Osaka Asian Film Festival (March 6-15) has announced its 15-title strong competition section, including the Japan premieres of recent festival favourites such as Kim Cho-hee’s Lucky Chan-sil, Wong Yee-lam’s My Prince Edward and Liang Ming’s Wisdom Tooth.
The competition section also includes the world premiere of Taiwanese director Liu Kuang-hui’s Your Name Engraved Herein and the Japan premiere of Derek Tsang’s Better Days, which grossed $222m in mainland China last year.
As previously announced, Tom Shu-yu Lin’s The Garden Of Evening Mists (pictured), about the relationship between a Malaysian woman and a Japanese soldier turned gardener, will open the festival, with the world premiere of omnibus Kamata Prelude, directed by four up-and-coming Japanese filmmakers, as the closing film.
In total the festival has selected 64 films, including 14 world premieres, 12 international premieres and three Asian premieres.
Special sections include Spotlight, which is screening four films expected to gain traction this year, New Action! Southeast Asia, Indie Forum and Special Screenings. Special programmes will focus on cinema from South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
OAFF 2020 COMPETITION LINE-UP:
Apart (Hong Kong), dir: Chan Chitman (IP)
The Girl With The Gun (Philippines), dir: Rae Red (IP)
Better Days (HK-China), Derek Tsang (JP)
Happy Old Year (Thailand), dir: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit (JP)
Heavy Craving (Taiwan), dir: Hsieh Pei-ju (JP)
Kontora (Japan), dir: Anshul Chauhan (AP)
Lucky Chan-sil (Korea), dir: Kim Cho-hee (IP)
My Prince Edward (Hong Kong), dir: Wong Yee-lam (JP)
The Odds (India), dir: Megha Ramaswamy (JP)
Spring Tide (China), dir: Yang Lina (JP)
The Taste Of Pho (Germany, Poland), dir: Mariko Bobrik (AP)
Way Back Home (Korea), dir: Park Sun-joo (IP)
Wisdom Tooth (China), dir: Liang Ming (JP)
Write About Love (Philippines), dir: Crisanto Aquino (IP)
Your Name Engraved Herein (Taiwan), dir: Liu Kuang-hui (WP)