Guide 06 Asian cinema independent information
Southeast Asian cinema: where to look
Southeast Asia is a region of many film cultures with different histories. This guide picks a few well documented examples so you can start exploring.
Thailand
Apichatpong Weerasethakul is the Thai director most often seen on festival programmes. His film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2010. It is slow and dream-like, mixing village life with spirits, so give it time and let it set its own pace.
The Philippines
Lino Brocka's Manila in the Claws of Light (1975) is widely discussed as a landmark of Filipino cinema, following a young man in search of his lover in a harsh city. Brocka and his contemporaries made socially engaged films, and the national industry has a long record of melodrama and independent work.
Vietnam and Cambodia
Tran Anh Hung's The Scent of Green Papaya (1993) won the Camera d'Or at Cannes for best first feature and was nominated for an Oscar. Rithy Panh's The Missing Picture (2013), which uses clay figures to recall the Khmer Rouge period in Cambodia, won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes and received an Oscar nomination.
Indonesia
Gareth Evans, a Welsh director working in Indonesia, made The Raid (2011), an action film that introduced many viewers to the martial art pencak silat. It shows how action cinema from the region became popular with fans outside it.
Best Southeast Asian movies to start with
Uncle Boonmee for a festival experience, The Scent of Green Papaya for a gentle family story, and The Raid for pure action. Festival programmes and national film institutes are good sources for further titles.