A zany if somewhat overzealous romp as this darkly entertaining meta-film about a struggling director (played by a fantastic Leslie Cheung) forced to make a Cat III erotic movie, features Shu Qi in a breakout role.
Students are forced to kill each other by law in this Asian Extreme cult classic par excellence, still as provocative more than 20 years on in its themes about youth, rebellion and authoritarianism.
A young woman’s unwavering stand against the shameful Iranian legal system is captured with both intimacy and exasperation in this insightful documentary about the case of Reyhaneh Jabbari, who was hanged for acting in self-defence against a rapist in 2014.
This largely assured debut feature by Pakistani director Saim Sadiq boldly tackles themes of patriarchy and transgender as a young, married man becomes smitten by a trans woman.
This beautifully animated adaptation of several Murakami’s texts is talky and philosophical as it flits between surrealism and a sense of groundedness, urging us to find or create meaning in life even when there might be none.
Song Kang-ho is superb in this highly-engaging mainstream drama based on the dark history that was the 1980 Gwangju Uprising as a taxi driver unwittingly brings a German reporter to the site.
A sentient buffalo, a foolish servant sent across time and a shepherd whose days are numbered become mythical figures in Marcello’s magical realist docu-tale that features ravishing images of bucolic Italy, though the film rarely resonates in a deeper way than imagined.
A Brazilian feature debut to savour, from the weathered beauty of rural villages to compelling performances by the cast as an Argentinian drug kingpin seeks refuge in the home of a family, causing tensions to simmer.
A Korean adopted by a French couple when she was a baby returns to Korea for the first time as a French woman in Davy Chou’s intimate if chastening third feature, backed by an excellent performance from Park Ji-min in her acting debut.
Difficult to enjoy and too reliant on its theatrical artifice for three overlong hours, this esoteric and inscrutable drama tackles China’s 20th-century history through the memories of a dead theatre troupe member ready to enter the afterlife.
Eternality Tan 