4 - 11 October

The Adelaide Festival Centre’s OzAsia Festival and the Media Resource Centre present the return of OzAsia On Screen, a selection of documentaries, shorts and feature films showcasing the scope of screen culture throughout the Asia Pacific region.

Tickets $12/$10

Director: Marie Ferris
Australia 2007 28min
Over the past thirty years, four Vietnamese Australians have searched to build their identity and home in Australia. Escaping the social chaos of a homeland torn apart by war, the first wave of Vietnamese refugees did not expect to have to start a new life. This intimate portrait of four very different personalities, a playwright, a Buddhist Nun, a fashion designer and a student, illuminates what it means to achieve a sense of place in a new country.

Director: Esben Storm
Australia 2008 52min
A portrait of artist Shen Jiawei charting his life’s jouney from Shanghai to Sydney. From serving as a Red Guard during Mao’s Cultural Revolution, to painting tourists at Darling Harbour, to being commissioned to paint an official portrait of Princess Mary of Denmark, Shen Jiawei has defined himself as one of Australia’s foremost painters. Nearly twenty years later he returns to China, giving the audience a personal insight into a country that is still a mystery to most Westerners.

Director: Wing Kin Yip
China 2009 92min 35mm
Master chef Wong Bing-Yi loses custodianship of the powerful Dragon-Head Cleaver and is thrown out of the village when a banquet goes horribly wrong. Determined to reclaim his status, he encounters Shen Qing and resolves to make her struggling restaurant Four Seas a massive success. At the restaurant he discovers Lung Kin-Yat, a young culinary wiz who he trains to represent Four Seas against their rivals Imperial Palace to determine the Top Chef once and for all. Stars Vaness Wu, Cherrie Ying and Sammo Hung.

Director: Robert Connolly
Australia 2009
90min 35mm
Recreating events surrounding the shooting of five Australian journalists during Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor in 1975, this tense political thriller is told through the eyes of a sixth Australian, Roger East. East is lured to East Timor to investigate the truth behind the death of the five men, who were reported as being caught in crossfire during the invasion, and discovers to his own detriment that his task is highly dangerous. Stars Anthony LaPaglia.

Q&A with director Robert Connolly after the screening.

Director: Farah Khan
India 2007 162min 35mm
Hindi with English subtitles
For some dreams, one lifetime is not enough in this joyous exploration of the infinite possibilities of reincarnation, and the crazy journey we all experience on the way. Om Kapoor, an aspiring actor and director falls for movie starlet Shantipriya despite her husband’s protestations, a secret pregnancy and the burden of centuries of tradition. It seems this is a love destined to never be, but after two tragic deaths and a twist of fate, the two lovers cross paths once again thirty years later. Can they finally form a bond to last through this life and beyond? Both a homage and parody of Bollywood, this vibrant movie experience stars Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone plus cameos from an incredible array of Bollywood stars including over 30 in one musical number alone!

Director: Mamoru Oshii
Japan 2008 180min 35mm
In a parallel universe, genetically created humanoids called Kildren have been bred to live in a perpetual adolescence, but forced to fight in deadly war games staged as entertainment for the public, they constantly face the prospect of death. Kannami Yuichi, a fighter pilot newly assigned to Urisu Base to replace his dead predecessor, learns to embrace the reality he is faced with and live his day-to-day life to the full. From the acclaimed director of the Ghost in the Shell series, this is one of the most highly anticipated films among fans of anime and the only full length, uncut screening in Adelaide.

Dir: Imtiaz Ali
India 2009 130min 35mm
Hindi with English subtitles
The stories of two couples, from two different times, exploring two ways of love. Love Aaj (Now); in 2009 Jai and Meera are a modern couple in London who are very happy together but do not believe in tying each other down. So when life pulls them in different directions, they decide to go with the flow. Love Kal (Then); in 1965 Veer Singh is struck by love the moment he sees Harleen for the first time, travelling a thousand kilometres by train to stand under her balcony only to have a glimpse of her face without speaking a word to her. Love Aaj Kal; Veer and Jai do not understand each other’s points of view, but as both stories unfold it becomes clear that while relationships might be different over time, the experience of love remains the same. As distances widen between two people, bridges keep growing too. Stars Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone.

Director: Tony Ayres
Australia 1997 30min
Probing the uncomfortable reality of racial stereotyping and discrimination in the gay world through interviews with Australian men of Asian descent who talk frankly, and often humorously, of their experiences living within a double minority. Director Ayres tells his own highly personal story of his journey from denial to self-acceptance.

Director: Tony Ayres
Australia 1999 52min
Award winning photographer William Yang explores issues of grief, family and identity in this adaptation of his acclaimed stage performance. Through a mesmerising, poetic montage of storytelling, photography and stylised re-enactment, Yang brings to life the stories of his family and friends.