Udine 2022: the 10 best movies at the Far East Film Festival, from Korean mystery Confession to Hong Kong romcom Far Far Away
- Far Far Away is a romantic comedy set against the backdrop of recent events in Hong Kong. Confession is a densely plotted film about a race to solve two deaths
- Two Korean gangster films stood out, as did the winner of the event’s top award, about a remote Korean village that builds its own railway station
After 2021’s hybrid version, the 24th Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, returned this year to a full schedule of films screened to in-theatre guests.
Attendance surged to 40,000, some 70 filmmakers were present and, despite Covid-19 precautions, screenings in the 1,200-seat Teatro Nuovo were filled with enthusiastic fans.
Only a handful of interviews had to be conducted via Zoom as a result of quarantine restrictions. Takeshi Kitano, recipient the Golden Mulberry Award for Lifetime Achievement, decided to not travel to Italy, turning back at the airport with his plane waiting. He spoke to the audience on video before a screening of his film Sonatine.
Other repertory screenings included Hiroshima Mon Amour, Pale Flower, and a newly restored print of The Heroic Trio.
With 72 features from 15 territories, including 13 world premieres, it’s impossible to see everything at FEFF. But these are 10 titles that stood out.
Far Far Away
On the surface a romantic comedy about young adults, complete with bouncy music and sparkly animation, look closer and this Hong Kong film explores serious themes with depth and compassion.
