PROGRAMME DETAILS FOR THE 9TH EAST ASIA FILM FESTIVAL IRELAND ANNOUNCED

LINE-UP INCLUDES BRIEF HISTORY OF A FAMILY, CAUGHT BY THE TIDES, AND CLASSIC VIETNAMESE TITLES FROM THE VFI

March 3rd, 2025: Today, the East Asia Film Festival Ireland (EAFFI) and the Irish Film Institute (IFI) are delighted to announce the programme for the ninth edition of the festival, which will take place this year from Thursday, March 20th to Sunday, March 23rd, bringing memories, collective stories, and personal journeys of identity and culture, with themes of understanding, tolerance and hope, through works by writers and directors across East Asian cinema, to audiences in Ireland. Tickets are now on sale from www.ifi.ie.

This year, we are delighted to welcome two special guests: Chinese writer-director Jianjie Lin, who will take part in a Q&A following the opening night screening on Thursday 20th of his debut feature, Brief History of a Family (Panorama Section, Berlin International Film Festival 2024), as well as an In Conversation event on Saturday 22nd with Irish born actor, writer and director Kelly Campbell; and Qiuyan Chen, founder and director of Queer China UK, who will take part in a Q&A session following the screening of the documentary Love Bound, also on Saturday 22nd.

Alongside some of the latest filmic treats coming from East Asia, we are excited to help Irish audiences delve into and discover Vietnamese cinema, as we present 2K digital restorations of three rare, classic films from the Vietnam Film Institute (VFI) – We Will Meet Again by Trần Vũ,  The Girl on The River by Đặng Nhật Minh, and In The Lane by Bạch Diệp. Each of these films will be introduced by Ms Khuất Thi Thu Trang, Ngoc Khanh Cinema House at the VFI.

Speaking about this year’s East Asia Film Festival Ireland, Festival Director Marie-Pierre Richard commented, “This year’s programme brings together another rich selection of fiction, documentary, and film essays by prominent and emerging writers and directors across East Asian cinema, exploring social realities that are introspective and humanist with themes of memory, identity, family, and love. We are delighted to present three rarely screened Vietnamese films in 2K restoration with the participation of the Vietnam Film Institute and to welcome Ms Khuất Thi Thu Trang who will introduce each screening and take part in a talk on Friday, March 21st. Our other great guests are Chinese writer-director Jianjie Lin who will present his debut feature, Brief History of a Family, our festival opener on Thursday, March 20th followed by a Q&A. Jianjie Lin will also take part in a number of talks and screenings and share an In Conversation with Irish born actress, writer and director, Kelly Campbell on Saturday, March 22nd. Qiuyan Chen (founder and director of Queer China UK) will be here to present the very moving and urgent documentary, Love Bound, and Qiuyan Chen will share a post-screening conversation with Pradeep Mahadeshwar (multidisciplinary Irish artist and founder of Queen Asian Pride Ireland and Queen Spectrum Film Festival).”

Tickets are on sale now from ifi.ie. Festival ticket bundles are available, offering 3 films for €30.00, and 5 films for €50.00 – available only from the IFI Box Office or over the phone on (01) 679 3477. A Festival Membership fee of €5.00 will apply to any bundles for non-Members. Tickets for the In Conversation event are €5.00, and are not available through the festival ticket bundles.

 

East Asia Film Festival 2025 – Full Programme:

BRIEF HISTORY OF A FAMILY (JIA TING JIAN SHI)
JIANJIE LIN
Thursday 20th (18.15)
99 mins, China-Denmark-France-Qatar, 2024, Digital, Subtitled

After a mysterious incident at high school, the lives of classmates Wei, an outgoing only boy from a ‘perfect’ middle-class family, and Shuo, a sharp-eyed introvert from a troubled background, become intertwined. Wei introduces Shuo to his father (a cell biologist) and mother (a former flight attendant), and gradually becomes part of the family, discovering the dynamics of their comfortable existence. Chinese writer-director Jianjie Lin’s precise and suspenseful psycho-thriller family drama reveals the scars and repressed emotions of a family, and the social expectations and economic pressures of underlying Chinese society.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Jianjie Lin, hosted by film critic Tara Brady (The Irish Times).
Festival selection/awards: Panorama Section, Berlin International Film Festival 2024
TICKETS ON SALE HERE.

 

DON’T CRY, BUTTERFLY (MƯA TRÊN CÁNH BƯỚM)
DƯƠNG DIỆU LINH
Thursday 20th (20.50)
97 mins, Vietnam-Singapore-Philippines-Indonesia, 2024, Digital, Subtitled

As part of our focus on Vietnamese cinema, we are delighted to premiere the debut feature by Vietnamese writer-director Dương Diệu Linh, winner of the Venice Film Festival Critic’s Week Grand Prize, 2024. Breadwinner and mother Tam works at a wedding hall in Hanoi. When her rebellious daughter Ha shocks her with news that her husband is having an affair, Tam consults a voodoo spell-master to bring her husband back. This vivid, quirky comedy-drama combines horror and fantasy, putting middle-aged women’s entrapped life in contemporary Vietnamese society to the centre.

The screening will be introduced by Trà My Nguyễn Hoàng.
Festival selection/awards: Official selection Venice International Film Festival; Toronto International Film Festival 2024
TICKETS ON SALE HERE.

 

WE WILL MEET AGAIN (ĐẾN HẸN LẠI LÊN)
TRẦN VŨ
Friday 21st (18.00)
106 mins, Vietnam, 1974, Digital, Black & White, Subtitled.

Originally conceived as a documentary about quan họ, a form of traditional Vietnamese folk singing, We Will Meet Again zooms in on a small village in North Vietnam. Although it is not a musical, the songs in the film play an important role in the courting ritual between two quan họ singers — Nết and Chi. Their budding relationships and the fate of the people around them are intertwined. Rich in images, the film offers a rare glimpse into the lives of Vietnamese people pre-1945 with its courting traditions and familial rituals.

The screening will be introduced by Ms Khuất Thị Thu Trang, Ngoc Khanh Cinema House, Vietnam Film Institute.
TICKETS ON SALE HERE.

 

SUPER HAPPY FOREVER
KOHEI IGARASHI
Friday 21st (20.30)
94 mins, France-Japan, 2024, Digital, Subtitled

Sano (Hiroki Sano), accompanied by his friend Miyata, returns to a Japanese seaside resort on the Izu peninsula where, five years earlier, he fell in love with his wife Nagi (Nairu Amamoto). Japanese writer-director Kohei Igarashi’s contemplative, minimalist film is a profoundly tender and moving romance that reflects the beauty of youth, and love gained and lost. With a wonderful cast, we see cinema translate and make us feel the passage of time between people and places. Winner of the Grand Prize at the Ghent and Reykjavik Film Festivals.

Festival selection/awards: Official selection, Giornate Degli Autori, Venice International Film Festival 2024
TICKETS ON SALE HERE.

 

IN CONVERSATION: JIANJIE LIN DISCUSSES MAKING HIS DEBUT FEATURE 
Saturday 22nd (12.00)

We are delighted that Chinese writer-director Jianjie Lin will join us to take part in a conversation with Irish born actor, writer and director Kelly Campbell to open up about his journey in making his striking directorial debut feature, Brief History of a Family. After graduating with a BA in Bioinformatics, Jianjie Lin turned to filmmaking and studied at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. His short films A Visit (2015) and Gu (2017) screened successfully at international film festivals. Brief History of a Family (2024), his debut feature, had its world premiere in the Panorama Section at the Berlin International Film Festival 2024, and was presented in Official Competition at Sundance 2024.

Tickets: €5.00
TICKETS ON SALE HERE.

 

THE GIRL ON THE RIVER (CÔ GÁI TRÊN SÔNG)
ĐẶNG NHẬT MINH
Saturday 22nd (13.40)
100 mins, Vietnam, 1987, Digital, Subtitled

Based on a poem by famous Vietnamese poet Tố Hữu, The Girl on the River investigates the gap between ideals and reality — what happens after the revolution has been won and people start to grapple with the things or people they have to associate with to survive during the war. Through the figures of Nguyệt, the titular girl on the river; Liên, the journalist; and Thu, the Viet Cong officer, Đặng Nhật Minh gives voice to the truth that not many were willing to face or utter out loud. A monumental achievement in Vietnamese cinema.

The screening will be introduced by Ms Khuất Thị Thu Trang, Ngoc Khanh Cinema House, Vietnam Film Institute.
TICKETS ON SALE HERE.

 

LOVE BOUND
SHANSHAN CHEN
Saturday 22nd (15.50)
80 mins, UK, 2024, Digital, Subtitled

Sometimes, love must overcome many obstacles, but when it does, the result is inspiring. Qiuyan found fame in China when she sued the government over homophobic university textbooks. Subjected to conversion therapy and surveillance, she comes to study in London. There she meets Bling, another Chinese student.

A natural activist and marginalised in both the Chinese and queer communities, Qiuyan launches Queer China UK just in time to take on anti-Chinese prejudice during COVID. Chen Shanshan’s documentary uplifts at the same time as it dispels easy myths about escaping to the liberal West.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with Qiuyan Chen (founder and director of Queer China UK) and Pradeep Mahadeshwar (he/they-multidisciplinary Irish artist and founder of Queen Asian Pride Ireland and Queen Spectrum Film Festival).
TICKETS ON SALE HERE.

 

CAUGHT BY THE TIDES (FENG LIU YI DAI)
JIA ZHANGKE
Saturday 22nd (18.15)
111 mins, China, 2024, Digital, Subtitled

Perhaps Jia Zhangke’s most experimental work, Caught by the Tides began production in 2001 and incorporates footage from Jia’s previous films – Unknown Pleasures (2002), Still Life (2006), and Mountains May Depart (2015). Tracing the intermittent twenty-year relationship between Qiaoqiao (Zhao Tao) and Bin (Li Zhubin) using their fragile bond as a narrative thread to weave together spatio-temporal segments set in different Chinese cities, the film draws a tapestry of contemporary lives of individuals caught by the tides of history, that inexorably sweep and shape everything in their path.

The screening will be introduced by Jimmy Tianxiang Wang.
Festival selection/awards: Official Selection, Competition, Cannes International Film Festival 2024
TICKETS ON SALE HERE.

 

STRANGER EYES
YEO SIEW HUA
Saturday 22nd (20.40)
126 mins, Singapore-Taiwan-France-USA, 2024, Digital, Subtitled

A middle-class couple trying to solve the sudden disappearance of their toddler daughter receive DVDs with recordings of their daily lives. The Singapore police set up surveillance around their home to catch the stalker, but the family begins to fall apart under scrutiny from all sides. Gifted Singaporean writer-director Yeo Siew Hua’s sharp psychological thriller stars Lee Kang-Sheng, famed for his Tsai Ming-Liang films. Reflecting on alienation, watching and being watched, where what is seen cannot be unseen, and how this shapes our identity and subjectivity.

Festival selection/awards:  Official Selection, Venice International Film Festival 2024
TICKETS ON SALE HERE.

 

IN THE LANE (NGÕ HẸP)
BẠCH DIỆP
Sunday 23rd (13.20)
98 mins, Vietnam, 1988, Digital, Subtitled. F-Rated.

The contradictions and hypocrisy of Vietnam on the edge of Đổi Mới Policy (Renovation Era) are contained within the nameless narrow alley and the romance between Loan and Trung. As the gap between them widens, so does the gap between those who chase after material gains and those who resolutely stick to their moral principles within an ever-changing Vietnamese society. Bạch Diệp, as one of the most prominent female Vietnamese directors, offers a shrewd look at the conditions of women and the same-old challenges they must navigate in a new world.

The screening will be introduced by Ms Khuất Thị Thu Trang, Ngoc Khanh Cinema House, Vietnam Film Institute.
TICKETS ON SALE HERE.

 

AN UNFINISHED FILM
LOU YE
Sunday 23rd (15.40)
106 mins, Singapore-Germany, 2024, Digital, Subtitled

In this docu-fiction by critically acclaimed Chinese director Lou Ye (Spring Fever; Suzhou River) filmmaker Xiaorui (playing Lou Ye) revisits some decade-old footage from an unfinished film, reigniting poetic memories of past youth and prompting the desire to complete the work. Reuniting with the original crew and actors, they embark afresh on this new project shot in Wuhan, but COVID-19 forces the group into lockdown. Blending fiction and reality through various footage, Lou Ye brings us an astonishingly relevant film, immersive and moving all the way.

Festival selection/awards: Special Screenings Section, Cannes International Film Festival 2024; Winner of both Best Narrative Feature and Best Director at the 61st Golden Horse Awards 2024
TICKETS ON SALE HERE.

 

BY THE STREAM (SUYOOCHEON)
HONG SANGSOO
Sunday 23rd (18.00)
111 mins, South Korea, 2024, Digital, Subtitled

Jeonim (Kim Minhee), an artist and art teacher at an all-girls university in Seoul, sketches patterns in her notebook at a nearby stream each day, which she later weaves into her textile artworks. Jeonim is helping with the university’s annual skit festival, and when student director Junwon gets into a tricky situation involving several students, Jeonim calls upon her Uncle Chu Sieon, a famous former actor, to direct her students’ play. Kim Minhee won the Best Actress prize at the Locarno Film festival for this wonderful, composed meditation on life’s regrets and retrospection.

Festival selection/awards:  Winner Best Actress, Locarno International Film Festival 2024
TICKETS ON SALE HERE.

 

For more information and images contact Casey Hynes at the IFI Press Office at chynes@irishfilm.ie, and Marie-Pierre Richard at EAFFI at mprichard@eaffi.ie.

The East Asia Film Festival Ireland would like to thank the Arts Council, RTÉ Supporting the Arts, the Irish Film Institute, Asia Market, and all its sponsors and partners for their invaluable support.

The IFI acknowledges the support of the Arts Council.