Projects in genres: Asian

Synopsis

Set in the South China Sea during the early 19th century, THE PIRATE QUEEN tells the extraordinary true-inspired story of Cheng Shih, a woman who rose from obscurity to command the largest pirate confederation in recorded history. When her husband dies at sea, Cheng Shih inherits a fragile empire on the brink of collapse. Surrounded by rival captains, internal betrayal, and escalating imperial pressure, she must outmanoeuvre enemies on all sides to keep Red Flag Fleet together. Through strategic brilliance and ruthless restraint, she transforms from an underestimated widow into a leader whose authority rivals the world’s greatest navies. This narrative-driven VR experience places audiences inside Cheng Shih’s ascent to power. Developed over five years in collaboration with historians and cultural advisors, the project draws on extensive research into Qing Dynasty China and British–Chinese relations. Official Selection Cannes Film Festival 2026 - Immersive Competition - World premiere

Synopsis

We are introduced to Ashkan, an unconventional dentist and battle-scarred visionary leading South Cliff Dental through rapid growth as he prepares to unveil a new headquarters. Ashkan navigates through a dark and turbulent period marked by personal collapse, body dysmorphia, steroid abuse, and a professional investigation that threatens to end his career. As his life spirals toward despair, a timely phone call rekindles his passion for the arts and offers a glimmer of redemption, even as the lasting effects of his choices nearly cost him his life. We follow Ashkan's transformation as he embraces a clean lifestyle and champions a bold, disruptive vision for the future of dentistry.

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A chance encounter at a launderette sparks an intense emotional intimacy between Vinnie and Ryan. As closeness blurs into desire, their relationship forces them to confront what love demands before it fractures everything they have built.

Synopsis

In the ancient Bugis way of life in Indonesia, gender non-binary ‘bissu’ were once revered spiritual leaders. Eka, one of the last remaining bissu, decides to leave behind their identity, searching for belonging in a world that insists on definitions. Official Selection Hot Docs 2026 - World premiere Official Selection Visions du Réel 2026

Synopsis

In a Japanese coastal town still haunted by the 2011 tsunami, a taxi becomes a moving confession booth. Over the course of one night, a series of conversations between drivers and their passengers reveal how those who survived live with the dead - as ghostly tales, dreams and everyday life merge in a magical drift between reality and imagination. Official Selection Visions du Reel 2026

Synopsis

Ryan is destined to dance, but has to put his passion aside to tend to his duties at his family’s nail salon.

Synopsis

Ying, a Hong Kong immigrant, has recently moved to the UK with her husband and son. Far from the life she once imagined, Ying feels increasingly lost in her new surroundings. When she unexpectedly reunites with her ex-boyfriend Hong - now an exiled photographer working in a supermarket - long-buried emotions resurface. As they wander through London retracing the historic path of Sun Yat-sen, the two reflect on love, exile, and identity. A quiet, poetic exploration of longing, resilience, and the emotional cost of displacement.

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In 1989, Wong, a first-generation immigrant, and his mixed-race son, Andy, face a challenging evening at their Chinese takeaway. Dealing with impatient customers and mixed-up orders adds to their frustration. Tensions rise when Wong’s eldest son, Kenny, arrives late for work. Their strained father-son relationship unfolds in front of customers. When a group of drunk, racist customers enter the takeaway tensions escalate further.

Synopsis

"I don’t know why you insisted on sleeping together like kids. We were eighteen, for god’s sake…" "I just got lonely sleeping without you." Ruweena and Zoe were best friends - well, sort of. Actually, it was more like Ruweena followed Zoe everywhere, from lunchtime to after school and even to uni, while Zoe kind of… tolerated her. Then, six years ago, Ruweena disappeared and left Zoe all alone. Zoe likes it better this way. Doesn't she? So why is it that she still keeps the single bed they used to sleep in - why is it that she lets Ruweena kiss her the moment Ruweena reappears? And why does it feel as if there's something terribly, awfully wrong with the bed they used to call theirs?

Synopsis

A 20-minute single-player immersive VR experience that places users inside the body of Zoraan, a British-born Sikh woman navigating menopause amidst climate collapse and the ruins of colonial medicine. You breathe with her. You scream with her. You dance your way out of sedation. Blending real-time visuals, bio-haptic feedback and diasporic sound, this work reframes menopause not as decline but as volatile power; closing ‘The Baby Factory’ to ignite a cultural revolution. Using gesture, voice and biometric feedback, audiences become co-conspirators in a volatile act of embodied rebellion. This is not a metaphor. This is an insurgency. Official Selection SXSW 2026 - XR Competition - World premiere

Synopsis

[We Are] A small Asian hair salon in Cambridge. A Chinese-Malaysian immigrant hairdresser, a grandmother, runs her business quietly, happily, and peacefully. [Still Dreaming of Hope] The iconic Middle East photograph featured in the film is a staged image. The two boys in the photograph are not an Israeli and a Palestinian, but two Israeli Jewish children.

Synopsis

SIGHTNOTSEEING captures a cultural tour in post-colonial Kowloon, around the remnants of the Walled City, but not the kind of tour you'd expect. Filmed in a single overhead long take, it drifts through performance, misunderstanding, and (post-)truth, held together by confusion and just enough confidence to carry on. Official Selection International Film Festival Rotterdam 2026 - World premiere