The Asian Avant-Garde Film Festival (AAGFF) returns to M+ for the second time, hosting a three-day programme that celebrates independent moving images and visual culture that have shaped the artistic landscape in Asia over the past six decades. Films and moving image art is a medium that is intertwined with duration – as much as it is a fluid and abstract form of creativity, it can’t be divorced from the cyclical and measured time that it takes to watch a piece of moving art.
That’s why this year’s AAGFF is themed around time, with screenings, performances, and installations that materialise the unyielding march of time. From historical re-enactments that challenge memory, to speculative fictions about virtual and future realities, audiences are encouraged to enjoy and think about how film works are tied with time. This year’s festival invites Asian artists and filmmakers who have been influential with their craft over the past 60 years, including May Fung, Ho Tzu Nyen, Tehching Hsieh, Amar Kanwar, Ali Wong Kit-yi, and Chikako Yamashiro.
Independent singer-songwriter Wong Hin-yan will also collaborate with Ho to present a live cinema performance on the Grand Stair of the museum called ‘Timepieces’, featuring Ho’s 43-channel installation on one huge screen, accompanied by Wong’s original live music with spoken word and poetry. The other featured artists will be holding moderated discussions and panel talks on their works, perspectives, methodologies, and more within their art, accompanied by screenings of their films.
Don’t miss the screenings from Hong Kong filmmakers – Dead Knot by Sek Kei, Routine and Begging by Law Kar, and Thought IV: The Edge of the World by May Fung – or Ali Wong Kit-yi’s karaoke performance-lecture that explores different interpretations of time from the philosophical and theological perspectives of East and West. There’s also tons more to explore, such as a karaoke generator that composes new medleys based on 120 Canto-pop songs, and a vintage slide projector delving into the regret of not capturing certain moments on camera.
The Asian Avant-Garde Film Festival will run from Friday, May 30 to Sunday, June 1. Tickets for all three days of the AAGFF cost $750, while M+ members and patrons as well as those available for concessions can get entry for $600. Single-day passes are also available for $250.
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