Guests of 19th Five Flavours
Post-screening conversations with filmmakers are among the most important elements of Five Flavours. This year, we are delighted to welcome outstanding guests from South Korea, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, and beyond. Among them will be not only directors but also members of the cast – and even a legendary producer.
At Five Flavours, guests don’t come for lavish banquets – they come to meet audiences and engage in dialogue. The opportunity to exchange impressions right after a screening and explore additional contexts during Q&A sessions is an invaluable part of the festival experience. Every year we are inspired by how insightful and meaningful these discussions are – for both viewers and artists. We warmly encourage you to take part!
Filmmaker conversations will also be available to viewers of the online edition. On our VOD platform, you’ll find a series of in-depth interviews launching with the start of the festival, featuring Makoto Tezuka (The Legend of the Stardust Brothers), Dominic Bekaert (An Errand), and Anselm Chan (The Last Dance), among others.
ASIAN CINERAMA
Adam Wong – director of The Way We Talk
A Hong Kong filmmaker best known for The Way We Dance (2013, Five Flavours 2023), She Remembers, He Forgets (2015), and The Way We Keep Dancing (2020, Five Flavours 2021). Wong has also directed numerous short films and commercials and teaches film directing at several universities.
His works have been screened at major local and international festivals and have earned him many awards, including Best New Director at the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Hong Kong Directors’ Guild. In 2014, he was named Best Film Artist at the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards. The Way We Keep Dancing, the closing film of Five Flavours 2021, received six nominations at the Taipei Golden Horse Awards. His latest feature The Way We Talk premiered at the 68th BFI London Film Festival in 2024.
Meetings after screenings of The Way We Talk
Sunday, Nov 16, 14:15 – Muranów
Tuesday, Nov 18, 17:30 – Kinoteka 1
K-YOUTH
Sun Namkoong – director of Time to Be Strong
Originally trained as an architect, Sun Namkoong later studied film, television, and multimedia at the Korea National University of Arts. Over the past 15 years, she has directed numerous short films, including Meat Incident (2005), The Disappearance of Chajae (2005), Cliché Maker 1, 2, 3 (2006), and The End of the World (2007). She also worked on Im Sang-soo’s The Housemaid (2010). Her feature debut Ten Months (2020) received wide critical acclaim and a Special Mention in the Uncaged Award competition at the New York Asian Film Festival.
Meetings after screenings of Time to Be Strong
Sunday, Nov 16, 18:00 – Kinoteka 3
Tuesday, Nov 18, 20:45 – Kinoteka 2
Jang Man-min – director of Silver Apricot
A screenwriter and director educated at Seoul National University and the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA). His short Hysteria (2018) won Best Film at Seoul’s Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival. Silver Apricot, his feature debut, premiered at the Jeonju International Film Festival in 2024.
Meetings after screenings of Silver Apricot
Sunday, Nov 16, 14:30 – Kinoteka 3
Monday, Nov 17, 17:15 – Muranów
Also attending: actress Na Ae-jin and Kim Sa-wol, the film’s composer.
Shin Chul – producer of My Sassy Girl
One of the most influential film producers in Korea. While studying at Seoul National University, Shin began working with such acclaimed filmmakers as Kim Soo-yong and Chung Ji-young. In 1988 he founded ShinCine Communications, a company that played a decisive role in the development of Korean cinema.
His productions, including Happiness Does Not Come in Grades (1989), The Marriage Life (1992), The Gingko Bed (1996), Lies (2000), and My Sassy Girl (2001), helped spark the renaissance of Korean film at the turn of the century. ShinCine was the first Korean studio to use CGI (The Fox with Nine Tails, 1994) and to introduce a new business model by attracting private corporate investment.
Shin has lectured at the Korea National University of Arts and, since 2018, has served as Director of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN).
Meetings after screenings of My Sassy Girl
Friday, Nov 14, 17:00 – Muranów
Saturday, Nov 15, 15:30 – Kinoteka 3
Bastian Meiresonne – author of Hallyuwood: The Ultimate Guide to Korean Cinema
A leading expert on Asian cinema and co-author of several books, including The Dictionary of Asian Cinema. After studying film in Paris, he focused on Asian film culture, contributing to numerous international publications and authoring Evaporation D’Une Reality (2011) on Japanese director Imamura Shohei.
Meiresonne served for many years as Artistic Director of the Vesoul International Asian Film Festival and as a consultant for French distributors of Asian films. He collaborates with numerous international festivals, including Black Movie Festival in Geneva and the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival.
He also directed the documentary Garuda Power (2014), about Indonesian action cinema, which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival. One of his essays, Lost Action Heroes. A Short Insight into Indonesian (Action) Cinema, was published in the Five Flavours anthology Silent Explosion. New Cinema of East and Southeast Asia.
His most recent book, Hallyuwood, published in 2023, is a comprehensive guide to Korean cinema. The French edition received multiple awards, including the 2024 French Film Critics’ Prize and the 2024 Cultural France–Korea Award. The English edition, released in 2025, will be available in limited quantities at festival sales points during the 19th edition of Five Flavours.
Talk: Case Study: New Korean Cinema – How to Build a Strong Film Industry?
Thursday, Nov 13 – Muranów, after the screening of Delta Boys
FOCUS: MIGRATIONS
Park Ri-woong – director of The Land of Morning Calm
A filmmaker with a background in journalism. After studying media at Korea University and directing several short films, Park worked for the film weekly Film 2.0 before pursuing a master’s degree in directing at Seoul National University. He gained industry experience on the sets of A Company Man, The Whistleblower (2015), and Long Live the King (2019), while developing his own debut feature. The Girl on a Bulldozer premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in 2021.
His latest film, The Land of Morning Calm (2024), has earned numerous international awards, including Most Promising Talent at the 20th Osaka Asian Film Festival, the Golden Cyclo at the 31st Vesoul International Asian Film Festival, and three top prizes — the New Currents Award, KB New Currents Audience Award, and NETPAC Award — at the 29th Busan International Film Festival.
Meetings after screenings of The Land of Morning Calm
Friday, Nov 14, 20:30 – Kinoteka 3
Saturday, Nov 15, 19:00 – Kinoteka
Lau Kek-huat – director of The Waves Will Carry Us
A Malaysian filmmaker based in Taiwan, Lau Kek-huat is known for his powerful explorations of Southeast Asia’s complex and often painful history. His debut feature Boluomi (Five Flavours 2020) was selected for the New Currents section at the Busan International Film Festival and nominated for Best New Director at the 56th Golden Horse Awards. His nearly five-hour documentary From Island to Island won the Golden Horse Award for Best Documentary and the Grand Prize at the Taipei Film Festival.
Meetings after screenings of The Waves Will Carry Us
Thursday, Nov 13, 17:45 – Kinomuzeum
Friday, Nov 14, 17:45 – Kinoteka 2
NEW CINEMA OF ASIA
Mahde Hasan – director of Sand City
A Bangladeshi screenwriter and director whose short films I Am Time and Death of a Reader were presented at the 69th and 71st Locarno Film Festivals. His work Where is the Friend’s Home won first prize in Locarno’s “movieofmylife” digital competition.
In 2018, Hasan received a development grant from France’s CNC for his debut feature Sand City, followed in 2021 by a production grant from the Swiss fund Visions sud est. He has participated in two film residencies: a two-month stay in Switzerland (2018) and a five-week residency in Los Angeles (2023) organized by Film Independent. Sand City premiered at the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Its Polish premiere will take place at Five Flavours, followed by a screening at the Camerimage Film Festival.
Meetings after screenings of Sand City
Thursday, Nov 13, 17:45 – Kinoteka 2
Friday, Nov 14, 17:45 – Kinomuzeum
