STILL FROM “DEAD Talents Society,”playing during the Asian Pop-Up Cinema‘s 19th edition.
Asian Pop-Up Cinema is in full swing, beginning March 20 through April 13. I have covered this Festival in the past; it’s always filled with exciting, interesting and thought provoking films.
Regions from works throughout Asia are featured, with films screened at AMC NEWCITY 14 (1500 N. Clybourn Ave.) and select presentations at the Culture Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, the Chinese American Museum of Chicago and the Shultz Auditorium at the Illinois Institute of Technology. For full schedule of programming, and to purchase tickets: asianpopupcinema.org.
Opening the Festival on March 20 is Taiwan’s “Dead Talents Society,” a supernatural comedy with director John Hsu appearing in person, alongside star Chen Bo-Lin, set to receive the Festival’s Bright Star Award.
Set in a fictional underworld where ghosts can linger in the mortal realm by competing to haunt humans, they strive to become the spookiest urban legends and famous stars in the underworld.
“To not only have my work in ‘Dead Talents Society’ open the 19th edition of Asian Pop Up Cinema, but to then also receive the Festival’s Bright Star Award, is truly an honor. I am so excited to share the film with Chicago, and to speak with the kind of engaged, passionate film enthusiasts that Asian Pop Up Cinema draw,” said Chen Bo-Lin.
The Festival’s Centerpiece presentation is the U.S. premiere of the Director’s cut of the Hong Kong drama “The Last Dance” on April 4, featuring a career-defining performance from star Michelle Wai, who will receive the Festival’s Extraordinary Actors Award; and Closing Night on April 13 presents the first, and last, film by Keizo Murase, “Brush of the God,” with producer Daisuke Sato accepting the Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award for director Murase posthumously.
Japan: a time-traveling samurai finds his calling as an actor in “A Samurai in Time,” with director Junichi Yasuda and star Yuno Sakura in attendance.
South Korea: World Premiere of “The Beetle Project,” director Kim Kwang-kyo’s sweet family film featuring a beetle who becomes an unlikely catalyst in bringing the two Koreas together.
Mongolia: North American Premiere of “Silent City Driver,” Sengedorj Janchivdorj’s compelling and deliberately paced study of an outcast pushed to the edge by society’s plagues.
Taiwan: North American Premiere of “The Uniform,” director Chuang Ching-shen’s coming-of-age drama exploring the obsession with elitism and privilege in an educational system riddled with inequalities.
Amid the competition between two girls, Min and Ai who are, respectively, attending day and night school, and they both appear to be in love with the same young man, who is from a wealthy family and doesn’t need help to get into a prestigious university.
They are all prepping for a final exam; the film shows the dynamic between Ai and her hardworking, penny-pinching mom and her yearning for acceptance. Great commentary on a universal subject. Other highlights include:
Hong Kong: “Love Lies” is a look at online dating scams that explores the bonds forged in deception with empathy for both the target and the scammer, from writer/director Ho Miu-Ki. In this film, an online crew of cat fishing scammers is very strategic in finding and manipulating their prey. There’s one major scam highlighted that cons millions of dollars from a lonely widow.
It’s a wild ride with scripted online messages and one lie after another. Very entertaining film.
The 19th edition of Asian Pop-Up Cinema is the first to feature a juried competition. Sixteen films will compete in both narrative and documentary categories; the Best Short Film Award in narrative/animated and documentary categories; and the Francis Kwong Memorial Award, recognizing an emerging director for their first or second feature film.
This year’s Jury includes former Hong Kong International Film Festival director and film producer Roger Garcia; former Gene Siskel Film Center Director of Programming Barbara Scharres; and Tokyo-based journalist and film critic Mark Schilling, whose work appears in The Japan Times, Screen International, Variety and more.
Elaine Hegwood Bowen, M.S.J., is the Entertainment Editor for the Chicago Crusader. She is a National Newspaper Publishers Association Entertainment Writing’ award winner, contributor to “Rust Belt Chicago” and the author of “Old School Adventures from Englewood: South Side of Chicago.” For info, Old School Adventures from Englewood-South Side of Chicago (lulu.com)