BAFF. Preview.

In three days, the Barcelona Asian Film Festival will present its 8th edition, and it's the most complete and daring that the only Spanish festival entirely committed to film from the Far East - besides Mollet del Vallés' modest meeting - has ever held. From April 28 to May 7, BAFF will show around 60 films and 13 shorts programs, with projections being fêted between Casa Àsia, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) and the Aribau Club. The first film to see a projector's light, or to bring light, will be Three Times by Hou Hsiao-hsien, a great compendium of his filmography, devoted as it has been to an analysis of shades in cinema and life. And the privilege of closing the fest is reserved for The Promise, or Chen Kaige's own version of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

In between, eleven films from Japan, China, Indonesia and Thailand will compete in the Official Section for the Durian de Oro provided by Casa Àsia, which is to say: 6000 euros that the director of the winning film should invest in his or her next production. Studies of solitude in Singapore (4:30), social cinema without a political agenda (Bashing), frantic romantic comedies (Joni's Promise), meditations on modern city life (Reflections, by Hou Hsiao-hsien assistant Yao Hung-i), Thailand's own Lost in Translation (Cherm) or politically-infused epics (Gie) form a selection that covers a wide range of perspectives and issues. Multimedia artist Carles Congost, writer and film director David Trueba, film and literature critic Sergi Sànchez, actress Konkona Sen Sharma (as seen on "Page 3") and SFIAAFF director Chui Hui-yang will decide which film deserves what.

In addition are the attractive parallel sections such as the Asian Selection, an offering of some of the continent's best in recent years - Big River, Invisible Waves, A Blue Automobile, University of Laughs and Be With Me among them. The Guest Country will be India, whose imagery is the inspiration for this year's poster. The retrospective is made up of fourteen emblematic films, some of them Bollywood-ish, others more a reflection of political turmoil. There are also particular, well-selected spaces for digital cinema and anime, in a praiseworthy intent to cover all that Asia bring us, and the obligatory short programs.

All in all, BAFF 2006 is a great opportunity to discover, rediscover and enjoy Asian filmmaking. The effort to unite all these titles deserves a certain gratefulness and, going by past numbers, the festival is going to receive it. The new Asian-inspired sections in more established fests and the now-common exhibition of Asian films nowadays in commercial cinema have made the heads of BAFF turn their attention to new values and digital cinema, so the meeting should be bolder than ever before. More to come soon right here.

Posted by dwhudson at April 26, 2006 7:30 AM