Five programs highlighting exciting new directions in cinema and celebrating leading filmmakers from Asia and the Pacific will screen at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) from 1 November 2024 to 11 May 2025.

Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) Director Chris Saines said Asia Pacific Triennial Cinema, presented in conjunction with the eleventh edition of the Gallery’s flagship Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, would include two thematic programs; curated surveys of the work of filmmakers Tsai Ming‑liang (Taiwan), Kamila Andini (Indonesia) and Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Japan); a conversation series; and a Live Music & Film event.

‘From astute observations of the human condition to feel-good frivolity, Asia Pacific Triennial Cinema explores the passage of time and takes cinemagoers on an unforgettable journey across a culturally diverse region,’ he said.

Curatorial Manager, Australian Cinémathèque, Amanda Slack-Smith said Asia Pacific Triennial Cinema would present over 110 feature, documentary and short films on the Gallery’s two screens from November to April.

The first program, ‘Tsai Ming‑liang’ (1 Nov - 22 Dec 2024), offers an unmissable collection of films from one of the most celebrated directors of the second wave of New Taiwan Cinema.

Among the highlights will be Tsai’s haunting masterpiece Bu san (Goodbye, Dragon Inn) 2003, which unfolds on a rainy night inside a cinema on the brink of closure; and the award-winning drama Ai qing wan sui (Vive L’amour) 1994, a bewitching tale of three strangers inadvertently sharing an apartment.

On 1 December, QAGOMA offers cinephiles a not-to-be-missed opportunity to see Tsai Ming-liang live in conversation at GOMA.

‘Future Visions’ (10 Jan – 16 Mar 2025) is a geographically diverse selection of films by moving-image artists and filmmakers who weave science fiction with heritage traditions and ancestral stories to create poignant contemporary tales. It includes Um Tae‑hwa’s unconventional disaster film Concrete Utopia 2023, where a single apartment building is left standing in Seoul; and Makoto Shinkai’s magical anime feature Suzume 2022, in which a giant interdimensional ‘worm’ must be stopped.

‘Kamila Andini’ (11 Jan – 8 Feb 2025) reveals the cinematic prowess of Andini, an ascending Indonesian director whose films masterfully explore nuanced familial relationships. Must-see films include Before, Now & Then 2022, a stirring tale of a woman’s escape from an unhappy marriage during political upheaval; and Sekala Niskala (The Seen and Unseen) 2017, a magical realist exploration of grief deeply infused with Balinese spirituality and culture.

On 8 February, Kamilia Andini is in conversation at GOMA to mark the end of the program.

Acclaimed films rarely screened in Australia feature in ‘Children of Independence: The Rise of Central Asian Cinema’ (12 Feb – 19 Mar 2025), a program charting recent developments in filmmaking from Central Asian countries including Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. It includes Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s Sary mysyq (Yellow Cat) 2020, an irreverent depiction of the ‘wild west’ of Kazakhstan’s rural steppe; and This is What I Remember 2022 by director Aktan Arym Kubat, an arresting vision of the power of familial love.

Asia Pacific Triennial Cinema closes with ‘Ryusuke Hamaguchi’ (26 Mar – 11 May 2025), a program celebrating the piercing, droll and exquisitely exposed films of the Japanese director. Highlights include Hamaguchi’s Academy Award-winning feature film Drive My Car 2021, a Haruki Murakami short story adaptation; and Aku wa sonzai shinai (Evil Does Not Exist) 2023, a transfixing drama about a rural town dealing with intrusions from a big city ‘glamping’ company.

On 24 and 26 April, Hamaguchi’s unique Gift 2023 will screen with live music accompaniment from musician-composer Eiko Ishibashi. A collaboration between Hamaguchi and Ishibashi, who also composed the score for Drive My Car, Gift finds Hamaguchi re-working footage from Evil Does Not Exist into a new dialogue-free film exclusive to this audiovisual performance accompanied by Ishibashi. On 27 April, audiences can join Ishibashi and Satoshi Takata, Gift producer and frequent Hamaguchi collaborator, in conversation at GOMA.

QAGOMA’s Australian Cinémathèque presents curated programs, genre showcases and director retrospectives covering the world of film from crowd-pleasing fan favourites and cult classics to hard-to-find international cinema, rare 35mm prints and silent films with live musical accompaniment.

Asia Pacific Triennial Cinema screenings and In Conversation events with Kamila Andini, Eiko Ishibashi and Satoshi Takata are free. Tickets are on sale now for Tsai Ming-liang In Conversation, and tickets for the Live Music and Film event for Gift will be on sale soon.

QAGOMA acknowledges the generous support of Presenting Partner Crumpler for Asia Pacific Triennial Cinema.

Asia Pacific Triennial Cinema includes the following:

• ‘Tsai Ming-liang’ screenings: 1 November – 22 December 2024 (free)
• Tsai Ming-liang In Conversation: 1 December 2024 (ticketed)
• ‘Future Visions’ screenings: 10 January – 16 March 2025 (free)
• ‘Kamila Andini’ screenings: 11 January – 8 February 2025 (free)
• Kamila Andini In Conversation: 8 February 2025 (free)
• ‘Children of Independence: The Rise of Central Asian Cinema’ screenings: 12 February – 19 March 2025 (free)
• ‘Ryusuke Hamaguchi’ screenings: 28 March – 11 May 2025 (free)
• GIFT - A Live Score by Eiko Ishibashi X Film by Ryusuke Hamaguchi: 24 and 26 April 2025 (ticketed)
• Eiko Ishibashi and Satoshi Takata In Conversation: 27 April 2025 (free)

ENDS