April 2026
This issue of Asian Cinema Digest highlights an exciting slate of screenings and programmes — from the Singapore Chinese Film Festival to newly restored video works by Japanese artist Kyoko Michishita, and the rediscovery of Singapore neighbourhoods through film.
To See
Image still from Nervous Translation (2018, Shireen Seno)Asian Film Archive: Prasasti / Inscriptions: Unearthing Intertwined Legacies
As part of Asian Film Archive’s contribution to Singapore Biennale, this collaborative programme with Jakarta-based collective Forum Lenteng brings together films that revisit objects, landscapes and archives to question how histories and national narratives are constructed and whose stories are allowed to persist.
Running till 26 April 2026, don’t miss the chance to catch works from Southeast Asian filmmakers, including Kavich Neang, Lin Htet Aung, Tulapop Saenjaroen, Nguyễn Trinh Thi, and Shireen Seno.
Image still from Love Massacre (1981, Patrick Tam)14th Singapore Chinese Film Festival 2026
Singapore Chinese Film Festival (SCFF) returns for its 14th edition, bringing a slate of exciting Sinophone releases from 24 April to 3 May 2026.
Explore restored classics such as Patrick Tam’s Love Massacre (1981), starring screen icon Brigette Lin and new releases such as Chong Keat Aun’s Mother Bhumi (2025), where Fan Bingbing delivers a transformative performance as a ritual healer in rural 1990s Malaysia. Don’t miss the Shanghai Film Academy Shorts spotlighting emerging Chinese directors, as well as the documentary showcase, which includes Mary Stephen’s Palimpsest: The Story of a Name (2025).
Image still from Cherry Blossoms (1975, Kyoko Michishita)e-flux Film: Kyoko Michishita
For the April 2026 edition of Staff Picks, e-flux Film has collaborated with distribution organisation Vtape to present three films by Japanese artist Kyoko Michishita — Cherry Blossoms (1975), Being Women in Japan Series: Liberation Within My Family (1974), and Video Portraits – Men: Shuntarō Tanikawa (1982).
One of the first artists in Japan to adopt video technology, Michishita used the medium as an artistic tool to explore feminist principles. Experimental and observational, her films probe the complexities of women’s issues in Japan. Now restored and digitised, this marks the first time in decades that her body of work is available for public viewing.
To Attend
Image still from A Land Imagined (2018, Yeo Siew Hua)Singapore University of Social Sciences: The Rise of China and the Chinese Migrant Woman in Singapore Cinema
Led by film scholar Ng How Wee (senior lecturer at University of Westminster), this talk dissects the cinematic figure of the mainland Chinese migrant woman in Singapore cinema across three decades. Her on-screen meanings are examined through ten feature films, including Yeo Siew Hua’s A Land Imagined (2018) and K. Rajagopal’s A Yellow Bird (2016), responding to the changing political, industrial, and market conditions of Singapore.
The talk will take place at Singapore University of Social Sciences on 23 April 2026, 7pm, and you can register your interest here.
Poster from FFIGSFFIGS: A Contrary Communing of Cinema
A Contrary Communing of Cinema is a portable film programme and guided walk by independent Singapore collective FFIGS, that takes participants across Chinatown. Moving through the neighbourhood — from Pearl’s Hill Terrace to the rooftop of the Goethe-Institut Singapore — the programme invites participants to experience film alongside the beloved neighbourhood’s landscapes and histories. You can register your interest here.
TO LISTEN
Image still from Moral (1983, Marilou Diaz-Abaya)Deep Cut: 127. Interview with Kani Releasing: Ariel Esteban Cayer and Pearl Chan
In this episode of Deep Cut, host Wilson travels to Peng Chau Island in Hong Kong to talk to Ariel Esteban Cayer and Pearl Chan, the folks behind Kani Releasing, a North American film distribution company specialising in Asian cinema.
The trio discuss the films in Kani Relasing’s catalogue, such as Marilou Diaz-Abaya’s Moral (1983) and Patrick Tam’s My Heart Is That Eternal Rose (1989), as well as the motivations behind founding the company and their perspectives on the ever-evolving landscape of theatrical and physical media distribution.
Image still from The Things You Kill (2025, Alireza Khatami)Cinema Rex: 063 – The Things You Kill
Filmmakers and hosts of Cinema Rex Podcast Kaveh Mohebbi and Faran Moradi discuss Iranian filmmaker Alireza Khatami’s The Things You Kill (2025), a Turkish-language mystery film following a university professor who gets the help of his gardener to seek vengeance after the sudden death of his mother. Mohebbi and Moradi dissect the film’s exploration of identity and moral ambiguity, while also sharing behind-the-scenes insights and lesser known trivia about the production behind this critically acclaimed film.
To Read
Image still from Pig (2018, Mani Haghighi)The New Yorker: The Unseen Work of One of Iran’s Greatest Filmmakers
For many cinephiles, names like Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi, and Asghar Farhadi have come to define Iranian cinema. But as Richard Brody, veteran film critic at The New Yorker, suggests, filmmakers like Mani Haghighi deserve equal attention.
Having worked with Kiarostami early in his career, Haghighi has developed a distinct and varied filmography. Brody explores Haghighi’s range, from the black comedy Pig (2018) to the thriller Subtraction (2022), while also reflecting on the challenges of censorship in Iran, and the broader struggle faced by Iranian filmmakers navigating repression and creative constraint.
Image still from Save the Green Planet! (2003, Jang Joon-hwan)Asian Movie Pulse: Jang Joon-hwan Interview on Save the Green Planet!
Speaking with film critic Panso Kotzathanasis, Korean filmmaker Jang Joon-Hwan revisits his cult classic film Save the Green Planet! (2003). Reflecting on the film’s production and its experimental narrative, Jang considers the conditions of the early 2000s Korean film industry, when such bold, genre-defying works were more readily embraced. The conversation also touches on Yorgos Lanthimos’ 2025 adaptation, Bugonia, and how Jang’s original screenplay has evolved and been adapted for the current age.
To Submit
Film Programming Open Call: Rae-Nang
Rae-Nang, a new initiative in Bangkok formed in partnership with Atlas Cinema, London, aims to democratise film exhibition and offer a new model for a community cooperative cinema. Seeking 6 Bangkok-based individuals with an interest in film programming, participants will be led by UK-based curators Cici Peng and Abiba Coulibaly in online sessions and support the development of their programmes.
Participants will present their own screening programmes at the opening of the Rae Nang Cinema on 7 to 9 August 2026, and continue to manage the space alongside the organisers from August 2026 to January 2027. The application guidelines can be found here, and the submission deadline is 1 May 2026.
Call for Submissions: SeaShorts Film Festival 2026
Based in Malaysia, SeaShorts Film Festival, screens emerging Southeast Asian short films and is one of the region’s most notable film events. The festival also includes sharing sessions for regional exchange and learning, as well as opportunities for networking and collaboration. The application guidelines can be found here, and the submission deadline is 4 June 2026.
Call for Submissions: HKIFF Asian Short Film Fund
The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS) and NOWNESS Asia, a subsidiary of Meta Media Group, launched the Asian Short Film Fund (ASFF) in 2025 to support emerging Asian filmmakers and promote the development of filmmaking in the region. This second edition returns with three distinguished Asian filmmakers serving as mentors: Lav Diaz, Oh Jung-Wan and Yeh Ju-Feng. The application guidelines can be found here, and the submission deadline is 5 June 2026.
Call for Submissions: (blank) Experimental Film Festival
This new film festival, a Southeast Asian collaboration with the BIDEODROMO International Experimental Film and Video Festival, champions experimental works that resist conventional definitions and frameworks of film. Supported by The Substation, selected films will be screened in Singapore and across various venues in Bilbao, Spain. The application guidelines can be found here, and the submission deadline is 1 July 2026.
This edition of the Asian Cinema Digest was compiled by Phyllis Chan. The Asian Cinema Digest is a monthly compilation of content taking place internationally involving Asian cinema and the moving image. Featured programmes are not representative of AFA’s views and are unaffiliated to the AFA unless otherwise stated.
