On the one hand, roots and history – history that took shape right as the last millennium was drawing to a close. And on the other, the wings of the future. A future that is no longer walking slowly the way it once did but is flying towards us at high speed. Can these invisible nuances of time be captured in a single image? Can the Far East Film Festival's long (very long) journey be summarised without using a single word?
To create the image that will represent the twenty-fifth edition of the FEFF, graphic designer Roberto Rosolin flew side by side with the future itself: not a drawing, not a photo, but a work of art created by Artificial Intelligence. The evanescent and mysterious portrait of two female faces, or perhaps the same face doubled by a mirror, immersed in a blue sky, where the roots and wings cease to be metaphors and start becoming history.
Eagerly awaited in Udine from 21 to 29 April at its historic headquarters in the Teatro Nuovo and in the Visionario cinema, FEFF 25 (#FEFF25 for those who speak social-media-ese) will once again dive into the soul of the Far East: films, special guests, exhibitions, talks, and obviously the packed schedule of events that fills the city centre with all the colours of Asia... And while we're waiting to find out the first films in the line-up, don't forget that the 2023 Accreditation Campaign is already underway online for those wanting to get their hands on Red Panda, White Tiger and Black Dragon passes: three packages Fareasters are very familiar with, and which can be purchased at a special price until 6 March.
Launching in Udine on 10 April 1999, before growing to become what Variety has called one of the world’s 50 unmissable events, the Far East Film Festival is the most important European outpost of popular Asian cinema, playing host every year to authentic legends such as Jackie Chan and Joe Hisaishi, cult directors like Takeshi Kitano, Johnnie To and Takashi Miike, divas, superstars and key players of every kind. It wasn't even stopped by the terrible 2020, when it moved temporarily online. Inclusive and pop-culture-friendly, the FEFF is more than the nine days of the festival itself, spreading across the year through film and TV distribution, home video and even streaming, on the Fareastream digital platform.