Far East Film Festival 27
The Far East Film Festival is the largest film festival dedicated to Asian cinema in Europe. It is held annually in Udine, Italy, towards the end of April. It is an extremely interesting event, which not only screens contemporary films but also offers retrospectives, offering a glimpse into the most emblematic works of Asian cinema.
This year, the twenty-seventh edition of the festival has made plurality of perspectives one of its hallmarks. Seven works directed by women have illuminated the program, sensitively and profoundly addressing crucial themes such as motherhood, identity, female freedom, and the pressure of tradition. Today more than ever, the big screen has a duty to welcome all voices, without exception, because a truly open and plural cinema is not a utopia, but a direction to be pursued with conviction. Every experience, every gaze, and every story adds depth to humanity’s collective narrative. Only in this way, by truly listening to one another, can we recognize ourselves as part of the same varied, complex, and infinitely richer narrative horizon.
Like a Rolling Stone (Yin Lichuan, China, 2024)
One of the Festival’s opening films and winner of the Crystal Mulberry Award, Like a Rolling Stone (by writer and director Yin Lichuan, China, 2024) brings a true story to the big screen, teaching us that it’s never too late to take charge of your life.
Li Hong (Yong Mei) is fifty-six when she decides to embark on a journey that is simultaneously an exploration of China and a rediscovery of her own freedom: a journey both physical and internal for a woman, imprisoned for too long in a family context dominated by male expectations and abuse. Li Hong’s story highlights how, despite numerous changes, contemporary Chinese society is still pervaded by a profound patriarchal culture: the film highlights the difficult path of women’s emancipation from entrenched social and familial prejudices. The film delicately and forcefully highlights how women, even before being mothers or nurturers – roles often taken for granted and exploited – are first and foremost free human beings, endowed with desires, dreams, and ambitions. A freedom that, despite often having to confront norms and traditions that still tend to reduce female identity to the sole sphere of family or marriage, continues to assert itself, find its voice, and demand space.
And it is precisely Like a Rolling Stone, like the rolling of the first stone, that Asian cinema by women began to move. Each film is an act of push, of disruption, of greater awareness.
Her Story (Yihui Shao, China, 2024)
Each of the stories brought to the screen by these directors, screenwriters, and actresses adds a valuable piece to the collective narrative of the female condition. From China comes another perspective, different yet complementary to the title just discussed. This is about Her Story (by director Yihui Shao, China, 2024), awarded the Golden Mulberry at FEFF27. It almost seems like we’re witnessing a further stage in the journey initiated by Li Hong: the moment in which individual experiences become shared narratives. The protagonists – three women from different generations – openly discuss their romantic, family, and career choices. There is no escape, only exposure: in a public, feminine, and choral space, the women speak, share their stories, and listen to each other. If Li Hong breaks the silence through action, the protagonists of Her Story do so through words.
Sunshine (Antoinette Jadaone, Philippines, 2024)
Sunshine (by director and producer Antoinette Jadaone, Philippines, 2024) tackles a topic that remains deeply taboo in her home country: women’s right to self-determination in pregnancy. The protagonist, Sunshine (Maris Racal), is a promising young rhythmic gymnast whose career is suddenly jeopardized by an unexpected pregnancy. From there, an intense and necessary story unfolds, exploring the familial, social, and cultural pressures faced by Filipino women, in a context where freedom to choose one’s own body often remains subordinated to traditional norms and values.
Diamonds in the Sand (Janus Victoria, Philippines, 2025)
Also from the Philippines comes Diamonds in the Sand (by director Janus Victoria, Philippines, 2025), the director’s debut film, which won the White Mulberry Award for Best Debut at the festival. The film, which depicts a fusion of cultures (Japanese and Filipino), deals with a touching theme: the need to belong to a single culture has no boundaries. The protagonist, Yoji, moves from Japan to Manila, the country of origin of his now deceased mother’s caregiver. At the center of this new beginning, there is a deeply human search, made of emotional connections and authentic bonds. A moving film, which overturns the viewer’s thoughts on the concepts of migration and sense of belonging.
Hong Kong and Taiwan offer us, however, two precious works, which offer a lucid and touching look at motherhood in contemporary Asia. Montages of a Modern Motherhood (by the screenwriter and director Oliver Chan, Hong Kong, 2024) and Daughter’s Daughter (by the director Huang Xi, Taiwan, 2024) propose intimate narratives with a strong universal resonance, capable of overcoming cultural boundaries and speaking directly about the human experience.
Montages of a Modern Motherhood (Oliver Chan, Hong Kong, 2024)
In particular, Montages of a Modern Motherhood highlights with great sensitivity the delicate balance between the desire to be a present mother and the legitimate aspiration to realize oneself professionally, affirming one’s right not to be defined exclusively by the maternal role. Jing, the protagonist, thus finds herself experiencing a radical transformation: just like the newborn, she too must learn to live a new life. Jing finds herself facing this new phase without the necessary support, crushed by the weight of family and social expectations. The film tackles the topic of post-partum depression with realism and delicacy, giving voice to an often silenced pain, which finds no space or hearing in a society still steeped in traditional models.
Daughter’s Daughter (Huang Xi, Taiwan, 2024)
The theme of motherhood, however, takes on a more complex and layered dimension with the film Daughter’s Daughter. With his second feature film, Huang Xi conducts an intense and intimate work, which touches on the delicate themes of mourning, intergenerational responsibility and family ties. The formidable Sylvia Chang, awarded the Golden Mulberry for Lifetime Achievement, offers a powerful and multifaceted performance as an actress, giving body and soul to the character of Ai-xia, a woman stuck between family duties and repressed desires. The film moves between Taipei and New York, staging the clash between the mother and her two daughters, with long takes and flashbacks.
The firstborn, Emma, was given up for adoption as soon as she was born, given Ai-xia’s inability to take care of her due to her young age. Zuer, the second daughter, demonstrates a rebellious nature and doesn’t get along very well with her mother. However, after losing her due to a car accident, Ai-xia will find herself dealing with emotional turmoil and having to face a huge responsibility. What to do with the frozen embryo that the daughter left in view of the long-sought pregnancy? Bring it to life as planned? Could Ai-xia’s advanced age prevent her from taking proper care of him? A lucid and poignant work that questions the very meaning of being a mother, without offering unequivocal answers, but opening up a space for ethical and personal reflection. The film proves to be another precious piece in the female mosaic traced by FEFF27.
See You Tomorrow (Michimoto Saki, Japan, 2024)
Closing lightly does not mean giving up depth. See You Tomorrow (by director and screenwriter Michimoto Saki, Japan, 2024) brings a full-blown minimalist directorial debut to the big screen. Through a narrative with a lighter breath, Saki takes us into the world of adolescents with a delicate and sensitive gaze, exploring the small but great disturbances of adolescence: the value of friendship and the need to learn to accept transformation. The protagonist Nao (Tanaka Makoto), a brilliant and reserved photography student, faces the last year of the academy together with her three friends who are equally passionate, but less sure about their future. Theirs is a close-knit bond, but marked by latent envy, which drastically breaks down when Nao prepares to fly to Berlin thanks to a scholarship. With a fresh and graceful direction, the film talks about the uncertainty of tomorrow, the small imbalances in youthful relationships and the tension between affection and competition. In a review dominated by strong and often dramatic narratives, this film demonstrates that even a lighter gaze can strongly contribute to the collective discourse on female representation.
To conclude, although the majority of these titles can be said to be imbued with elements of each director’s country of origin, the themes addressed far exceed geographical boundaries, so incredible is their ability to stir authentic, unique and profound emotions. They are narratives that speak a universal language: that of emotions. Indeed, in this shared human dimension, gender equality is not just an ideal goal, but a concrete prospect to be further developed, including through cinematic storytelling.
The Power of Women’s Storytelling
Asian Cinema Between Freedom and Individual Identity
Giulia Coppola
Article originally published in L’Eclisse >
