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October 17, 6:30 p.m. - Korean Studies Auditorium

4:30

Directed by Royston Tan
Singapore, 2005, 93 minutes
Mandarin, Korean, and English with English Subtitles

A meditation on absence and longing, 4:30 is about a moment, and a boy’s attempt to cling to it, escaping his drab reality. 4:30 traces the relationship between Zhang Xiao Wu and his tenant Jung, a thirty-something Korean man. Told entirely from the perspective of the boy, this story of two very different characters is less about friendship than about a shared experience and appreciation of solitude. 4: 30 screened at the Berlin Film Festival and the Deauville Film Festival and won the Asian film critic's NETPAC Award at the 2006 Hawaii International Film Festival.

| Official Website | Director's Website | Director's Bio | Trailer | Interview |

 

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October 10, 6:30 p.m. - Korean Studies Auditorium

Lost Suitcase
Koper

Directed by Richard Oh
Indonesia, 2006, 133 minutes
Indonesian with English Subtitles

A lowly clerk working in the archives section of a big bureaucratic organisation chances upon a suitcase and finds his life completely transformed. From their neighbour, he and his wife soon find out that a man robbed a bank and fled with a suitcase filled with a billion rupiah. Is this the same suitcase that the clerk came upon? Filled with dread, he is torn between paying his debts by taking the money in the suitcase or to sell off his beloved P. Ramlee record collection. - Singapore International Film Festival

| Official Website | Director's Website |

 

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October 3, 6:30 p.m. - Korean Studies Auditorium

Metrosexual
Gang chanee kap ee-aeb

Directed by Yongyoot Thongkongtoon
Thailand, 2006, 117 minutes
Thai with English Subtitles

Four worldly women put their gaydar to the test in this over-the-top comedy from Thailand.

Pang (Meesuke Jangmeesuke) is an attractive but slightly naïve woman who lives in Bangkok and regularly lunches with her four best friends -- Pom (Patcharasri Benjamas), a brash and man-hungry fashion journalist; Fai (Pimonwan Suphayang), a hair stylist with passion for bargains; Pat (Kulnadda Pajchimsawat), a press agent with a boyfriend quite a bit older than herself; and Nim (Ornpriya Hunsat), who sells aphrodisiac medicines over the phone. One day Pang announces with great excitement that she's engaged to be married, and her friends are eager to meet her future husband, but when they're introduced to Kong (Thienchai Jayavasti), her smart-suited, impeccably-styled and well-mannered fiancé, they all come to the same conclusion -- he must be gay. Determined to prevent Pang from having her heart broken, the gals set out to dig up the truth about Kong with the help of Brother Bee (Michael Shaowannasi), an airline steward who makes no secret of his alternative lifestyle. But it doesn't take long for Pang's pals to discover proving Kong is gay is hardly as easy as they imagined.

METROSEXUAL was directed by Yongyoot Thongkongtoon, who previously enjoyed great success in Thailand with the broad comedy THE IRON LADIES.

| Trailer |

 

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September 26, 6:30 p.m. - Korean Studies Auditorium

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros
Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros

Directed by Auraeus Solito
Philippines, 2006, 100 minutes
Tagalog with English Subtitles

An effeminate 12-year-old who dutifully plays mother to his criminal father and older siblings experiences a crisis of conscience after befriending an honest Manila cop in the sophomore feature from director Auraeus Solito. A young innocent whose devotion to his family finds him taking the place of his own deceased mother, Maxi spends most of his days cooking and doing the household chores. In the evening hours, Maxi can often be found on the streets shopping and taking in a film at the local DVD stand with the many homeless children who seek a momentary escape from their bleak existence. When Maxi is rescued from a group of local thugs late one night by kindly rookie police officer Victor, his attraction to the kind-hearted and trustworthy Victor soon finds him torn between the criminal behavior of his family and his desire to follow a more honorable path in life. - Independent Spirit Awards

| Trailer |

 

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September 19, 6:30 p.m. - Korean Studies Auditorium

Holy Lola

Directed by Bertrand Tavernier
France, 2004, 128 minutes
French with English Subtitles

Holy Lola is the story of Pierre (Jacques Gamblin) and Geraldine (Isabelle Carre), a young couple from rural France who travel to Cambodia to adopt a child. The documentary-style narrative is punctuated by voice-over recordings that Pierre and Geraldine make for the prospective child. Ruminations on their experiences in Cambodia: the fervour of the Water Festival, the frustration of waiting for their child to arrive and become part of their lives, all are mixed with contemporary issues of international adoption and it's implications for adopter and adoptee alike.

 

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September 12, 6:30 p.m. - Korean Studies Auditorium

Singapore Dreaming

Directed by Woo Yen Yen and Conlin Goh
Singapore, 2006, 105 min
Mandarin and Hokkien with English Subtitles

Singapore Dreaming is a story about a family with big dreams, living on a small island. Disappointed by his failed dreams, Loh Poh Huat vents his frustrations on his family. So when he wins the lottery, everyone believes that maybe this windfall will deliver them from their struggles. But something happens which pitches the family into a battle where the stakes are the very meaning of life itself…

Singapore Dreaming is a poignant, yet darkly humorous story about a typical Singaporean family coming to grips with their aspirations. It weaves a layered and moving tale about a family dealing with loss, ambition and the search for what really matters in life.

 

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September 5, 6:30 p.m. - Korean Studies Auditorium

Mekong Full Moon Party
Sibha kham doan sib ed

Directed by Jira Maligool
Thailand, 2001, 105 min
Isan Dialect and Thai with English Subtitles

A favorite on the festival circuit, and a blockbuster in Thailand as well, director Jira Maligool's film mixes folk beliefs about mysterious 'dragon lights' emanating from the Mekong River with the skepticism of Bangkok scientists and news media out to prove the phenomenon is not what it seems. Add a layer of Buddhist monks doing their own sleuth work and you get an affectionate display of everyday culture in Thailand's fascinating northeast region of Isan. This is also the first Thai feature film where most of the script is written in the Isan dialect, thus necessitating standard Thai subtitles so that Thai audiences could follow along. -Tip o' the cap to Joe Cummings

 

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