Related:
Asia Society of
Southern California
hosts film screenings and
discussions on Asian films

February - April, 2001

While Ang Lee's directed "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" has earned 10 Oscar nominations and is the toast of Hollywood, there are many other fine Asian made films. This year there were 46 foreign films, eleven from Asia - a record number of submissions for consideration in the Academy Awards Best Foreign-Language Film category.

In addition to the Oscar entries, the Asia Society of Southern California has launched a series of Asian film screenings featuring talks with film directors and professors on topics from art, race and culture.

Making movies can be a high risk, high stakes game. This year Sony Pictures Classics made the winning move securing distribution rights to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." This artfully directed film combines a love story, martial arts, and non-stop action based on a classic fairy tale on the search for a jade sword with magical powers.   (see AC Team's film review)

Many of the bets on these movies were made even before the films were finished.

USA Films purchased the rights to Hong Kong's entry to the Oscars, "In the Mood for Love" before it was completed because of the reputation of talented Sundance Film Festival winner, director Wong Kar-wai. Actors Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung play a man and a woman who gradually find an attraction to each other while learning their spouses are having an affair. (See AC Team's film review and interviews with the stars [Tony Leung / Maggie Cheung] and Director Wong Kar-wai)

Other Academy Award entries from Asia include:

China

"Breaking the Silence," directed by Sun Zhou. The film's star, Gong Lee received a Best Actress award from the Montreal World Film Festival. The film depicts a divorced mother in contemporary Beijing raising a deaf son.

South Korea

"Hunhyang," directed by Im Kwon Taek is the first Korean film to be invited to participate in the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The film is based on a "Romeo and Juliet" style classic folk tale song set in the 18th century about two lovers torn by class frictions. This is 66 year old, Im Kwon Taek's 97th film and a source of Korea's national pride with the film's entry at the Cannes Film Festival.

India

"Hey Ram," directed by Kamal Haasan. This film is based on the period of India's independence from British rule in 1947. Story surrounds a man who is entangled in a plot to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi.


Iran

"A Time for Dunken Horses," directed by Bahman Ghobadi. The story is based on five orphaned children who survive by smuggling goods across the Iran-Iraq border.

Japan

"When the Rain Lifts," directed by Takeshi Koisumo, is a comedy about a gentle samurai, based on a screenplay by the late Akira Kurosawa. Winner of a special "Cinema Avvenire" award at the Venice Film Festival.

Nepal

"Mask of Desire," directed by Tsering Thitar Sherpa, is a story set in contemporary Kathandu about a young couple's love, tested after the death of their only child.

Phillipines

 "Anak," directed by Rory B. Quintos, is one of the few female directors working in world cinema. A young domestic worker returns from Hong Kong to her homeland to find her family in turmoil.

Thailand

"6ixty-nin9," directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, is a winner of multiple international awards including a Special Mention, at the Berlin Film Festival. The story is about a young woman who becomes entangled in Bangkok's underworld after gangsters mistake the six on her apartment address for a nine.

Turkey

"A Run for Money," directed by Reha Erdem. A shopkeeper from Istanbul challenges his sense of honesty when he finds stolen money.

Vietnam

"The Vertical Ray of the Sun" is directed by Tran Anh Hung, who was a Best Foreign-Language Oscar nominee in 1994 for "The Scent of Green Papaya." Three sisters in contemporary Hanoi meet to mourn their mother's death, and discover disturbing family secrets.