The Helsinki Cine Aasia festival opens with the intriguing co-production Return to Seoul (Retour à Séoul, 2022), which tells the story of a Korean adoptee in France who goes back to Seoul to search for her roots. The director Davy Chou is himself French-Cambodian. Individuals between two cultures can also be found in many other films at the festival. Society is a strong theme in such films as the Malaysian Stone Turtle (2022), which combines social critique to suspense and the supernatural, and the widely awarded Indonesian film Autobiography (2022).
The annual remembrance day of the Fukushima nuclear accident is in March and Helsinki Cine Aasia commemorates the topic in several ways. The virtual reality documentary Fukushima – The Home That Once Was takes us to villages emptied by the catastrophy, where we also meet former inhabitants. The film program also includes the catastrophy movie Fukushima 50 (Japan, 2020) where 50 nuclear plant worker fight against the inevitable. A discussion session will also go through the different ways the Fukushima disaster and its after effects have been presented in different media.
The programme has some oeuvres from well-known film-makers such as Lav Diaz and new Thai indie cinema. A discussion event on Korean entertainment industry will take place and the Korean modern classic Oldboy (2003) will be screened as a special treat.
The festival hosts a Baby Kino screening on 17 March with Arnold Is a Model Student (2022), which is the latest film from Thai filmmaker Sorayos Prapara. The screening is meant for audiences with toddlers and babies and is organised in collaboration with Kino Regina, Oodi Helsinki Central Library, and playground Loru.
The ticket sales begin on Thursday 2 March on the festival’s website. Tickets can also be purchased from theatres during the festival. Single tickets 11€. Baby-friendly screening is free and is meant for those who come with a toddler or a baby. Screening pass (5 screenings) 45 €.