Focus: Through Cinema We Shall Rise!
Programme IFFR 2025
2025 marks the 70th anniversary of the historic Afro-Asian Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia, where 29 nations gathered to discuss economic and political unity, igniting the concept of what is now known as the Global South. The event also inspired the Afro-Asian Film Festival, held three times: in Tashkent (1958), Cairo (1960) and Jakarta (1964), which laid the groundwork for a film culture of resistance and reform. Featuring a selection of films from these three festivals and a world premiere inspired by them and the ‘Bandung spirit’, along with panels and discussions, IFFR will explore their legacy and their relevance today, reinforcing IFFR’s commitment to unearthing the stories of the colonised and dispossessed.
Overview of films
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Tiger Talk: Through Cinema We Shall Rise!
Researchers and a filmmaker trace the Afro-Asian Film Festival’s history and explore articulations of the ‘Bandung Spirit’. -
A Phu and His Wife
Loc Mai | 73' | Vietnam | None
Young lovers break free from the feudal-imperial complex in a tale of revolutionary romance. -
Ballad of the Cart
Yamamoto Satsuo | 145' | Japan | None
A peasant couple’s journey through five turbulent decades of Japanese history. -
Freedom for Ghana + Law of Baseness
(Post-)colonial celebration and indictment: two documentaries about Africa. -
Five Golden Flowers
Wang Jiayi | 105' | China | None
Searching for his beloved, a paramour keeps encountering her namesakes in a delightful romantic musical. -
Four Rivers Six Ranges
Shenpenn Khymsar | 132' | India | World premiere
An electrifying period actioner chronicling an armed resistance to the occupation of Tibet. -
Freedom for Ghana
Sean Graham | 32' | Ghana | None
Independence Day celebrations in Ghana, 1957. A nation awakens to life and liberty. -
Law of Baseness
Aleksandr Medvedkin | 49' | Soviet Union | None
A tour through Africa forms a scathing anti-colonialist and anti-capitalist indictment of the West. -
The Open Door
Henry Barakat | 103' | Egypt | None
An adaptation of Latifa al-Zayyat’s iconic coming-of-age novel about a woman’s political and sexual awakening. -
The Red Detachment of Women
Xie Jin | 92' | China | None
Former captive servant joins an all-women army troop in a fierce feminist ballad of the revolution. -
Santi-Vina
“Marut” (Thavi Na Bangchang) | 117' | Thailand | None
Star-crossed lovers run up against social constraints in a gentle, timeless tale of doomed romance. -
Serfs
Li Jun | 93' | China | None
Bonded labourers battle oppressive feudal overlords with the help of Mao’s benevolent soldiers, in this propaganda film.