Edinburgh Film Festival: Five Asian films to discover
Edinburgh International Film Festival doesn’t have its own Asian strand but it always offers a good number of noteworthy titles from the East. Here’s a selection of the most intriguing films on offer in 2019
The Edinburgh International Film Festival presents a good selection of Asian titles scattered across its vast programme. We browsed through the festival catalogue for you and came up with a list of the five most interesting films from the East you should seek out at this year’s edition.
The Red Phallus
Dir. Tashi Gyeltshen
Don’t let the title discourage you: The Red Phallus belongs on your festival schedule. One of the reasons you should seek this out is that it's from Bhutan, and Bhutanese films are somewhat of a rarity on our cinema screens. Another is that we've heard great things about its self-taught director, Tashi Gyeltshen. After a career in journalism, Gyeltshen embraced a different kind of storytelling and directed two shorts before making this feature debut, which premiered at last year’s Busan International Film Festival. The film follows a teen girl on her journey to self-determination in a traditionally male-dominated world, making the film as timely as its landscapes are breathtaking. 21 Jun, 8.20pm & 23 Jun, 3.30pm, Vue Omni – tickets here
Manta Ray
Dir. Phuttiphong Aroonpheng
Another debut, this time from Thailand. Phuttiphong Aroonpheng’s Manta Ray premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the Orizzonti Award, and at its heart it's concerned with the political issue of the Rohingya people, a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group. The film centres on the relationship between a young fisherman and an injured Rohingya refugee he saves. Making sparse use of dialogue, Aroonpheng has reportedly delivered a gripping, powerful film – this is a director to keep an eye on. 23 Jun, 6.05pm, Vue Omni; 29 Jun, 1.10pm, Odeon Lothian Road – tickets here
Up the Mountain
Dir. Zhang Yang
Life and its representation through art is always a rich theme to explore, and this lyrical documentary from Zhang Yang thrives in the subject matter. Embedding scenes of everyday life in the countryside into the film’s main framework of artist Shen Jinhua in her painting studio, Up the Mountain offers a measured meditation on beauty and fading traditions in the face of the ever-encroaching modern world. This is a film with which to slow down and enjoy a moment of quiet relaxation. 24 Jun, 8.20pm, Filmhouse; 26 Jun, 6.10pm, Odeon Lothian Road – tickets here
Modest Heroes – Ponoc Short Films Theatre
Dir. Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Yoshiyuki Momose, Akihiko Yamashita
Risen from the ashes of Studio Ghibli (although that venerable anime house has since reopened production with the upcoming How do You Live? due to hit theatres in Japan in 2020, with Miyazaki himself directing), Studio Ponoc is making a name for itself. This anthology of three stories, ranging from the tale of an invisible salaryman to an adventure featuring two anthropomorphic little crabs, looks to be one of the highlights of EIFF's great-looking Animation strand. Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Ponoc's rising star following the exuberant Mary and the Witch’s Flower, directs one of the shorts. 27 Jun, 11pm, Filmhouse – tickets here
Bulbul Can Sing
Dir. Rima Das
This year's festival is peppered with interesting-looking coming-of-age stories, and Bulbul Can Sing, set in rural India, is one of the first to catch our eye. From autodidact director, producer, and screenwriter Rima Das, the film follows 15-year-old Bulbul as she tackles life, friendships, relationships and her father’s dream of having her follow in his footsteps and become a singer. After the many varied, empowering, female-focused stories recently told in the likes of Lady Bird, The Miseducation of Cameron Post and Booksmart, it’s time to add another voice to the crowd. 23 Jun, 6.10pm & 24 Jun, 8.55pm, Odeon Lothian Road – tickets here
Edinburgh International Film Festival runs 19-30 Jun
Read more about Edinburgh International Film Festival at theskinny.co.uk/festivals/edinburgh-festivals/film, and follow our coverage on Twitter (@theskinnymag), Facebook (www.facebook.com/TheSkinnyMag) and Instagram (@theskinnymag)
The Skinny is partnered with EIFF on Agnès Varda retrospective The Features of Agnès – details of the season here
To receive the best of the Scottish cultural scene in your inbox every week? Sign up to our mailing list!