Not only Fruit Chan. We are introducing this year’s guests

This year we will have the pleasure to host an extraordinarily large group of film directors, actresses, actors and producers who will talk about their work in the Asian film industry and familiarize the audience with the context of their work.

Five Flavours is a real cinematic feast. In addition to the unique, varied programme this year the viewers will have an opportunity to meet an extraordinarily large group of Asian filmmakers face to face.

The first among them is definitely the hero of our retrospective: Fruit Chan. The director is coming to Warsaw with his producer Doris Yang and screenwriter Jason Lam Kee-to, with whom he created such as pictures as “Hollywood Hong Kong” and “Three Husbands”.

The most numerous group of guests, however, constitute the young filmmakers whose films take part in the New Asian Cinema competition section. Here belong the directors Yi Ok-seop, Heiward Mak, Tashi Gyeltshen, Goh Ming-siu, Scott Chong Hillyard and Kongdej Jaturanrasmee, the producer Soros Sukhum and the actor Gerald Chew, as well as the Thai pop star taking her first steps in the film world, Jennis Oprasert.

The fans of Japanese cinema should already reserve time for meetings with Genta Matsugami and Noboru Iguchi while those fascinated with Tibet should not miss the talk with Pema Tseden.

Another unique event will be the visit of Mariko Bobrik – a Japanese director educated at the Lodz Film School, who this year is coming to the festival with her debut film “The Taste of Pho”.

We invite you to take a look at the biographical entries of this year’s guests.

Retrospective: Fruit Chan

• Fruit Chan

  

The main guest of this year’s retrospective - a director, producer, actor and screenwriter, one of the most original voices of the new wave of independent Hong Kong cinematography. Appreciated for films immersed in urban climate, presenting unconventional views on the problems of the metropolis. His interest in social issues combines with fascination with the Japanese 1960s avantgarde, for instance the works of Nagisa Oshima. During the festival, he will meet the viewers after the screenings of his films and during a masterclass lecture.

• Lam Kee-to

Well-established screenwriter, critic and radio presenter, working in the film industry for over 30 years. He also worked as an animator. He co-wrote screenplays for Tsui Harek and Fruit Chan, and was nominated for the Hong Kong Film Awards and Golden Horse Awards.

• Doris Yang

Producer, cinema enthusiast, for over two decades working with Fruit Chan on his subsequent projects, including the award-winning "Made in Hong Kong", "Durian Durian", "Hollywood Hong Kong" and the latest "Three Husbands".

New Asian Cinema

• Heiward Mak

A screenwriter, editor and director; she worked with Pang Ho-cheung on the script "Love in a Puff" (2009), one of the biggest hits of the Hong Kong box office. She visited Five Flavours in 2017 with her procucer’s debut "Mad World" (2016). She is coming back as the director of “Fagara” - a story about three sisters living in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

• Yi Ok-seop

  

Born in 1987, she graduated from Seoul Institute of the Arts and Korean Academy of Film Arts. Her original short films gave her a status of a new hope of Korean independent cinema. At Five Flavours she will present "Maggie" – her feature debut shown at film festivals, including Rotterdam and Busan.

• Tashi Gyeltshen

A self-taught filmmaker, journalist, poet and cinema fan. He shot short films, one of which, "The Red Door", was presented during the 11th Five Flavours in the section Focus: Bhutan. His debut feature, "The Red Phallus", was based on a screenplay awarded with Open Doors grant at Locarno festival.

• Gerald Chew

An experienced actor with many theatrical roles to his credit, also known for his numerous TV series and films (he played, among others, in Boo Jonfenga's "Apprentice"). He also worked as a theatre director and screenwriter. At the festival, he will talk about his role in "Repossession".

• Goh Ming-siu

A graduate of Northwestern Universityʼs School of Communications in Illinois, a director and television screenwriter working in Singapore, the author of over 100 TV series episodes. At Five Flavous he will present his feature-length debut – "Repossession".

• Scott Chong Hillyard

He graduated from Nanyang Polytechnicʼs School of Business Management in Singapore. An actor performing on stage, in TV series, music shows and movies since the age of nine. The co-director and producer of "Repossession".

• Kongdej Jaturanrasmee

He completed film studies at King Mongkut Institute of Technology. A director and screenwriter, who worked also as a teacher, copywriter and restaurant owner. Recognized for psychological sensibility and the ability to transfer ephemeral emotional states into the screen. His films were presented and awarded at numerous international festivals, In 2012 received the Grand Prix at Five Flavours for "P-047". This year he is coming back with "Where We Belong".

• Soros Sukhum

Born in Bangkok, graduate of film production at the Faculty of Communication Arts of the University of Rangsit. He began his professional career by working in all areas of film production. This period coincided with the emergence of a new generation of independent filmmakers and within a few years Soros became a leading independent producer in Thailand, collaborating with directors such as Aditya Assarat, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Anocha Suwichakornpong and Kongdej Jaturanrasamee.

• Jennis Oprasert

Born in 2000, singer and actress. She belongs to the supergroup of idols BNK48, she was in the first line-up of the band founded in 2017. At the age of eight she played in the horror film "The 8th Day", for which she was nominated for the Suphannahong National Film Awards. For her leading role in Kongdej Jaturanrasmee's "Where We Belong" she received the Marie Claire Asia Award for emerging talent.

Japan: Out of Focus

• Noboru Iguchi

  

He debuted in the1980s with low-budget sci-fi productions and TV series, he also shot “adult” films. He is famous for crazy cult pictures combining grotesque and absurd fantasy. He worked within Sushi Typhoon, a studio targeting its production at viewers for whom too much is never enough. At the 5th Five Flavours we presented his "Karate-Robo Zaborgar" – this year he is coming back with "Flowers of Evil", a dark tale about Japanese teenagers’ passions.

• Genta Matsugami

Born in Hiroshima in 1981, graduate of Osaka University of Arts. His graduation film "Sanketsu no umi" received the Audience Award at Pia Film Festival in 2005. He founded a production company of 16 bit. inc. . At the festival he will present a film being the epitome of Japanese independent cinema – "Demolition Girl".

Asian Cinerama - Asian Film Awards

• Crisel Consunji

  

Actress with vocal education, founder of an art school for children. She has been performing since she was ten: she started with theatrical musicals, took part in family programs and many award-winning stage and television productions. At Five Flavours she will talk about her film debut, "Still human", for which she received the Hong Kong Film Award.

•      Pema Tseden

The first Tibetan who completed education at Beijing Film Academy and within Chinese cinematography shoots films in the Tibetan language with all-Tibetan film crew. His films are presented and awarded at the most prestigious international festivals. He published more than 50 narratives and novels, written both in Tibetan and Mandarin. At Five Flavours he will present his two new features: the intimate "Baloon" and the oneiric  "Jinpa".

Polish Flavours

• Mariko Bobrik

  

Born in Japan in 1983. In 2009, she graduated from the directing course of the Lodz Film School. Currently she lives in Warsaw with her family. "The Taste of Pho" is her first feature. The project participated in Cinéfondation: Résidence du Festival de Cannes (2012) as well as in Berlinale Script Station (2013). The script won the 2nd prize of Script Pro 2015 – a Polish feature film script competition.

NANG Magazine

We will host in Warsaw also the editors of the latest issue of NANG – an exclusive magazine dedicated to Asian cinema topics:

• Victor Fan
  Film Studies lecturer at the King's College, London, who cooperates with Chinese Visual Festival. Published in Camera Obscura, Journal of Chinese Cinemas, Screen and Film History. The author of Cinema Approaching Reality: Locating Chinese Film Theory (University of Minnesota Press, 2015) and Extraterritoriality: Locating Hong Kong Cinema and Media (Edinburgh University Press, 2019).

• Earl Jackson
  Lecturer at National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. The author of Strategies of Deviance: Studies in Gay Male Representation. He worked as a screenwriter, editor and actor on sets of independent Korean productions.