Far East Film Festival in Italy

 The “Far East Film Festival” is an Italian festival dedicated to the popular Asian cinema, moreover it’s one of the most important event in this field, dedicated to the Far East in Europe. It focuses on the present and, at the same time, to the past of the Asian cinema, thanks to the 60 movies in program.

The first edition was held in 1999 in the middle of April in the city of Udine. This year the festival starts on April 19th and ends on the 27th of the same month.

 

For nine days the manifestation will take place not only in the cinemas but also in the squares, streets…everything and everyone in Udine is going to “host” one of the most awaited event of the year. It doesn’t mean only movies because people can also attend different activities, from Ikebana to Martial Art, from Japanese and Chinese courses to make up lessons, Tea Cerimony, traditional dances and many others.But this is not the end, the city will create a friendly atmosphere thanks to the organized happy hours and dj set, dedicated to the “Far East”.

Since it is a “Far East” Film Festival, there are movies from all Asia: China, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippine, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, Thaiwan, Thailand, Singapore. But this edition, the 15th , is going to be really important for South Korea.

During the last editions the comedian, Michael Hei and the director, Johnnie To were awarded with lifetime achievements awards, the “Gelso d’Oro” (the “Golden Mulberry”), since they are icons and experts in this field. This year, the “Gelso d’Oro 2013” is for the great director Kim Dong-ho, who is, since years, a representative of the South Korean cinema.

There are also some information about the movies that are going to be in this festival : “Girls for Keeps” by Fukagawa Yoshihiro, a Japanese comedy and “Ip Man – The Final Fight” by Herman Yau, an other sequel dedicated to kung fu master Yip Man. These are only two titles but the list is not ended because people can see four European premieres : “A Story Of Yonosuke”(Okita Shuichi ), “The Bullet Vanishes” (Derek Yee and Lo Chi-leung), “Cold War” (Longman Leung and Sunny Luk) and “Lost In Thailand” (Xu Zheng).

More information about the movies will be added in the following weeks.

You can check the website,which is also in English.

•  Source : Far East Film Festival official website.