Asian Drama

In the early days of the Republic, legendary martial artist Ye Ruzhou suffers a severe injury, losing her memory and winding up in the impoverished alley of Minfu Lane. By a twist of fate, she crosses paths with the carefree Chen Awang, and the two fall for each other. When local tyrant Zheng Juehou intensifies his hold over the neighborhood, Ye Ruzhou rises to defend her new community. Her actions, however, draw unforeseen danger, and together with Chen Awang, she faces the challenge to protect Minfu Lane’s hard-won peace.

A fatigued man wakes up at a bar with a bartender who will forever change his life as he gets to know more about her. Three criminals have somewhat accomplished their task of kidnapping their target, but their overall mission seems to go nowhere in the end. In the late 1970s, a mysterious woman runs a bar where a deadly situation will affect the lives of everyone. Two killers are looking for their faceless victim, who shows up at a diner every day at 6 o'clock sharp. Four incredibly talented Korean filmmakers, four intriguing cinematic visions, four astounding stories revolving around murderers for hire. (Source: fantasiafestival.com) ~~ Adapted from the short story "The Killers" by Ernest Hemingway. ~~ Release dates: Jul 24, 2024 (Festival) || Oct 23, 2024 (Cinema)

Duration: 1 hr. 59 min.

Content Rating: 18+ Restricted (violence & profanity)

The story follows a young man who has been single for a year after his boyfriend suddenly disappeared without a formal breakup. One night, while scrolling through a dating app, he encounters someone who looks strikingly similar to his ex. After a spontaneous hookup, he discovers that this new acquaintance is actually his ex’s twin brother. As he navigates this unexpected twist, he finds himself drawn into a complicated web of emotions. Will he end up choosing between the two brothers, or will he find himself entangled with both?

Duration: 11 min.

Content Rating: Not Yet Rated

The film depicts a coming-of-age story centered on the two sugar babies, Kotone, who is unemployed, and Sakura, a college student, in the coronavirus pandemic, as they try their best to live at the mercy of frivolous men.

Adapted from the novel "Tsuyu no Ato Saki" (つゆのあとさき) by Nagai Kafu (永井荷風).

Duration: 1 hr. 45 min.

Content Rating: 15+ - Teens 15 or older

The title character, Princess Yuki, belongs to a band of assassins with fantastic sword skills who are exiles from their own country and now work for the ruling dictators of their new one. However, Yuki quickly discovers that her leader may be the one who killed her mother years before, and after confronting him with this information finds herself on the run and hunted. Enter Takashi, a hapless rebel against the government who aids Yuki such that she might seek revenge on the group that now wants to kill her.

"Trivial Matters" is exactly what it says on the packet. Collection of seven vignettes -- some sad, others sardonic -- have little in common other than a concern with the small things of life and a throwaway attitude very typical of its creator, Pang Ho-cheung (aka Edmond Pang). Hard on the heels of his much more formal "Exodus," pic may baffle those unfamiliar with the Hong Kong writer-director's insouciant oeuvre, and will be best appreciated at Asiaphile events. Pic did so-so biz on local release last December. Though Pang is best known internationally for "Isabella" (in many ways his least typical movie), "Trivial Matters" is closer in spirit to earlier pics like "Beyond Our Ken" and "AV," in which the audience is never sure just how seriously to take what's being shown. Based on Pang's own collection of short stories, it also has a scattergun success rate that's also very characteristic of him. Best segs are the third and fifth, both of which are constructed as mini-movies rather than casual jottings, and are nicely played by their separate casts. In "It's a Festival Today," a girl (Isabel Chan) moves in with her b.f. (Eason Chan) but doesn't want to have sex; finally, at Christmas, she agrees to service the poor guy, which leads him to desperately hunt the calendar for other holidays in order to get pleasured again. Punchline is blackly witty. Tone in "Ah Wai, the 'Big Head,' " the longest and most slickly lensed of the bunch, is more wistful, sketching a friendship between two high schoolers -- quiet Kei (Stephy Tang) and spacey Ah Wai (Gillian Chung) -- as they drift apart but meet again at a class reunion. Stretching from the late '80s to the mid-'90s, and based around their shared liking for Cantopop legend Danny Chan, yarn has a lovely period feel and subtle chemistry between the two actresses that packs quite an emotional punch at the end. Other segs range from passing gags -- thesp Edison Chen as a dirty-mouthed pick-up artist -- to self-consciously clever playing with film form. The simplest, but with a piercing moment of sadness, is the sixth episode, "Recharge," centered on a hotel-room assignation between a businessman (Chapman To) and a Mainland hooker (Zhang Zheng). At a time when Hong Kong production has become increasingly conventional and middle-class, pic is notable for its natural, undogmatic approach to nudity and drug use. Casting of names in all the segments -- including Mainland helmer Feng Xiaogang in a witty cameo as the account manager of an assassination agency -- maintains interest for auds able to recognize the faces. However, general viewers are more likely to agree with pic's opening intertitle: "Life is rather trivial in hindsight."

To avenge the murder of his family, a man goes to Sura Island, a prison for dangerous criminals where dangerous criminals are housed.

Wilson Lam plays Yeung, an idealistic intern who reports to work at a paper run by the press veteran Wong (Eric Tsang). Yeung is teamed up with a hot-headed reporter, Turbo (Andy Lau), and a straight-laced writer, Chui (Michael Miu). Chui is obsessed with exposing the dirty secrets of a local tycoon, Pon (Wong Kam-Kong). Turbo is always looking for the next big story, so he readily jumps in, and since Yeung has a crush on Pon's girlfriend, pop star Tung (Cally Kwong), he joins up in the chase for the truth as well. 

Huo Yuchun, famous botany professor at Qingshan University, has developed a new virus that combines plants and animals DNA. When the virus breaks out in the school, the professor's assistant Zheng Wen has to find his secret laboratory and unveil the mystery surrounding the professor...

Four pianists take part in the preliminary round of an international piano playing competition. Each has a story that is different and unique. One is a former child prodigy who stopped playing when her mother died. One is a Julliard student. One works at a music store. One is a new face and yet comes recommended.

In the year of 1762, when King Yeong Jo of the Joseon dynasty's been ruling for 35 years already, Crown prince Sa Do is accused of plotting treason by his biological mother lady Yi. King Yeong Jo falls into a dilemma since he could not penalize his own son as a traitor as it would mean that he would become the father of a traitor threatening his throne, and ends up ordering Sa Do to take his own life. As Sa Do’s lieges oppose King Yeong Jo’s decision by putting their own lives at risk, King Yeong Jo locks Sa Do in a wooden rice chest to kill him.

In ancient Rome, bathhouse architect Lucius (Hiroshi Abe) becomes famous with designing the original "thermae" (bathhouse). He receives an order to build a thermae in the colosseum to help gladiators recover from their wounds, but faces difficulties. Thus, Lucius travels again to modern day Japan through the time slip. He meets Manami (Aya Ueto) again, who is now a reporter for a magazine which covers bathroom. With the help of the flat face Japanese tribe, Lucius again designs a new thermae. Meanwhile, Emperor Hadrian (Masachika Ichimura) wants to keep the peace with the thermae, but the Senate wants to extend the land by using force. Emperor Hadrian and the Senate now have a confrontation and Rome becomes divided. 1. Filming began April 6, 2013. Shooting will take place at Nu Boyana Film Studios in Sofia, Bulgaria, Cinecittà film studio in Rome, Italy, and a hot spring in Japan. "Thermae Romae II" is thought to be the first Japanese film to shoot in Bulgaria. An estimated 5,000 foreign extras are participating in the filming of "Thermae Romae II" in Bulgaria.