18th Five Flavours Asian Film Festival

Under the patronage of the Wooden Dragon, in 2024 the audience soared across the skies of Tokyo, marvelled at Stanley Kwan’s work, and deepened its environmental awareness.

Programme

The programme of the 18th edition comprised six sections. Alongside the festival’s established pillars – including thought-provoking arthouse cinema in the competition section and dazzling mainstream selection in Asian Cinerama – the programmers presented a cinematic portrait of Tokyo across the decades, as well as a retrospective dedicated to a leading feminist figure in Hong Kong cinema.

The programme also featured a Polish highlight in the form of Entropy, alongside a surprise special screenings – additional films introduced during the festival and available exclusively online. In total, 42 films were screened in cinemas, with a further 33 presented on the festival’s VOD platform. Cinema screenings were accompanied by Q&As with filmmakers, as well as panel discussions on film criticism, literature, and Asian cuisine. The programme for the 18th edition was curated by Marcin Krasnowolski, Łukasz Mańkowski, Maja Pielak, Marta Dymek, Sara Carotenuto, and Suphon Niamkamnoet.

Film Index

Author of the trailer and music: Julek Płoski

Film sections of the 18th edition of the Festival: 

New Asian Cinema

The competition section offers a chance to engage with emerging voices in Asian filmmaking. The films presented here do not seek to escape the present; rather, they confront it with attentiveness. From Thai-inflected nostalgia and Singaporean explorations of identity to stories from South Korea and Taiwan that reaffirm faith in humanist values, these searching, meandering works invite audiences to explore contemporary Asia through strikingly inventive narratives.

Asian Cinerama

A section that confirms Asia as the beating heart of popular cinema. It showcases films representing the commercial face of Asian film industries – from the latest works by established masters to productions that have propelled emerging directors to prominence. Screenings within Asian Cinerama offered audiences the chance to experience the cinematic emotions shared by viewers in Seoul, Tokyo, and Bangkok.

Portrait: Stanley Kwan

The first retrospective in Poland dedicated to a filmmaker associated with the Hong Kong New Wave, who from the outset of his career followed his own path, consistently disregarding the trends of the local mainstream. Stanley Kwan made his debut in the mid-1980s with Women, and it was women who became the central figures of his subsequent works. He portrayed them at moments of crisis and personal trial, often set against the backdrop of historical events. His sensitivity and singular vision attracted the most distinguished actresses of Chinese-language cinema. Kwan was also one of the first Asian directors to come out publicly, becoming an ambassador for the LGBT community and a key figure in queer cinema. From his rarely screened debut, through the major artistic and commercial successes of the 1990s, to films he later contributed to as a producer, the retrospective at the 18th Five Flavours introduced Polish audiences to the work of this influential artist.

Tokyo Stories

A comprehensive and multidimensional depiction of the Japanese megacity, spanning the past six decades of Tokyo’s history. The films presented during the festival trace the magapolis topography from the 1960s to the present day, capturing its ongoing transformations. Guiding viewers through this landscape are acclaimed filmmakers whose attentive gaze reveals the city’s nuanced identity, shaped by the lives of its inhabitants and local contexts. Through their lenses, Tokyo emerges as a space rich in unexpected encounters.

Focus: The Environment

A selection of seven films that form a dialogue with each other, despite their diversity in genre and style, they form a portrait of the relationship between humans and nature in the face of urgent challenges of the modern world. From dynamic, grotesque-infused genre cinema to slow, poetic filmmaking that explores our connection with the natural world through sound and dreamlike imagery, this section demonstrates the many approaches that cinema can engage with environmental themes.

Restored Classics

A section defined by style and cult status, where long-unavailable titles are finally brought back to the big screen in beautifully restored versions.

Polish Flavours

The gala premiere of Entropy, directed by Anana Fam-Rieskaniemi, a Polish filmmaker of Vietnamese descent.

Opening and Closing Films

The festival opened with the moving drama “Time Still Turns the Pages” – one of the most talked-about Hong Kong films of the season. Despite its modest budget and ambitious subject matter, it resonated strongly with local audiences, earning its director, Nick Cheuk, the Best New Director award at the Golden Horse Awards.

The festival’s cinema programme concluded with the announcement of the People’s Jury verdict, followed by a screening of the Taiwanese film "Old Fox", directed by Hsiao Ya-chuan.

Winners of the 18th Five Flavours

In 2024, the New Asian Cinema competition section belonged to Southeast Asia. By decision of the People’s Jury, composed of Mia Parnall, Harry Bayley, Sergiu Inizian, Leticia de Maio, Matin Nikookar Ardestani, Leeloo Morgan, Izabela Niepokój, Dobrochna Walczak, and Piotr Piasek:

The Grand Prix of the 18th edition was awarded to the Indonesian film "Monisme", directed by Riar Rizaldi.

The Special Mention went to Chee Sum Chia for the Malaysian film "Oasis of Now".

The Jagoda Murczyńska Competition

In order to honour Jagoda’s memory and continue her mission of promoting Asian cinema in Poland, the Jagoda Murczyńska Foundation, together with the Five Flavours’ organiser Arteria Art Foundation, launched a competition for writers focusing on Asian cinema. The inaugural edition accompanied the 18th Five Flavours festival. Submitted texts were evaluated by a jury comprising Marta Stańczyk (magazine Ekrany), Katarzyna Borowiecka (Polish Radio Programme Trójka), and Marcin Jacoby (SWPS University).

The main prize was awarded to Magda Nieświec for her essay "Collective and Individual Memory in the Cambodian Documentary Cinema of Rithy Panh". Honourable mentions were also given to Julian Marcinow, Roksana Skibińska, and Jakub Wanat. The prize included participation in the 26th Jeonju International Film Festival in South Korea in May 2025. The award ceremony was accompanied by a special screening dedicated to Jagoda’s memory of the film "Center Stage", directed by Stanley Kwan.

Festival Guests

Five Flavours is an opportunity to encounter outstanding artists whose distinctive voices and cinematic styles reflect the diversity of the Asian continent. During the 18th edition, audiences had the chance to meet guests from Japan, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, often surprising visiting filmmakers in Warsaw with their thoughtful questions, curiosity, and knowledge. These meetings remain one of the defining elements of the festival’s identity – offering a chance to broaden perspectives in an intimate and welcoming atmosphere.

The cinema edition of the 18th Five Flavours festival was attended by:

• Hiroshi Ishikawa, director of the Japanese film “tokyo.sora”;
• Shiika Okada, director of the Japanese film “Kisspeptin Chronicles”;
• Peng Tzu-hui and Wang Ping-wen, directors of the Taiwanese film “A Journey in Spring”;
• Chia Chee Sum, director of the Malaysian film “Oasis of Now”, winner of a special mention in the New Asian Cinema competition;
• Qu Youjia, director of the Chinese film “She Sat There Like All Ordinary Ones”;
• Sasha Chuk, director of the Hong Kong film “Fly Me To The Moon”;
• Anna Fam-Rieskaniemi, a Polish director of Vietnamese origin, creator of the film “Entropy”.

More about the festival guests

Asian Academy

Education has always been a crucial element of Five Flavours. As part of the Asian Academy, a series of events were organised in cinemas to provide a deeper understanding of the film programme. In 2024, the focus was on offering audiences an interdisciplinary insight into Japan, including a debate with Tajfuny on literary Tokyo, a meeting with Marcin Wojtasik during which a culinary map of Tokyo was drawn up, and a debate on the countercultural manifesto that is the now-cult film "Funeral Parade of Roses".

Programme of the Asian Academy

Additional Materials

Each year, the Five Flavours programming team, together with the festival’s partners and patrons, prepares a rich selection of accompanying materials aimed at broadening the intellectual context of the films presented. In 2024 these included numerous articles and podcasts, as well as 10 video interviews with distinguished filmmakers – among them conversations with Stanley Kwan and Shinya Tsukamoto.

Conversations with Filmmakers

Festival partners and sponsors

The 18th Asian Film Festival Five Flavours was co-funded by the City of Warsaw, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Polish Film Institute, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Berlin, Create HK, HK Film Development Fund, the Ministry of Culture Taiwan, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office Prague and Japan Foundation.

Partners: Kino Muranów, Kinoteka, Pracownia Szumu

Media partners: Zwierciadło, K MAG, Wyborcza.pl, Wysokie Obcasy, MINT, Filmweb, Onet, Filmawka, Pełna Sala

Special thanks: Fundacja Kultura bez Barier, Fundacja Kino Dostępne, Fundacja Obserwatorium, Festiwal Kamera Akcja, Kabak, Amondo, Tajfuny, Linh Nguyen, Asia Travel