The winding paths of migration - we announce the next section of the 19th Five Flavours programme
An intense day in the life of a Chinese food delivery driver in New York, a young man from North Korea trying to find his place in Seoul's LGBTQ+ community, and a girl searching for her roots and identity after her father emigrated from South Korea to Latin America years ago... The Focus: Migration section offers an examination of the causes and consequences of migration, both within Asia and beyond the continent. That is why you will also find films here that may come as a surprise at Five Flavours, because they were made outside Asia.
People have always wandered the world. They change their country of residence in search of better living conditions and a fresh start. They flee armed conflicts, persecution, or simply personal problems. The clash of characters and customs gives rise to new cultural, culinary, and linguistic identities, and the experience of migration permanently transforms both newcomers and hosts. Although politicians are eager to exploit this issue, fueling fears of foreigners, job losses, and rising crime, migration is a natural and constant process taking place across all latitudes, often in directions not immediately apparent from our perspective.
The Focus: Migration section is a multi-voiced story of individuals who dared to change their lives by leaving their homeland. The filmmakers behind the works we have selected seek answers to the question of how much this experience shapes their lives, but also to what price is paid for being a newcomer in a foreign country, what adapting to new conditions entails, and what becomes of subsequent generations of immigrants.
At the same time, this section helps us define contemporary national cinema. For the first time, we are presenting films made outside the continent - in the United States and Argentina - by artists of Asian descent. We believe that without the perspective of people whose lives have been shaped by the experience of migration, this cention would be incomplete.
Take Out
Sean Baker, Tsou Shih-ching, USA, 2004, 91’
[theatre screenings+online]
The crowded streets of Manhattan, a rainy afternoon in New York’s Chinatown. Ming Ding, a Chinese food delivery worker, has just one day to repay his debt to the migration mafia. Every run is a race against time, every stop is another tip counted towards the end of his shift. The camera follows the protagonist step by step through lifts, stairwells, and cramped flats, capturing the rhythm of work; the clink of coins, the sounds of the service counter, the breath of a man driven on by the system.
“Take Out” records a single day in which everything may fall apart, neither manifesto nor reportage, it documents what so often gets lost in discussions about migration: the everyday tally for entering a country and the costs of survival outside the “legal” sphere. Baker and Tsou immerse themselves in the Chinese diaspora, revealing the mechanics of migration’s economy, documenting them without pathos and without aestheticising tragedy. This is a film made for a handful of dollars, shot on the streets, instinctively, in a style that Baker would later perfect in “Tangerine” and Tsou in “Left Handed Girl”. Shaky shots, the absence of physical distance, and raw editing create the impression of constant running, of ceaseless circling along the path of winding choices that define the migration experience. “Take Out” is a masterclass in humanist neorealism - with the most minimal of gestures telling stories on themes known the world over.
Elder Son
Hijo Mayor
Cecilia Kang, Argentina, France, 2025, 118
[only in theatres]
Lila was born in Buenos Aires, into a family of Korean immigrants, where nothing was ever obvious or easy. Always taken for a tourist in her own country, she begins to question her roots and identity. Her father, Antonio, who left Korea years ago in search of a new life in South America, struggles with his own burden - the memory of difficult decisions whose echoes reach him to this day.
Argentine director Cecilia Kang, herself of Korean descent, divides her film into three parts: Lila’s present, Antonio’s recollections, and a charming documentary sequence in which she presents her own parents, photographs, and memories. “Elder Son” is an intimate, personal story of cultural division and the search for a place that could truly be called home. Kang addresses questions of identity with commitment and heart, allowing her audience to see that the migration experience resonates both in geography and in memory. Kang’s debut blurs the boundaries between fiction and documentary, creating a cohesive and deeply moving testimony.
3670
3670
Park Joon-ho, South Korea, 2025, 124’
[theatre screenings+online]
Cheol-jun is a twenty-something defector from North Korea. By day, he attends language school, prepares for university, and works part-time in a convenience store. In the evenings, he meets men through dating apps. Yet his background and sexual orientation leave him feeling isolated from the circle of friends he moves in. During a group date at a club, he meets Young-jun. This encounter changes his outlook on life so far and helps him open up to new experiences.
The feature debut of Park Joon-ho, winner of four out of six awards in the Korean Competition at this year’s Jeonju International Film Festival, is a coming-of-age story seen from two perspectives long pushed to the margins. With sensitivity, the director portrays both members of the LGBTQ+ community and defectors from North Korea as flesh-and-blood individuals who cannot be defined solely by their origins or orientation. Their everyday struggles, interwoven with the city’s nightlife, create a vibrant portrait of young people striving to live on their own terms, even as the world persistently tries to pigeonhole them and impose its rules.
The film will also be screened in the K-Youth section.
