Asian Crossroads
We encourage you to take this journey across several Asian countries to discover the cultural and historical background of these faraway worlds, taste some food, hear some music, and be blown away by films about small villages, huge metropolises, and everything in between.
Final Exam
Taiwan | 2021 | 103 minutes | Chen-ti Kuo
April 8 - 18, 2021
With seven days before the titular final exam and summer vacation, a talented substitute teacher must prove himself worthy of rehiring while trying to financially care for his ailing grandma, deal with his troublemaking brother, and defend a falsely accused student.
Get the Hell Out
Taiwan | 2020 | 96 minutes | I-Fan Wang
April 8 - 18, 2021
Politics may bring out the worst in us, but nothing compares to the events in this action-packed Grand Guignol comedy about a team of activists, legislators, and civilians going up against a parliament filled with hyperactive zombie mutants infected with “idiot rabies.”
In the Same Breath
USA | 2021 | 95 minutes | Nanfu Wang
April 8 - 18, 2021
Nanfu Wang (One Child Nation) directs this tragic, revealing, and journalistically risky contextualization of the COVID-19 outbreak, spotlighting the similar Chinese and American government propagandic responses to the once-in-a-century pandemic that brought the world to a standstill.
Kim Ji-young, Born 1982
South Korea | 2019 | 118 minutes | KIM Do-young
April 8 - 18, 2021
A blazingly feminist story based on Cho Nam-joo’s controversial bestselling autographical novel that rocked South Korea, thirtysomething Ji-young (Jung Yu-mi, Train to Busan) navigates a conservative patriarchal society in search of identity and self-actualization.
The Legend of Hei
China | 2019 | 101 minutes | MTJJ
April 8 - 18, 2021
A shapeshifting cat spirit ventures into the unknown in search of friends and a new home after his forest habit is destroyed in this epic animated feature that topped the box office in its native China. Ages 9+
My Missing Valentine
Taiwan | 2020 | 119 minutes | Yu-Hsun CHEN
April 8 - 18, 2021
Winner of Best Picture at the Golden Horse Film Festival, this offbeat, time-shifting Taiwanese romantic comedy follows a post office counter clerk whose life moves at an exceptionally fast pace until the unusual day when she meets her match.
Preman
Indonesia | 2021 | 92 minutes | Randolph Zaini
April 8 - 18, 2021
A deaf criminal with a traumatic past and his son must fight their way out of their small Indonesian village after witnessing a horrible murder, pitting the gangster against the mob outfit that employed him.
The Salt In Our Waters
Bangladesh | 2020 | 106 minutes | Rezwan Shahriar Sumit
April 8 - 18, 2021
A warm and charming tale of an affluent and idealistic sculptor who leaves the city to find inspiration in a beautiful coastal village on the Bangladeshi delta, leading to a culture clash between traditional and modern values.
The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs
India | 2020 | 98 minutes | Pushpendra Singh
April 8 - 18, 2021
A lyrical, feminist character study set in the Himalayans and based on an Indian folk tale, about a fiercely beautiful nomadic shepherdess named Laila who catches the eye of a lustful young herdsman.
The Teacher
Taiwan | 2019 | 92 minutes | Chen Ming-lang
April 8 - 18, 2021
After he announces to his class his approval of same-sex marriage, a rumor circulates that Kevin, a 26-year-old civics teacher, is HIV-positive. Kevin fights for acceptance from his community as he navigates falling in love for the first time.
Under the Open Sky
Japan | 2020 | 126 minutes | Miwa Nishikawa
April 8 - 18, 2021
Yakusho Kôji (The Third Murder) gives a riveting performance as a lifelong Yakuza, released from prison after 13 years, whose journey to find the mother who abandoned him as a child is hindered by his gangster past.
Veins of the World
Germany | 2020 | 97 minutes | Byambasuren Davaa
April 8 - 18, 2021
Eleven-year-old Amra lives in a traditional nomad community on the Mongolian steppe, which is threatened by the influx of global mining companies. He longs for a modern way of life, but when his father tragically dies, Amra must honor his father’s legacy and fight to protect his community.
Wisdom Tooth
China | 2019 | 104 minutes | Liang MING
April 8 - 18, 2021
An undocumented maid, her fishmonger half-brother, and a glamorous, mob-affiliated outsider lead this seductive, textured relationship drama/crime thriller set in a poor Chinese fishing village near the Korean border in the dead of winter.
Writing With Fire
India | 2021 | 93 minutes | Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh
April 8 - 18, 2021
A powerful and uplifting documentary about the fearless journalists behind Khabar Lahariya, India’s only newspaper run by Dalit (“untouchable”) women, as they fight for truth and justice in the face of hostile patriarchy and the rise of the right.