On Thursday 1 May, the legendary Taiwanese superstar will receive the Golden Mulberry Award for Lifetime Achievement on the stage of the Teatro Nuovo theatre.
The Far East Film Festival 27 will close on Friday 2 May with animated love story The Square and the festive J-Pop of Ya Boy Kongming! The Movie.
The journey of this year's Far East Film Festival is about to come to a close. It's been an intense and exhilarating voyage into the heart of contemporary Asia, but the last two days of the journey are just as packed with delights for the Far East's devotees. First of all (and is it even necessary to say it?) there's one of the most eagerly-anticipated and exciting events of the entire 2025 programme: the presentation of the Golden Mulberry Award for Lifetime Achievement to legendary Taiwanese superstar Sylvia Chang! Actress, singer, director, tireless mentor of artists taking their first steps in the business, plus screenwriter, producer, radio DJ...
If it weren't so overused, the word "icon" is the only one that really fits - but to be honest, any word risks diminishing her greatness and range of talents. Tomorrow (2 May) FEFF 27 will let us admire the Sylvia of the '80s in the restored version of Tsui Hark's evergreen cult movie Shanghai Blues, and today (1 May) it will allow us admire the Sylvia of the present and the future in Huang Xi's splendid family drama Daughter’s Daughter. Before the screening, Sylvia Chang will take the stage of the Teatro Nuovo theatre to receive the Golden Mulberry from Sabrina Baracetti and Thomas Bertacche, the two founders of the Udine festival.
And as we were saying, the last two days of the journey will be no less intense or exciting than the previous seven - in fact they're all set to be a stylistic and geographical whirlwind: from the adrenaline of Hong Kong disaster movie Cesium Fallout, the temporal paradoxes of Japan's Rewrite (in Udine for its world premiere) and the sentimental turbulence of Taiwan's The Uniform to the Chinese war games of Decoded and the two highly anticipated titles that will mark the closing of the curtain. We are, of course, talking about South Korean animated love story The Square and the wild Ya Boy Kongming! The Movie, which will flood the Teatro Nuovo theatre with J-Pop and see star Osamu Mukai taking the stage clad in the wuxia-style costume of his character in the movie: the legendary strategist of the Three Kingdoms Zhuge Kongming!
The eighth and ninth days, minute by minute!
THURSDAY 1 MAY
09:00 – News from Asia The daily press review by Giulia Pompili and Francesco Radicioni.
09:00 THE LAST DANCE – EXTENDED VERSION Directed by Anselm Chan (Hong Kong, 2025)
10:30 FEFF TALKS This morning's talks will look at the cinema of Hong Kong and Indonesia.
11:40 SEE YOU TOMORROW Directed by Michimoto Saki (Japan, 2024)
14:00 - Visionario THE GREAT YOKAI WAR Directed by Miike Takashi (Japan, 2005)
14:30 THE UNIFORM Directed by Chuang Ching-shen (Taiwan, 2024)
16:25 - Visionario THE GREAT YOKAI WAR: GUARDIANS Directed by Miike Takashi (Japan, 2021)
16:40 PAPA Directed by Philip Yung (Hong Kong, 2024)
17:45 BAMBÙ TALKS Giulia Pompili and Francesco Radicioni in conversation with well-known entrepreneur Alberto Forchielli.
19:30 DAUGHTER’S DAUGHTER Directed by Huang Xi (Taiwan, 2024)
21:55 CESIUM FALLOUT Directed by Anthony Pun (Hong Kong, 2024)
FRIDAY 2 MAY
09:00 SHANGAI BLUES Directed by Tsui Hark (Hong Kong, 1984/Restored 2024)
Followed by FEFF TALKS Ladies and gentlemen, mister Tsui Hark!
14:30 REWRITE Directed by Matsui Daigo (Japan, 2025)
15:00 FEFF TALKS Taiwan
16:55 DECODED Directed by Chen Sicheng (China, 2024)
20:00 THE SQUARE Directed by Kim Bo-sol (South Korea, 2025)
21:40 YA BOY KONGMING! THE MOVIE Directed by Shibue Shuhei (Japan, 2025)
Followed by AUDIENCE AWARDS 2025 Awards Ceremony