Film News: Chicago’s Asian Pop-Up Cinema Announces Season 12 Films

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CHICAGO – The resilient Asian Pop-Up Cinema (APUC) series of Chicago will begin Season 12 on March 15th, 2021, and will offer a unique three-part hybrid presentation culminating on May 1st. It opens with virtual/online films, then presents an “Oscar Contenders” event and concludes with films at the Lincoln Yards Drive-In.

In addition to eight North American and 12 U.S. premieres, APUC will offer selected films from Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, China, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Mongolia. For the first time in APUC’s history, the lineup will also feature four co-productions directed by non-Asian filmmakers from France/China, France/Cambodia, Canada/Vietnam, and the USA/Philippines. The festival is curated by Founder & Executive Director Sophia Wong Boccio.

APUC, Season 12
Photo credit: AsianPopUpCinema.org

The Virtual and Online streaming begins March 15th with “The Town of Headcounts” (Japan, directed by Shinji Araki). The Oscar Contenders begin April 1st, and includes the shortlisted “Better Days” (Hong Kong, directed by Derek Tsang). The Drive-In presentations start on April 15th, with the U.S. Premiere of “One Second Champion” (Hong Kong, directed by Chiu Sin Hang).

For the line-up of films, click here for the virtual/online presentations, here for the Drive-In line-up and here for the list so far of Oscar contenders. For ticket purchase information, click here.

Most of the feature presentations will include Q&As with the filmmakers, moderated by Mark Schilling (Japan), Ron Falzone (China/Thai), Darcy Parquet (South Korea), Kevin Ma (Hong Kong) and Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com (Taiwan).

Here is the trailer for APUC Season 12 …

By PATRICK McDONALD Editor, Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com