Promising filmmakers make their mark at the Asian Next Wave competition

A new breed of Asian filmmakers emerges in the third edition of the Asian Next Wave (ANW), a section of the coming QCinema International Film Festival (QCinema).

The works of promising Asian directors who have less than three feature films to their names, will be showcased from October 21 to 30, 2018, at Gateway Mall (Cineplex 10); Robinsons Galleria (Robinsons Movieworld); and Ayala Malls Cinema in Trinoma and U.P. Town Center.

In “A Land Imagined,” director Siew Hua Yeo focuses on social realism. It tells the story of a lonely construction worker from China who goes missing at a Singapore land reclamation site and a sleepless police investigator who needs to uncover the truth behind the disappearance.

The neo-noir became the first film from Singapore to win at the Locarno. At the 71st Locarno International Film Festival, it acquired the Golden Leopard, the festival's most prestigious award.

The superb visuals of "Long Day's Journey Into Night", coupled by a compelling noir love story, gives Bi Gan's sophomore feature a worthy spot in the ANW competition.

The film tells the story of Luo Hongwu (Huang Jue), a man who returns to his hometown in search of his long-lost love, Wan Qiwen (Tang Wei). He recalls the summer he spent with her twenty years ago.

The International Cinephile Society awarded Bi Gan a special prize at the ICS Cannes Award 2018 for this groundbreaking work.

Writer-director Anucha Boonyawatana depicts the fragility of life and the inescapable path towards death with her Thai film, “Malila: The Farewell Flower.”

It spotlights the story of Shane (Sukollawat Kanarot) and Pitch (Anuchit Sapanpong), two male lovers reviving their old romance through the creation of a traditional Thai ornament made of intertwined leaves and flowers symbolizing love and virtue.

Both the incredible storytelling of Boonyawatana and the enigmatic performance of Kanarot helped them garner the Asian Film Award for Best Actor and Best Director respectively at the 2017 Singapore International Film Festival.

A new voice in Taiwanese cinema, Huang Hsin-yao makes his feature film directorial debut in “The Great Buddha+.” An expansion on his short film “The Great Buddha,” it tells the story of a night security guard of a Buddha statue factory and a recyclables collector who stumble on unsavory videos of the factory’s owner.

His inventive approach to dark comedy, hinted at voyeurism, won him the New Talent Award at the 2017 Hong Kong Asian Film Festival and the NETPAC Award at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.

In “The Seen and Unseen,” Kamila Andini makes her directorial film debut focusing on Balinese mythology. The Indonesian film shares the mesmerizing story of a young girl seeking out different ways to cope with the death of her twin brother.

Andini took home the Grand Prize at Tokyo FILMeX 2017 and also won the Best Youth Feature Film Award at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2017.

Director Ashleigh Mayfair makes her mark in Vietnamese cinema with the release of her feature debut film, “The Third Wife."

The seductive yet harrowing film explores the realities of late-19th century Vietnam and the harsh realities of child marriages. Mayfair tells the story of May, a 14-year-old girl ready to enter a marriage to a wealthy landowner and become a wife, propelling her journey from childhood to motherhood in an instant.

“The Third Wife” won the NETPAC award at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.