Wednesday, February 20
Center for Korean Studies Auditorium @6:30 PM
Philippines, 1995 (114 mins)
Tagalog w/English subtitles

Director: Chito S. Roño
Screenplay: Jose F. Lacaba, Roy Iglesias
Cast: Christopher De Leon, Richard Gomez, Dina Bonnevie, Joel Torre, Teresa Loyzaga

Eskapo (Escape) begins with video footage of the days just before Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972: eerie, washed-out images of marching demonstrators and riot police. It’s a terrifying beginning that sets an ominous tone for everything that follows.

What follows is a ’70s party in full swing. Director Chito Roño glides his camera into the middle of the action and rubs our noses into the decadence of the period, reminding us pitilessly of how embarrassing we looked. Those clashing colors! Those teased wigs! Those floor-sweeping pants!

The movie regains its bearings when the military arrests Sergio Osmeña III (Richard Gomez) and Eugenio “Geny” Lopez Jr. (Christopher de Leon), scions of Philippine society.

From here we see the step-by-step procedure as the story of the descent into the maws of Martial Law is clearly and harrowingly set out eventually leading to the two men’s escape from the Fort Bonifacio detention center in 1977.

Eskapo is so entertainingly well made that in terms of intelligence, visual style, and acting, it deserved the title as ‘Filipino Film of the Year” (1996).

-Noel Vera, Critic After Dark

Please support the distributor by purchasing their film!

Distributor: kabayancentral.com

Reminder…dress warmly, the auditorium is heavily air-conditioned.

On, Friday, 2/8/13 we gave a special screening of the Thai documentary, “Baby Arabia.”  ” (The film) examines how the band’s infectiously rhythmic blend of Malay and Arab music is reconciled with the Muslim faith. The band’s sprawling lineup includes accordion, guitars, keyboards, several singers and a battery of drums and percussion.” (Source – Wise Kwai’s Bangkok Cinema Scene)

Thailand (2010, 80 minutes)
Thai w/English subtitles

Directed by: Panu Aree, Kaweenipon “Salim” Ketprasit and Kong Rithdee
Cast: Jameelah Boonmalerd, Supachai Luanwong, Suriyah Madtorhead

Baby Arabia follows one of the oldest Thai-Muslim bands specializing in the subcultural genre of Arab-Malay music – the bouncy ethnic cross-pollination of Arabian melodies, Malay throbs,Thai Luke-thoong kicks, and a bit of Latin tempo. We meet Geh, founder of the band who taught himself to play the accordion 35 year ago. Geh is joined by Umar, a former Koran teacher and now a guitarist with a knack for Egyptian numbers. Fronting their band is Jamilah, a husky-voiced, humble diva who teaches the Koran during the day and sings Arabic songs at night while wondering if the world of melody can be both faith-bound and joyously secular. Baby Arabia plays cover version of classical as well as contemporary Arab and Malay music (though the band members do not speak those languages) and they’ve been touring mosque fairs, circumcision rites and weddings at Muslim communities around Bangkok and the Central Region for three decades. Though some Islamic scholars question their brand of worldly merry-making, claiming that it’s against the law of the religion, the humanizing power of music and irresistible exuberance of their songs provide a definitive counter-argument.

-Panu Aree, Co-director

Trailer:

Co-sponsored by Muslim Societies in Asia and the Pacific

Wednesday, January 30th, 2013 @ 6:30 PM
Center for Korean Studies Building, UHM
Thailand (2010, 130 mins)
Thai & Korean w/English subtitles

Director: Banjong Pisanthanakun
Producer: Jira Maligool
Cast: Chantavit Dhanasevi, Nuengthida Sophon

Two Thai tourists meet cute in Korea in Hello Stranger, an adorable rom-com that salutes, pokes fun at and deftly tinkers with the conventions of its own genre.

During Thailand’s Songkran Festival, a man (Chantavit Dhanasevi, who co-wrote the screenplay) joins a package tour to Korea but is stranded in Seoul when he is accidentally misses out on a mountain trip. Abroad for the first time and speaking little English, he latches on to a Thai girl (Nuengthida Sophon) he meets by chance to explore the city together. When she breaks up with her control freak boyfriend over the phone, they head to the countryside to attend her friend Min Ah’s wedding.

The film gets its spontaneous, happy-go-lucky vibe from emphasizing how the protagonists reveal more of themselves to strangers as one tends to lose one’s inhibitions abroad.

The screenplay deftly light-foots around scenarios that would have turned schmaltzy, the best example being a candle-lit dinner that becomes a gag that turns on May’s idolizing of Korean heartthrob Bae Yong-jun.

Hello Stranger makes wry observations on the Thais’ infatuation with Korean TV drama, all the while giving them what they want by shooting in all the touristy locations with K-drama references – even Min Ah’s house looks like the set of a Joseon Dynasty costume epic.

The film was Thailand’s box office top earner in 2010. Addiction to Korean TV drama is not necessary for getting the ubiquitous references to the subject, but it helps.

-Maggie Lee, The Hollywood Reporter

Trailer:

Distributor: GMM Tai Hub (GTH)

Please support the distributor by purchasing all of their films!

Reminder…dress warmly, the auditorium is heavily air-conditioned.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012 @ 6:30 PM
Center for Korean Studies Building, UHM
Indonesia (1976, 170 mins)
Dutch and Indonesian w/English subtitles

Director: Fons Rademakers
Screenplay: Gerard Soeteman
Cinematography: Jan de Bont
Cast: Peter Faber (Max Havelaar), Sacha Bulthuis (Tine), Adendu Soesilaningrat Regent (as E.M. Adenan Soesilaningrat), Maruli Sitompul (Demang),
Krijn ter Braak (Verbrugge), Carl van der Plas (Resident), Rima Melati (Mevrouw Slotering), Rutger Hauer (Duclari)

Based on the real life experience of Dutch writer Douwes Dekker (writing under the pen name Multatuli), Max Havelaar is an undisputed classic in the pantheon of Dutch literary canons.

This gorgeous film adaptation was made by Fons Rademakers (1920-2007) in 1976 as a collaborative project of the Indonesian and Dutch film industry [although the film was banned from distribution and exhibition in Indonesia until the 1990s].

The story revolves around Max Havelaar, an Assistant-Resident of the Dutch East Indies colonial government in West Java, who is sent to manage the extraction of resources in the region only to be shocked at the conditions he finds at his new post.

The 1860 book caused a political uproar by shining a light on the abuse of the native population of the Dutch East Indies; what noted Indonesian author Pramoedya Ananta Toer called “the book that killed colonialism.”

As Alphonse Nahuÿs writes in his preface to the first English translation of Max Havelaar, “Max Havelaar is immortal, not because of literary art or talent, but because of the cause he advocates.” And this filmic adaptation enriches the immortality of the original work, because if there is any meaning to be distilled out of Max Havelaar at all, it is a question that is just as relevant today as it was in 1860: Who is more corruptive? The colonizer or the colonized? Or are both just as bad?

- Acknowledgement: Ari Purnama

For a fascinating article on the film and the times, click here: Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Please support the distributor by purchasing all of their films!

Distributor: A-Film Distribution

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 @ 6:30 PM
Center for Korean Studies Building, UHM
Indonesia (2004, 87 mins)
Indonesia w/English subtitles
Co-sponsored by Muslim Societies of Asia and the Pacific

Director: Garin Nugroho
Stars: Fauzi Baadila, Nova Eliza and Jaja Mihardja

Top Indonesian helmer Garin Nugroho crafts a simple ensemble piece geared to showing the humane side of a religion more often demonized than embraced. “Of Love and Eggs” uses a gentle, slightly bumbling Imam (Didi Petet) as the paternal face of Islam, a benevolent figure doling out love with warmth and humor to assorted working-class types around a Jakarta market. Shot entirely on a crowded set, the pic begins shortly before the Lebaran holiday, when most return to their native villages. Those left in town include Asih (Putri Mulia), an angry young girl unwilling to accept that her mother may have abandoned the family; Bimo (Sakurtha H. Ginting), a mischievous boy selling eggs at the market; and Rindu (Raisa Pramesi), a deaf girl impatiently awaiting her brother’s return. Five different dialects and multiple ethnicities are used to turn the market into a national microcosm, united by their faith. -Jay Weissber

Please support the distributor by purchasing all of their films!

Distributor: The Global Film Initiative

Wednesday, September 26, 2012 @ 6:30 PM
Center for Korean Studies Building, UHM
Thailand (2012, 123 mins)
Thai w/English subtitles

Director: Mez Tharatorn
Cast: Chantavit Dhanasevi, Preechaya Pongthananikorn

Sua (Ter – Chantavit Dhnasevi) and Jib (Ice – Preechaya Pongthananikorn) are just like any other couple except for one thing: for the past 5 years they have kept their relationship a secret because the bank where they work has a strict “no fraternization” policy. Their problems really start when they decide to get married. Which one of these Type-A, overachievers will put marriage before their career and resign from the bank? Neither seems willing to make the sacrifice, so they turn an incident at the bank-an ATM glitch in Chonburi Province gives out over 130,000 baht (over $4,000 USD)-into an opportunity. The terms are simple: whoever can recover the money first gets to keep their job. Turning them into no-holds-barred competitors. Who will “go big” in their career or “go home” in this romantic comedy about what two people won’t do for each other in the name of love?

Please support the distributor by purchasing all of their films!

Distributor: Gmm Tai Hub Co., Ltd.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Korean Studies Auditorium @6:30pm
France, Great Britain (2011, 132 min)

Director: Luc Besson
Screenplay: Rebecca Frayn
Cast: Michelle Yeoh, David Thewlis, Jonathan Raggett, Jonathan Woodhouse, Susan Wooldridge, Benedict Wong

The Lady is the extraordinary story of Aung San Suu Kyi (Michelle Yeoh) and her husband, Michael Aris (David Thewlis). It is also the story of the peaceful quest of the woman who is at the core of Myanmar’s democracy movement. Despite distance, long separations, and a dangerously hostile regime, their love endures until the very end. It’s a story of devotion and human understanding set against a backdrop of political turmoil that has recently given way to possibilities of a better future for the country.

Welcome back for our 8th season of screening films from Southeast Asia!

Pinoy Sunday
Taiwan (2009, 82 min)
Tagalog, Taiwanese, Mandarin, English
w/English subtitles

Wednesday, September 5, 2012 @ 6:30 PM
Korean Studies Auditorium

Director: Ho Wi Ding
Cast: Bayani Agbayani, Epy Quizon, Alessandra De Rossi, Meryll Soriano

PINOY SUNDAY is not a typical Taiwan film. Firstly, it plays out primarily in Tagalog, with only occasional snippets of dialogue spoken in Taiwanese, Mandarin or English. Secondly, it maintains a fairly light-hearted tone, telling a simple story of Filipino migrant workers without feeling compelled to get bogged down in social commentary or berate the injustices of an unfair society. Instead, Malaysian-born writer-director Ho Wi Ding lets his film ride for the most part on the shoulders of his two lead actors – Jeffrey “Epy” Quizon and Bayani Agbayani – a task they effortlessly accomplish through their natural charisma and frequently hilarious onscreen chemistry.

On their day off, the pair happens upon a recently discarded sofa sitting outside an apartment building and, although many miles from home with no means of transportation, they commit themselves to hiking it back to their factory dorm. And so begins a hilarious journey, brimming with incidents and pitfalls that over the course of the day will push Dado and Manuel’s friendship to its breaking point.

Charming, effective and with a breezy air of joie de vivre, PINOY SUNDAY is a delight from start to finish.

-James Marsh, Twitchfilm.com

Please support the distributor by purchasing all of their films! Distributor: Lighthouse Pictures (Singapore)

2012 CSEAS Film Series: Sang Pencerah (The Enlightener)
2010
Indonesia

Wednesday, May 2, 2012 @ 6:30 PM
Korean Studies Auditorium

Directed by Hanung Bramantyo
Starring: Lukman Sardi, Zaskia Adya Mecca, Slamet Rahardjo, Ihsan Tatote, & Giring Ganesha

Sang Pencerah (The Enlightener) is a 2010 Indonesian film directed by Hanung Bramantyp and starring Lukman Sardi, Zaskia Adya Mecca, and Slamet Rahardjo. It is a biopic of Ahmad Dahlan which describes how he came to establish Muhammadiyah–the Islamic organization.

2012 CSEAS Film Series: The Pleasure Factory
2007
Chinese [Thailand]

Wednesday, April 25, 2012 @ 6:30 PM
Korean Studies Auditorium

Director Ekachai Uekrongtham
Starring: Kuei-Mei Yang, Ananda Everingham, & Zihan Loo

The sophomore feature film from the Beautiful Boxer director, Pleasure Factory has an ensemble cast that includes Ananda Everingham and Taiwanese actress Yang Kuei-mei and a bunch of newcomers, many whom were recruited off the street. Sometimes mysterious, sometimes heartbreaking, the film follows three loosely intertwining storylines: A girl going to meet an older prostitute (Yang), and being followed by a mysterious young man (Ananda); a guy taking his virgin army buddy around to the brothels; and a woman in a red dress buying a song from a busker. Lit by Brian Gothon Tan, Geylang never looked so good. [Synopsis by Wise Kwai]