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. Although nerdy IT expert Hau (Shum Ka-ki) is the ostensible central figure, Hau’s life is controlled by five women who aren’t afraid to take charge, and whose parts are expertly written. Boasting outstanding performances from its leads, especially Jennifer Yu Heung-ying, it builds to an emotionally satisfying ending. The 10 best movies from this year’s Berlin film festival Writer and director Amos Why describes Far Far Away as “a romance comedy of Hong Kong, on Hong Kong and about Hong Kong. “However, it’s much, much more than a romance comedy, if you’re really familiar with Hong Kong, especially with what happened in Hong Kong for the last few years.” Confession The festival’s closing film is a dense, complicated mystery told with skill and precision. Director Yoon Jongseok’s script swirls back and forth in time as police, lawyers, and suspects try to make sense of two deaths. Yoon called it “a story of solidarity and resistance of the weak against social powerhouses”, but said it was first and foremost a mystery thriller. On that level it more than delivers as characters turn on each other and plotlines twist. Yoon replays his central crime from contrasting perspectives, each new version showing the performers in a different light. A remake of the 2016 Spanish film The Invisible Guest , the story takes place largely in wintry Korean mountains. Starring So Ji-sub, K-pop star Nana and Kim Yun-jin, Confession fits its genre niche perfectly. Thunderbird “This is a film about loneliness,” writer and director Lee Jae-won said, introducing the world premiere of a dark, downbeat thriller about rival brothers deep in debt. They both owe money to several competing mobs, and try, not always successfully, to stay one step ahead of their enforcers. Thunderbird has some of the drive and despair of the Safdie brothers’ Good Time , especially when hapless con artist Mi-Young (Lee Sul) is drawn into their orbit. That means if something can go wrong, it will, usually with a weaving handheld camera and a grinding soundtrack. Tomb of the River Another gangster film about angry brothers, Tomb of the River ’ s by-the-numbers plot contains references to everything from Sonatine to The Godfather . Director and writer Yoon Young-bin proves that a well-executed genre film can still command attention. Gangs rule the seaside resort town of Gangneung, but dealing drugs pits “good” crook Gil-suk (Yoo Oh-Sung) against his flashy younger brother, and against an unstable hit man played by Jang Hyuk. Several more gangs will enter the fray before Yoon tightens the screws in the second half for an all-out battle that leaves dozens of corpses. Miracle: Letters to the President Voters gave the festival’s top prize, the Golden Mulberry, to Lee Jang-hoon’s crowd-pleasing comedy drama about a maths prodigy growing up in a village so isolated it has no road or train station. When pleas to the president go unanswered, Jun Kyung (Park Jeong-min) rallies villagers to build a private rail station, South Korea’s first. Lee pushes every possible emotional button to win over viewers, so expect characters to dissolve into tears at some point. The film, which doesn’t take itself too seriously, features strong performances by Im Yoon-ah (of K-pop group Girls’ Generation) as an insistent girlfriend, and the luminous Lee Soo-kyung as Jun’s doting sister. Love Nonetheless Another persistent girlfriend drives Love Nonetheless , winner of the festival’s inaugural Mulberry Award for Best Screenplay (by Rikiya Imaizumi and Hideo Jojo), which had its world premiere in Udine. Sixteen-year-old student Misaki (Yumi Kawai) has a crush on 30-year-old Tada (Koji Seto), a bookshop owner hopelessly in love with another man’s fiancée. Against the odds, their romance – shy, tentative, chaste – is utterly disarming. So is the rest of the plot, an effort to revive the look and feel of “pink films” of an earlier generation. This time the female roles have more agency and authority, to the point of critiquing a lover’s performance in detail and seeking sex advice from a startled Catholic priest. The Italian Recipe Blend This Is Not What I Expected with Roman Holiday , and you have a good idea of The Italian Recipe , a good-natured comedy that at times tries a little too hard. A co-production with Italy’s RAI TV, the feature film debut of Hou Zuxin (formerly a journalist for the Post ) has authentically impressive Roman locations to go with its broad, often over-the-top characters. Huang Yao is winsome as a wannabe cook trying to break free of her family’s demands, while Liu Xun is effective enough as a pop star about to outlive his fame. The best parts of this world premiere belong to the supporting cast, who handle the jokes in Mandarin Chinese, Italian, and English flawlessly. Perhaps Love A romantic comedy about midlife crises set in a comfortably posh upper-class South Korea, Perhaps Love takes a stab at screwball comedy as it details a novelist’s failed marriages and disappointing children. “You’ll understand when you get divorced,” Hyun tells his teenage son when trying to explain why he would sleep with his ex-wife. The movie takes a welcome serious turn when it explores discrimination against gay people; suffering from writer’s block, Hyun finds a manuscript from a gay student that will end up disrupting both of their lives. Mama Boy Mama Boy , from Taiwanese director Arvin Chen, drew a lot of attention at the festival for its portrait of 29-year-old Xiao-hong (Kai Ko Chen-tung), a fish store employee who is still under the thrall of his mother, Mei Ling (Yu Tzu-yu). Does Chen’s portrait of an overbearing mother reflect social realities? Is striking up a relationship with a brothel madam the answer to seeking independence? After the world premiere screening, journalist Filippo Santelli and novelist Zhang Lijia reached opposite conclusions in a panel event marked by heated questions from the audience. Manila by Night Filmed in 1980, this sprawling drama takes place in the Manilla underground during the Ferdinand Marcos regime. Director Ishmael Bernal explores a largely forbidden and unseen world through vignettes that run his ensemble cast through an emotional mill. Heavily censored at the time, it received a limited original release. Newly restored, Manila by Night is an essential addition to LGBTI and underground cinema. Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook