AFI Fest 2010

Friday, October 22, 2010

Here's a quick list of some of the films you might want to see from an A/AA POV that got sent my way.

Japan

13 ASSASSINS will screen in the World Cinema section, which presents new work by many of the world’s most renowned filmmakers. The film, directed by Takashi Miike, is about a band of samurai swordsmen attempt an impossible assassination.
Also screening in World Cinema is OUTRAGE, which is about several yakuza clans who battle for power in the Japanese underworld.

In LITTLEROCK, a Japanese student discovers a different America than the one in her dreams, when her car breaks down on a sightseeing tour of California. The film will screen in the Young Americans section, featuring work by emerging U.S. filmmakers whose stories reflects the distinct American regions in which they are set.

South Korea

Screening in the New Auteurs section, which distinguishes first- and second-time feature film directors from around the world, is BEDEVILLED from director Cheol-soo Jang. In the film, an island vacation turns deadly for Hae-won when she tries to help her abused childhood friend and her daughter escape.

The rest of the South Korean films will screen in the World Cinema section, which presents new work by many of the world’s most renowned filmmakers.

1. HAHAHA: A man and his friend discuss their separate trips to the same small seaside town, on the condition that they only share pleasant memories. From director Hong Sangsoo.

2. THE HOUSEMAID: A remake of the 1960 classic film, where a young housemaid for an upper-class family is impregnated by the father and forced to have an abortion. AFI FEST 2010 will screen both the original film directed by Kim Ki-young, and the new version directed by Im Sang-soo.

3. I SAW THE DEVIL: A secret agent vows to get revenge on the man who murdered his fiancée, even if he must become a monster himself. Directed by Kim Jee-woon.

4. OKI’S MOVIE: From director Hong Sangsoo, three main characters appear in four overlapping short films. In the last, a student makes a film about two men she dated.

5. POETRY: An older woman takes a class and writes poetry for the first time in her life. She begins to notice the everyday beauty of life, until she is faced with a harsh reality. Directed by Lee Chang-dong.

Philippines

AMIGO is John Sayles’ compelling drama about the moral quandaries facing U.S. soldiers and local cooperators a century ago in the Philippine-American War. The film will have its U.S. premiere in the festival's Special Screening section on November 6.

China

KARAMAY is about a devastating fire that broke out in a theater, killing more than 300 people, but all government officials and business leaders there that day survived. The film will screen in the World Cinema section.

Thailand

In UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (LUNG BOONMEE RALUEK CHAT), a man is on his deathbed when he treks to a mysterious cave with the ghost of his deceased wife and the non-human form of his long-lost son. This film is a part of the World Cinema section.
AFI FEST will take place in Hollywood, California at the historic Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the Mann Chinese 6 theatres, the Egyptian Theatre and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel from November 4-11, 2010.