Asia Society 7 UP Film Institute Screen Films From Global Lens Collection

Asia Society with UP Film Institute screens films from the Global Lens Collection

Asia Society, in partnership with UP Film Institute, presents six critically acclaimed Asian films from the Global Lens Collection. Established by the Global Film Initiative in 2004, the series aims to promote cross-cultural understanding by providing moviegoers with access to critically-acclaime d films from developing countries

The selection gives audiences a glimpse into the lives of ordinary men and women across the region. Helmed by some of the most engaging storytellers in Asia today, these films show Asia in all its diversity – taking viewers through lush landscapes and gritty urban skylines to experience each country’s unique cultural nuances and social concerns.

Screenings and discussions of the Global Lens Collection will be held at the UP Film Institute on September 10, 11 and 12. Admission is free.

Sept 10 Wed - Main Cinema

5 p.m. Border Café ( Iran )

7 p.m. Buffalo Boy ( Vietnam )

Sept 11 Thu - Main Cinema

5 p.m. Of Love and Eggs (Rindu kami padamu - Indonesia )

7 p.m. Dam Street ( China )

Sept 12 Fri

4:30 p.m. – Videotheque: Kubrador (The Bet Collector - RP)

6:30 p.m. - Ishmael Bernal Gallery: Let the Wind Blow ( India )

The Global Lens Collection

Border Café ( Iran , 2005, Kambozia Partovi)

Official Selection in Main Competition; Winner of Special Mention; ACCA Jury Prize—2006 Mar del Plata IFF

A young widow takes over her late husband's truck stop café, keeping hidden in the kitchen so as not to cause a scandal in Iran 's conservative society. But her brother-in-law, out of familial obligation, wants to take her as a wife and also take over the café. Meanwhile a Greek trucker who is a frequent café customer, is slowly entranced - at first by her sublime cooking ability, and then by her.

Buffalo Boy ( Vietnam , 2004, Nguyen-Vô Nghiem-Minh)

Locarno 2004 Official Selection for Golden Leopard—2004 Locarno IFF; Grand Prize Winner—2004 Amiens IFF

In this powerful coming-of-age story set in rural 1940s Vietnam , a young man takes up with a rough band of nomadic buffalo herders and discovers freedom, violence and love - but also secrets about his past that will change his life forever.

Dam Street ( China , 2005, Li Yu)

Winner of CICAE Award—2005 Venice IFF; From the director of Lost In Beijing

In the early–1980s, Xiao Yun—a sixteen year–old girl living in small riverside town in China —discovers she is pregnant. In the aftermath, her boyfriend leaves her, and she gives birth and is then forced to put her child up for adoption. Ten years later, Xiao Yunn is reduced to working as a singer in a local song and dance troupe. And her only real companion is Xiao Yong, a fiercely affectionate boy who protects her from the critical eyes of the community until a marriage proposal discovers the limits of their friendship, and the depth of her unresolved past.

Let the Wind Blow ( India , 2004, Partho Sen-Gupta)

Grand Prize Winner—2004 Durban IFF; Firebird Prize Special Mention—2004 Hong Kong IFF

At the height of nuclear tensions between India and Pakistan , Arjun and his best friend, Chabia, weigh their options for the future against the reality of life on the streets of Mumbai. Enticed by the promise of wealth and opportunity in the Persian Gulf , Chabia is eager to leave his job as a mechanic. But for Arjun, who must finish college and care for his mother, the decision is not so easy in director Partho Sen-Gupta's gritty, apocalyptic interpretation of Krishna 's counsel to Arjuna, from the Bhagavad Gita.

Of Love and Eggs ( Indonesia , 2004, Garin Nugroho)

Official Selection—2005 Rotterdam IFF

The ever-surprising Garin Nugroho, angered by a Muslim cleric's call for the banning of a comedy for teenagers, responds by making a censor-proof movie about a working-class community in Jakarta during the Lebaran holiday. Shot entirely in the studio), it lovingly recreates the tone, style and pastel hues of an Indonesian comedy from the heyday of the studio system. his film brings this gentle humor to complex relationships between parents and children, and to social and religious issues of life in and around a Jakarta mosque, through the eyes and voices of children, and the powerful imagery of a prayer rug, young love—and eggs.

The Bet Collector ( Philippines , 2006, Jeffrey Jeturian)

Official Selection for Golden St. George; Winner of International Critics

Prize—2006 Moscow International Film Festival;Best Picture; Best Actress for Gina Pareño, International Critics Prize—2006 Osian’s Cinefan Festival of Asian Cinema- New Delhi, India among more awards and distinctions including top Philippine honors

Amy, the family matriarch, makes ends meet by running a small convenience store out of her home. But in a struggling economy customers are scarce, and without the help of her husband or pregnant daughter, she is forced to supplement the family income by collecting bets for an illegal numbers game. In this starkly realistic narrative, director Jeffrey Jeturian presents a captivating portrait of a once-proud woman, haunted by memories of a dead son and hounded by the police, and her fragile and lonely life as a kubrador (bet collector) on the streets of Manila.

About Asia Society

Asia Society in the Philippines was established in 1999 with a mission to promote understanding of Asia through education. Asia Society presents the uniqueness and diversity of Asian cultures through lectures, exhibitions, films, seminars, conferences, and travel study tours. Asia Society Philippines is a non-profit foundation accredited by the Philippine Council for NGO Certification (PCNC) and is supported by membership contributions from foundations, institutions, corporations, and individuals. All donations made to Asia Society Philippines are tax deductible. To become involved in Asia Society projects, please call (632)7524374 or (632)8108983