Udine Asian Festival To Open Online Edition With Korea’s ‘Ashfall’

Korean disaster action film has been set as the opening movie of the Far East Film Festival in Udine. Due to coronavirus and social distancing measures still in place in Italy, the festival will be held entirely online this year.

The festival is normally held in late April and early May. This time it will run June 26-July 4 with a slightly reduced selection of 46 films from East Asia.

The festival will be hosted on the MyMovies.it online platform. Organizers explained that some titles will be available worldwide, some only in Europe and some exclusively in Italy. They include 4 world premieres, 12 international premieres, 10 European premieres and 17 Italian premieres.

Organizers have arranged the line up in a loose daily schedule, but say that they have “also left open the possibility of choosing independently when to watch movies by accessing the on-demand section.” And only 3 of the 46 titles (the previously announced “I WeirDo,” “My Prince Edward” and Derek Kwok’s surprise hit “Better Days”) will be shown exclusively in the time slot indicated in the schedule.

Other titles selected include the previously announced martial arts epic “Ip Man 4: The Finale,” Johnnie To’s musical latest film “Chasing Dream” and Chinese disaster action drama “The Captain.”

Special sections include: a tribute to the late Obayashi Nobuhiko, whose final film, the 180 minute, “Labyrinth of Cinema” the festival pitches as his final eccentric masterpiece: and a four film springboard for Japanese stylist Watanabe Hirobumi.

Nine titles from Japan include the world premiere of sports comedy “#HandballStrive,” “Dance With Me” and sex toy drama “Romance Doll.”

The 10-film Korean presence also includes “The Man Standing Next,” sexy crime thriller “Beasts Clutching at Straws,” and “Crazy Romance.” Released theatrically in December, “Ashfall” follows events that follow the sudden eruption of a volcano. It stars Lee Byung Hun, Ha Jung-woo and Ma Dong-seok, and this week earned Lee a best actor prize at the Golden Bell Awards.

Two films from Indonesia are both directed by Joko Anwar: “Impetigore” and modern superhero saga “Gundala.”