Movies

London East Asia Film Festival 2019 is bigger and better than ever as diverse programme revealed

Exit is this years opening film

This years London East Asia Film Festival is set to be its biggest and best yet, with over 60 titles from 11 countries being screened in the capital.

In its fourth year, LEAFF, headed by Festival Director Hyejung Jeon, will immerse film fans in East Asian culture by screening films from all genres across London, with titles chosen from South Korea, North Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Phillipines and Malaysia.

This year, the theme of LEAFF is crisis, chaos and survival – and will kick off with Exit, a new disaster action comedy from Korean director Lee Sang-geun.

The film follows Yong Nam, who uses his rock climbing skills to get everyone – including his crush Eui Ju – to safety as a mysterious white gas covers an entire district in Seoul.

Exit will open LEAFF on 24 October with its European premiere at Odeon Leicester Square.

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Following the festival opening, over 60 films from 10 different strands are being screened in selected venues.

Aaron Kwok
Aaron Kwok is the subject of this years Actor Focus

The LEAFF Official Selection will present some of East Asias best films of the year from some of the regions most respected filmmakers.

This years Official Selection includes To The Ends of The Earth (Japan), A Girl Missing (Japan), The Wild Goose Lake (China), Three Husbands (Hong Kong), The Pool (Thailand), Cities of Last Things (Taiwan), Nina Wu (Taiwan), Long Live The King (Korea), Rainbows Sunset (Phillipines), Europe Raiders (China, Hong Kong), Balloon (China) and The Science Of Fictions (Indonesia, Malaysia).

The 2019 Actor Focus will be all about Hong Kongs most renowned actor Aaron Kwok, with LEAFF celebrating Port Of Call, Cold War and After This Our Exile.

In competition this year will be Money (Korea), Ms Purple (Korea), Send Me To The Clouds (China), Another Child (Korea), Deep Evil (Taiwan), G Affairs (Hong Kong), Still Human (Hong Kong), Summer of Changsha (China) and Wet Season (Singapore).

G Affairs
G Affairs is up for competition

Stories of women will be highlighted with screenings of Heavy Craving (Taiwan), The Crossing (China, Hong Kong), Butterfly (Hong Kong), Millenium Mambo (Taiwan) and Green Snake (Hong Kong).

And to mark the 100th anniversary of Korean cinema, LEAFF will be looking forward at the future of K-cinema with screenings of Our House, Inseparable Bros, The House of Hummingbird, The Battle: Roar To Victory, Juror 8 and The Gangster, The Cop and The Devil.

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In addition, there will be a Special Spotlight on North Korean cinema, with rare screening of 1987s A Broad Bellflower and 2016s The Story Of Our Home.

13 Assassins, Harakiri, Sword of Doom and Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance and its sequel Baby Cart at The River Styx will all be screened as part of Samurai Season in partnership with Deptford Cinema.

More: Film

As the festival runs over Halloween, there will be screenings dedicated to East Asian horror, including films from The Ring and Ju-on lefends Hideo Nakata and Mari Asato. Horror fans can feast on The Culprit (Korea), The Tag-Along: The Devil Fish (Taiwan), Under Your Bed (Japan) and The Woman Who Keeps A Murderer (Japan).

Finally, Rivercide: The Secret Six and My Name Is Kim Bok-Dong, both from Korea, are this years documentaries, while Rise of Roots (Korea), Grandmothers Lunch (Japan)Read More – Source

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