Two Amazing Asian Films You Don't Know About But Should

Still from PARKing CHANce’s Night Fishing.

While all the films screening at our New York event in DUMBO next weekend are interesting and inventive in their own right, we’re especially excited to bring South Korean brothers PARKing CHANce‘s film Night Fishing and Chinese rockstar Peng Lei’s Follow Follow to the Western hemisphere for the first time. Both directors have robust local followings, but to give you a bit of context, here’s the lowdown on them and sneak peaks of their films. Make sure to RSVP for the film screenings here.

PARKing CHANce: Night Fishing (2011), 33 minutes

Park Chan Wook, the Korean director best known for his 2003 revenge flick, Oldboy, and his brother and collaborator Park Chan-kyong are the duo behind Night Fishing. It’s a mysterious and slightly twisted short film about a man who goes fishing and comes across a dead woman whom he may or may not have killed. The real kicker here though, is the nature in which the film was shot.

Instead of using traditional equipment, the short was shot primarily with two iPhone 4s, but it also incorporates footage from random smartphones owned by people on set. According to the brothers’ agent, this iPhone-shot film is the "first ever to be shown in cinemas." It’s a perfect example of the kind of democratized and spontaneous filmmaking that The Creators Project is all about, meaning there are no more excuses for not having the means to actualize your vision. (Thank you Steve Jobs). Read about our other favorite mobile phone-shot movies here.

Peng Lei: Follow, Follow (2011), 100 minutes

Not only is Peng Lei frontman of the Chinese punk rock band New Pants, but he’s also an established animator and director. We premiered his latest film Follow Follow during our Beijing event, and it went over so well we had to add a second screening. We’ve decided to bring it to New York to charm US audiences.

Noticing that China was lacking films addressing Chinese pop culture, Lei set out to cover exactly that. The plot, which is spiritually led by Kurt Cobain (whatever that means!) revolves around the rock ‘n’ roll-inspired journey of Chinese youth. In fact, the cast was sourced almost entirely from the Beijing music scene. Lei says, “These friends live lives that are more wonderful than what I am presenting in the film. They are really rock ’n' roll!” Read the rest of our interview with Peng Lei here.

Stay tuned to the New York event page for screening times and make sure to RSVP here.