentations by guest directors. In addition, a call for new film talent was launched in March, the results of which will be part of the program.
Awards and collaborators
The AFFBCN 2024 will award fifteen prizes, including best film, best director and best screenplay in each of the competition sections. These will be awarded by a jury composed of directors, critics and writers. The festival has the support of several institutions, such as ICEC, ICUB, HKETO, the Australian Embassy and Japan Foundation, among others.
Opening and closing
- Citizen of a Kind (2024), addresses the growing problem of voice phishing in South Korea, which has increased since 2006. The film follows Duk-hee, a mother desperately seeking a loan after losing her business in a fire. Son, a supposed bank employee, offers her favorable terms but, after paying the first installments, the scam is revealed when Son starts asking her for impossible fees. After falling into the trap, Duk-hee decides to take revenge. Director Park Young-Ju, known for her first Cannes success with 1 Kilogram (2016), presents her second feature film after Second Life (2018), consolidating her promising career in cinema.
- Time Still Turns the Pages (2023) tells the story of Cheng, a high school teacher coping with the death of his father and his divorce. One day, he finds a suicide note in his classroom, which reminds him of the abuse his father inflicted on his mother and brother. Determined to intervene, Cheng tries to prevent his students from suffering a similar tragedy. The film also criticizes Hong Kong's education system, pointing out the need to balance academic competitiveness with students' emotional well-being. The director, Nick Cheuk, makes his feature film debut with this film, having worked as a screenwriter and director in television, exploring teenage suicide and its causes.
Film highlights (2024)
In addition to the opening and closing films, the following films stand out in this edition:
- 12.12: The day (Kim Sung-Soo, 2023): a thriller about the events of a fateful day where the lives of several characters intertwine in unexpected ways.
- All We Imagine As Light (Payal Kapadia, 2024): an exploration of the dreams and realities of a generation facing society's expectations and their quest for freedom.
- Ichiko (Akihiro Tota, 2023): a film that explores themes of isolation, the desire for freedom and the search for identity, with an intimate and emotional approach.
- Black Dog (Guan Hu, 2024): a drama about a man who returns to his rural home to confront his past demons and family complexities.
- My Sunshine (Hiroshi Okuyama, 2024): a story of love and loss that follows a man as he recalls the happiest moments of his life with his partner.
- Ramsomed (Bigongsik Jakjeon) (Kim Seong-hun, 2023): an action-packed thriller about the kidnapping of a high-ranking official and the operation to rescue him amid political tension.
- The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Mohammad Rasoulof, 2024): a spiritual journey of self-discovery in which a young man seeks answers about the nature of existence and faith.
- Bride Kidnapping (Mirlan Abdykalykov, 2023): a drama about the kidnapping of women for marriage in Kyrgyzstan, which denounces the situation of women in that society.
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