Embark On A Journey Through Virtual Asia
CinemAsia 2024 has officially kicked off on March 5th with a wonderful opening film HAPPY PALACE, its cast and crew and many fabulous guests. From March 5-10 we are celebrating the beauty and diversity of Asian cinema, which crosses borders, languages and forms. This year marks our 20th anniversary and we are excited to present the very first VR/XR showcase VIRTUASIA: A Journey Through Virtual Asia!
We love exploring new perspectives through film and media, and have noticed the exciting new growth of Asian immersive media with VR/XR technology. Our inaugural showcase features 5 specially curated programs which tell immersive stories from the worlds and cultures of Asian creators from VR/XR powerhouse countries like South Korea, Taiwan and Japan. VIRTUASIA was curated by Stanisław Liguziński (Imagine Film Festival) and will be presented March 6-10 at Studio/K. Put on those headsets and join us in stepping into these incredible new worlds!
VR PROGRAM 1: GINA KIM’S US MILITARY COMFORT WOMEN TRILOGY
In 2017, Gina KIM, an acclaimed South Korean filmmaker, turned to immersive technology to further investigate the issue of ethics of representation. KIM’s US military comfort women trilogy transforms the controversial issue of crimes by the US military personnel stationed in South Korea into an embodied experience of a viewer.
The first piece of the trilogy BLOODLESS (2017), shot at the actual military brothel, won multiple awards, including the Best VR Story Award at the 74th Venice International Film Festival. Filmmaker Magazine selected Bloodless as the Best VR Storytelling of 2017, praising the film as a “12-minute immersive stunner.” The first installment was followed by TEARLESS in 2020, and COMFORTLESS in 2023. Together, the three works, released over 6 years, constitute one of the most impressive projects in VR, which we are incredibly proud to present in the form of a dedicated retrospective at the center of our first Virtuasia programme.
Spots are limited, so don’t wait and get your tickets here!
Oneroom-Babel
Sanghee LEE | South-Korea | 2023 | 15′
Composed of LiDAR scans, music, sound, text, and graphics, ONEROOM-BABEL is an intimate VR essay on the relationship between the spaces we inhabit and our personal development. The dreamlike experience lets you embody a character ahead of the coming-of-age ceremony in the distant future riddled with a housing crisis.
Frequency
Ellie OMIYA | Japan | 2023 | 30′
Planck’s theorem that everything vibrates at its unique frequency expresses the preciousness of our individual existence.Inside the world of a painting, you travel with Anne through her coming-of-age story and discover the beauty of individual uniqueness. What do you feel immersed in Anne’s paintings? What is your frequency?
You can find the times and tickets for this program here.
GREY ROOM
HSU Che-yu | Taiwan | 2022 | 16′
Diplopia, also called double vision, describes a condition which causes the subject to perceive two displaced images of a single object simultaneously. Departing from this diagnosis, using the 3D scans of his grandmother’s house Hsu Che-Yu contemplates the relationship between architectural spaces, bodies, and the construction of intimate memories.
CHROMA 11
TSANG Tsui-Shan | Hong Kong | 2022 | 30′
Chroma 11 is an experience based on the true story of lost love, which expands the boundaries of moving images with VR technology. Through clips of rearranged memories and volumetric video, the creative team strives to reconstruct a reunion of the parted souls in the form of a dance.
Secure your tickets here!
Romancecar
Jonathan HAGARD | Japan | 2023 | 9′
On a trip from Enoshima to Shinjuku a young woman recalls her father’s story. Explore the evolution of Odakyu Romance Car from the 1960s to the present. In Romance Car Jonathan Hagard, a French-Indonesian filmmaker, animator, and illustrator based in Kyoto, applies his keen eye to portraying urban spaces, transformations and rituals.
Childhood Revisited
CHANG Wen-Chieh | Taiwan | 2021 | 10′
Once upon a time, there was a river that carried memories, and a wonderful village called the Fifth Ditch of Water. Following a group of Hakka people, who lived under the guardianship of the Mount Grand Martial, Childhood Revisited reflects on traditional culture and deconstructs it with new media art.
Mirror
WU De-Chuen | Taiwan | 2023 | 16′
Three tin toys keep changing their costumes on stage and performing the vicious patriarchal script repeated over countless generations. They find themselves trapped in a dreamlike state resembling a mirror image. Unable to extricate themselves, they are slowly being moulded into adult copies of their predecessors, embodying stereotypes they detested.
Tickets for this program are selling fast, don’t wait to secure yours here.
VR PROGRAM 5: My Inner Ear Quartet
My Inner Ear Quartet
Koji YAMAMURA | Japan | 2023 | 35′
An ensemble of musicians and shrimps lives in the lonely boy’s ear, playing and dancing in response to his tears. One day, the grown-up boy ventures to collect the lonely voices of lost objects in his cookie tin. The VR experience from the Oscar-nominated Japanese master of animation Koji Yamamura.
Get your ticket here if you want to experience this exciting piece yourself!
