New Asian Cinema
The competition section of the festival is a beating pulse of contemporary Asian cinema, presenting new, exceptional filmmakers. As every year, the program includes films by authors who are just beginning their artistic careers, not yet known internationally, but already showing enormous potential and a fresh perspective. This is where the language of the cinema of the future is born – bold and deeply rooted in local contexts.
The Five Flavours Competition is the heart of the festival - a place of discoveries and bold experimentation. It is here that audiences encounter, often for the first time, filmmakers who break conventions, transform the language of cinema, and portray places we have not seen before. These films are a window into Asian realities usually overlooked by the mainstream. Intense, committed, and deeply rooted in their local contexts - these are stories waiting to be discovered. The winner of the New Asian Cinema competition will be selected by an international People’s Jury.
The programme features the Japanese dystopian drama “Happyend”, set in the near future and praised at the Venice Film Festival. “The Land of Morning Calm” takes viewers to the Korean countryside—a bitter parable about moral unease growing out of everyday life. Meanwhile, “An Errand” invites us on a journey through the Philippine landscape—a dreamlike road movie that reveals the class tensions present in the country. After years of absence, Bangladesh returns to the competition with the hypnotic, poetic “Sand City”.
New Asian Cinema is not just a selection of outstanding films. The section captures the pulse of contemporary times, and each title stands out for its originality, promising a new sensibility and a new quality. Remember the names of their creators - they are the ones who will soon be shaping the future of Asian cinema!
People's Jury at 19th Five Flavours
- Emily Jisoo [Great Britain]
- Rino Lu [China / Great Britain]
- Runqi Luo [China / Great Britain]
- Chloe Sit [Hong Kong / Great Britain]
- Maria Sukow [Poland]
- Gijs Suy [Netherlands]
- Paula Wasiluk [Poland]
- Katarzyna Zając [Poland]
- Karolina Zdunek [Poland]
