American Film Market Dailies

  ASIAN POP-UP CINEMA ANNOUNCES

SEASON 11 

DRIVE IN, STREAMING, and HALLOWEEN WEEKEND PLUS,

September 10- October 31

Celebrating its 5th Anniversary, Asian Pop Up Cinema: Season 11 will present 22 movies and one of its strongest lineups with its first joint virtual and drive-in film festival both opening September 10 and running through October 10, 2020, with a Plus addition October 30 - 31 celebrating Halloween at the drive-in.

In addition to many North American premieres, the drive-in features seven movies with grand opening and closing night screenings, the recurring annual Mid-Autumn Festival “Movie with Mooncakes” and a screening fundraiser for the Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRO) benefiting the frontline healthcare workers, while celebrating Filipino American History Month.

The two drive-in screenings for Halloween weekend is a double-feature horror presentation directed by the internationally known Korean director Yeon Sang-ho, Train to Busan and its new sequel Peninsula.

Pre-recorded “Filmmakers’ Talks” are included in the majority feature presentation with questionnaire provided by our virtual moderators Mark Schilling in Japan, Kevin Ma in Hong Kong and Ron Falzone in Chicago.

Fifteen international or U.S. premieres of films will be available online restricted for U.S. territory only during the festival in partnership with Festival Scope, Europe’s leading online film festival platform.

The Festival’s programming is selected by Sophia’s Choice (aka Festival Director and Founder Sophia Wong Boccio) who went the extra mile to spotlight an exciting lineup for moviegoers during the pandemic.

"With most film festivals going completely virtual in 2020, Asian Pop-Up Cinema will host a special CDC-compliant drive-in program (in addition to streaming movies) to remind us of the fun of watching films on a big screen with a live audience. Secondly, Season 11 will include for the first time a large selection of rarely shown documentaries to nurture our audience with a strong dose of pure beauty -- both humanitarian and cinematic. And last but not least, we are truly delivering on our mission to be ‘your passport to Asian Cinema’ by offering you an Asian film festival to enjoy from the safety of your home base,” said Sophia Wong Boccio, Founder and Executive Director.

Whether at the drive-in or online, the festival continues to deliver new and exciting cinema highlighting the best releases from top movie distributors in the Far East (and U.S).

The opening drive-in film, South Korea’s Paper Flower, directed by Koh Hoon features one of Korea’s most famous male actors, Ahn Sung-ki. His superb performance in Paper Flower will be honored with Season 11’s Career Achievement Award. Ahn Sung-ki has prepared a special video presentation for the festival which will be shown before the drive-in screening. The international premiere of Diaspora: Arirang Road, musical documentary, about the song that has historically inspired Koreans for the last 150 years and its modern renditions. 

Closing Night is the first romantic psychodrama made in Hong Kong, Beyond the Dream, where Terrance Lau earned critical acclaim for his performance and plays a recovering schizophrenic and yearns for love.

The Taiwanese selection: Spotlight in Documentaries, presents a wide-ranging selection of documentaries that reflects the versatility of filmmaking that covers humanity’s connection with living creatures, the earth and each other: Water with Life, Formosan B.B. Is Coming, Whale Island, Walking Dharma and Tsunma, Tsunma: My Summer with the Female Monastics of the Himalaya.

This season’s selection of films from Japan proves as eclectic as ever with a fascinating diversity of styles and themes, by emerging and established creators. The festival is thrilled to present the World Premiere of Japan’s new anime film Happy-Go-Lucky Days based on the manga series by Takako Shimura; and two indie films giving intimate looks into the lives of the sex workers and the homeless people: Life: Untitled, adapted from her own stage play, Kana Yamada’s directorial debut is a multi-faceted portrayal of women’s lives intersecting with a Tokyo escort service; and the North American Premiere of A Dobugawa Dream, director Asato Watanabe’s tale of a young man in what could be described as a substitute family in this strange, surreal world of suburban Japan. Lastly, the off-beat Life Finds A Way by director Hirobumi Watanabe will resonant with all the filmmakers having writer’s block and the tension between everyday life and being a filmmaker.

Next up are three Chinese dramas where the homecoming trips find solace to some protagonists and chaos to the others. Director Zhang Xian’s U.S. Premiere of Best Director, where the engaged couple are faced off with parents, in-laws, old fling and buddies’ insatiable favors & demands; Huang Zi’s Grand Jury Prize Winner, All About ING, where a conflicted family each have its own way to cope with the changes terminal cancer brings; and A Touch of Spring where a Canadian Chinese woman living in a chaotic marriage in Montreal looking for a place where she can truly belong back home. 

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Drive-in

@ Davis Theater Drive-in at Lincoln Yards, 1684 N. Throop Street.

Doors open at 7:30pm-10:30pm. Showtime at sunset. 40 vehicles only for social distancing.

Opening Night

Thursday, September 10

SOUTH KOREA

-Paper Flower (Koh Hoon, 2019) Chicago Premiere

Thursday, October 1

CHINA

Celebrating the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival with “Movie with Mooncakes” sponsored by Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China. Free.  RSVP is required. First Come First Served

-The Climbers (Daniel Lee, 2019) Special encore presentation

Saturday, October 3

PHILIPPINES

-Edward (Thop Nazareno, 2019) U.S. Premiere

Fundraiser benefiting the Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRO) to support the frontline healthcare workers and celebrate Filipino American History Month.

Friday, October 9

HONG KONG

-My Prince Edward (Norris Wong, 2019) Chicago Premiere

Closing Night

HONG KONG

Saturday, October 10

-Beyond the Dream (Kiwi Chow, 2019) U.S. Premiere

Halloween Weekend Plus

SOUTH KOREA

Director Yeon Sang-ho Double Feature

Friday, October 30

-Train to Busan (Yeon Sang-ho, 2016)

Saturday, October 31

- Peninsula (Sequel) (Yeon Sang-ho, 2020)

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Streaming for USA ONLY

Festival Scope: festivalscope.com/page/apuc

Each film is available online for streaming 5 days from their respective weekly schedules. Viewers can watch anytime within 30 hours to finish the title once.

SOUTH KOREA WEEK (September 10-14)

-Diaspora: Arirang Road (Lee Kyu-chu, 2019) International Premiere

JAPAN WEEK (September 15-19)  

-Happy-Go-Lucky Days (Takuya Sato, 2020) World Premiere

- A Dobugawa Dream (Asato Watanabe, 2018) North American Premiere

-Life: Untitled (Kana Yamada, 2019) Chicago Premiere

-Life Finds A Way (Hirobumi Watanabe, 2018) North American Premiere

TAIWAN WEEK (September 22-26)

Spotlight in Documentaries 

-Formosan B.B. Is Coming (Mai Chueh-ming, 2019) U.S. Premiere

-Water with Life (Takashi Komuro, 2019) U.S. Premiere

-Whale Island (Huang Chia-chun, 2020) U.S. Premiere

-Walking Dharma (Hsieh-Hsih-chih, 2019) U.S. Premiere

-Tsunma, Tsunma: My Summer with the Female Monastics of the Himalaya (Lin-li-fang, 2018) U.S. Premiere

CHINA WEEK (September 29-October 3)

-Best Director (Zhang Xian, 2019) U.S. Premiere

-All About ING (Huang Zi, 2019) U.S. Premiere

-A Touch of Spring (He Xiaodan) Chicago Premiere           

HONG KONG WEEK (October 6-10)

-Men on the Dragon (Sunny Chan, 2018) Chicago Premiere (Free Streaming. RSVP is still required. F-C-F-S, more info: asianpopupcinema.org/tickets)

-Women Who Flirt  (Pang Ho-cheung, 2014) Special Encore Celebrating APUC 5th Anniversary

 For an extended version of the full press release, film details and schedule Click here

Tickets for Asian Pop-Up Cinema - Season 11 are on sale now; all screenings are available at www.asianpopupcinema.org/tickets  (7 drive-in films) or festivalscope.co/page/apuc (15 online films).

Individual streaming tickets are $5 rental per online title, each title is capped for 400 views.  Sold via festivalscope.com under each film’s page; $15 per vehicle @ drive-in.  Sold via www.asianpopupcinema.org/tickets or clicked through each film page’s “Buy Tickets” button. All ticket sales are final, non-refundable and non-exchangeable. All programs are subject to change. For the latest news and up-to-date screening information, subscribe at asianpopupcinema.org/subscribe

 ABOUT SOPHIA’S CHOICE / ASIAN POP-UP CINEMA

Asian Pop-Up Cinema, a semi-annual Asian Film Festival, is the brainchild of Sophia Wong Boccio, founder of Sophia’s Choice, a Chicago-based 501 C (3) not-for-profit incorporated in 2015 with the multi-pronged mission of cultivating an interest in and understanding of Asian cultures via a diverse offering of Asian films; connecting the Asian film industry with local Chicago film professionals, educators and students; and promoting Chicago as a destination for international visitors.

Connect with Asian Pop Up Cinema:

Facebook: facebook.com/asianpopupcinema.org; Twitter: asianpopupcine 

Instagram: @asianpopupcinema and Vimeo: vimeo.com/asianpopupcinema

Festival Scope (www.festivalscope.com) is a platform which allows the programming of selected festivals around the world to be viewed online.  In partnership with some of the most prestigious international film festivals, Festival Scope offers film-lovers and professionals the chance to enjoy a selection of films, very often right after their world premieres live at the Festival! By making these titles available for a few more days following their premiere, the aim is to give a glimpse of upcoming releases but also to promote and help these films reach their deserved audiences.

Asian Pop-Up Cinema Season 11 Main Sponsors

 Arts For Illinois Relief Fund; Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office, New York; Arts Work Fund; Choose Chicago; The MacArthur Funds For Culture, Equity, And The Arts At The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation; ADG Group; The Consulate General Of The Republic Of Korea In Chicago; Taipei Cultural Enter In New York; BMO Harris Bank; CityArts from The Department Of Cultural Affairs And Special Events; Consulate General of People’s Republic of China in Chicago; Japan Information Center/Consulate General of Japan In Chicago and Consulate General of Canada in Chicago