Marie-Pierre Richard, Artistic Director of the East Asia Film Festival Ireland previews this year's festival, which runs from 5-8 April at Dublin's Irish Film Institute.
It’s the second edition of our East Asia Film Festival, and the first under our new title (we were previously called the Chinese Language Film Festival). Our mission is to celebrate the diversity, artistry and variety of films from East and South East Asia, and we are delighted once again to present this event with the support of the Irish Film Institute, introducing Irish audiences over four days in Dublin to a compelling range of films from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
As our guest of honour this year, we are delighted to be welcoming the great Taiwanese cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-Bing for his first ever visit to Ireland. Mark Lee, in a career that spans over three decades, has distinguished himself as one of the world’s most acclaimed and distinctive cinematographers. It is our great privilege that Irish audiences will have the unique opportunity to share in the work of this master of cinema, both through screenings and hearing him talk about his work first hand.
Amongst the things I’m most excited about in this year’s festival programme are:
Three Times, a film Mark Lee made with master director Hou Hsiao-Hsien in 2005, 20 years after he and Mark Lee Ping Bing first collaborated on A Time to Live, a Time to Die. Hou Hsiao-Hsien was our esteemed guest for the inaugural edition of the festival last year, so we are thrilled to have this connection.
Three Times is an exceptional meditative film. A trilogy of love stories with only two actors, in three distinct time periods, there is something visionary in the way the film is configured – an astoundingly beautiful film.
We are showing two films by one of the most established current auteurs in Korean cinema. Hong Sang-Soo's Claire’s Camera is a perfect little film where 'what you see is not what it seems'. As the story progresses through chance encounters, what looks playful reveals itself to be much more complex and painful, with each encounter adding new layers.
Also on show are the multi-award winning The Great Buddha, the latest family saga by Eric Khoo, Ramen Shop, Ai Weiwei’s migration crisis film, Human Flow, and a selection of animated short films.
We are also holding an exclusive Masterclass with Mark Lee Ping-Bing on Saturday 7 April, supported by Screen Training Ireland - the Masterclass will be led by Irish cinematographer Tim Fleming (Once), representing the Irish Society of Cinematographers (ISC). Their discussion promises to be both fascinating and unique, with the two cinematographers in conversation about Mark Lee’s innovations in filming in natural and low-light conditions, and the central, collaborative role of cinematographer and director.
The East Asia Film Festival Ireland runs at the Irish Film Institute, Thursday 5th – Sunday 8th April - find out more here.
