Spotlight on Films from Asia at #WFA2021

Millions of children are engaged in child labour in India, in an increasingly growing number every year. And with that, millions of childhood dreams are never realised as a result of a lack of education. Baitullah is the story of one such child, with a dream, surviving in the maddening metropolis of Mumbai waiting for someone to notice.

When Gon, a playful orphaned fox, finds that young Hyoju has lost his mother, he tries to comfort him and make amends for his own earlier mischief by secretly bringing small gifts to the boy every day. But Hyoju doesn’t realize who is behind the anonymous gifts, and the two are headed for a heartbreaking climax.

Contemporary Shanghai, summer. Xia Qing, a boy who has been wearing hearing aids due to hearing loss, has a deep love for dancing. He gains so much joy just from copying Martha Graham’s hand gestures in a dance magazine. A kid with a precocious nature, he sometimes paints his pinky nail red just for that glimpse of beauty. Yet all these passionate pursuits are misunderstood and questioned by his single, deaf mother. Given the opportunity to audition for his favorite dance company once in a blue moon, he has no choice but to return to his body–He seeks his mother’s approval and longs to overcome this obscure self-identity crisis, through the silent language on his fingertips.

High Flying Jade is the true story of a bipolar woman from Los Angeles who moved to Vietnam and joined the circus in Hồ Chí Minh City. In the US, Jade was an air traffic controller but repeated attempts at suicide culminated in hospitalization. She was eventually diagnosed and treated for bipolar disorder. Now, she tries to manage her unique brain chemistry with learned-mindfulness and focused aerial training. We meet her one week before the opening night of her first ever performance in a real, big top circus.

A couple on their anniversary freaks out when they both experience the same oddly vivid nightmare.

Trapped in an abandoned royal palace, a young prince must confront the unsettling secrets of his family’s past, escape evil forces and battle dark magic in order to survive.

This is one of four short films in a series called The Seasons. Each short film represents a feeling related to a season of the year. The Winter applies traditional paint-on-glass animation depicting a story between a peasant and a mysterious deer in a snowy forest.

Escape “remotely” or “virtually” from home to India! Find local treasures with Rohini Chandra in the regions of Delhi, Haryana, & Kolkata where no commercial tour guide will take you. As your special tour guide, Rohini takes you to the country where her parents were born and brought up. Through the artistic perspective of her eyes and heart, this travelogue reveals the fresh & personal moments that travel can bring with exuberant joy and life lessons. The rustic & new India is now at your fingertips!

Fei Fei, a married Caucasian western woman living in China suddenly meets Bai Yu, a Chinese blind masseur. Against all odds, Bai Yu and Fei Fei come together in an intense love affair. When Fei Fei pulls away from the affair, Bai Yu grows obsessive, possessive, possessed. Finally, the characters find the demons they’ve created can only implode in a clash of mixed desires and violent impulses.

This hand-painted short animation depicts a story of two little people living in a wheat field. They grow together until the day the man left. The relationship between two little people keeps growing in the woman’s heart.

In this episode of the Who Got Balls series, basketball genius Jeffrey Cariaso or “The Jet” in Philippine basketball, gives us his perspective as a team player, coach, and entrepreneur.