EasternKicks

6 days ago | easternkicks.com | Blake Simons

The world’s largest Japanese film festival reveals its first 2025 offerings…Nippon Connection — Frankfurt’s festival for Japanese cinema and the largest dedicated to Japanese cinema in the world — celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, playing host to around 100 feature and short films and 70 cultural events from 27th May to 1st June. The full programme is still to come, but the festival have revealed the first highlights from this year’s thematic strands to whet our appetites.

6 days ago | easternkicks.com | Blake Simons

The Korean actress talks a career grounded in empathy…Truly international actress Doona Bae cares deeply about our differences. As we discuss her recent film Next Sohee and her career at large over Zoom, she repeatedly emphasises human rights and her firm belief in respecting each other. It’s a refreshingly transparent conversation with a performer who prefers to be straightforward and simple, and in doing so manages to embody the nuances and complexities of the human experience.

1 week ago | easternkicks.com | Andrew Heskins

The Hong Kong filmmaking legend comes to Udine, Italy…The legendary filmmaker Tsui Hark is set to receive the Golden Mulberry Award for Lifetime Achievement at the 27th Udine Far East Film Festival. The festival will screen his latest work, Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants, as well as restored versions of his classics Shanghai Blues and Green Snake.

2 weeks ago | easternkicks.com | James Mudge

Part of the 2006 Korean 4 Horror Tales collection, following a young mother who moves into a haunted apartment…Originally released back in 2006 when Korean horror was running out of steam after its early 2000s peak, top genre director Ahn Byung-ki, responsible for a string of genre blockbusters including Phone, Bunshinsaba and APT, pulled together a collection of films under the banner 4 Horror Tales, which also went by One Day Suddenly: 4 Horror Stories.

2 weeks ago | easternkicks.com | Ethan Shi

The ironic film festival is back for its 16th edition in Ireland with new and classic Japanese films…The Japanese Film Festival Ireland takes place across several locations every year in April to bring a diverse and eclectic programme of Japanese cinema to Irish audiences. Set up as a cultural exchange and a collaboration between the Embassy of Japan in Ireland and access>CINEMA, it’s truly one of the biggest Asian film festivals celebrated in Ireland.