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Su Heng-en pens and films a family drama that doubles as a fable for modernity that is placed in several layers. In its narrative backbone, “Hunter Brothers” appropriates themes from religious and mythical sources to sketch a story of collision between two world orders. As the film unfolds, it weaves a tension-filled tale of sibling rivalry against a backdrop of tradition and change.

Hunter Brothers is screening at Hawai’i International Film Festival

Haunted by his days of hunting with his father, Yuci (Bokeh Kosang), a country-side doctor, wakes up from nightmares from time to time. He takes care of his pregnant wife Yiwen (Hsu Lin-yun) and his widowed mother (Wu Hai-ling). One day, Yuci and his uncle pick up Siring (Umin Boya), his brother who just got released from prison. The tension between the two brothers slowly brews as days go by.

Writer and director Su and screenwriter Chen Ping...

The concept of the underdog that reaches the top out of nowhere, particularly in sports, has been one of the most popular tropes in international cinema, especially when combined with a sense of nostalgia and a true story, with Hollywood having essentially exhausted the whole concept during the 80s and 90s. Umin Boya follows the same path in “Kano”, which is based on the homonymous, multiracial baseball team from Chiayi, in the Japanese-era Taiwan, that ended up representing the island in the 1931 Japanese High School Baseball Championship at Koshien Stadium. The film, which features well-known Japanese stars and an army of young Taiwanese athletes (and a few Japanese ones) won a number of awards in Asia, and was also a huge box office success, still holding the 6th place in the list of the highest grossing domestic Taiwanese films of all time.

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Lou Ye’s Blind Massage was the big winner at this year’s Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, scooping six prizes including best film and best new performer for Zhang Lei.Scroll down for full list of winners

The mainland China production also won best adapted screenplay (Ma Yingli), best cinematography (Zeng Jian), best film editing (Kong Jinlei, Jolin Zhu) and best sound effects (Fu Kang).

Ann Hui won best director for historical biopic The Golden Era, while best original screenplay went to Yee Chih-yen for Meeting Dr Sun.

Chen Jianbin won best new director and best actor for A Fool, along with best supporting actor for Paradise In Service, which also took the best supporting actress prize for Regina Wan’s performance. Chen Hsiang-chi took best actress for Exit.

Fruit Chan’s The Midnight After won best visual effects and Liu Qiang was awarded best art direction for Black Coal, Thin Ice. Brotherhood...

Kevin Lee’s documentary Unveil The Truth II: State Apparatus won the Grand Prize and best documentary at this year’s Taipei Film Awards, which took place at the close of the Taipei Film Festival on July 19.

The win, which came with a cash award of Nt$1m, marked the fifth consecutive year that the Grand Prize has gone to a documentary.

The jury, headed by Taiwanese producer-director Chen Kuo-fu, said the film maintained an uplifting and humorous tone, while exposing the chaotic madness of government bureaucracy and illustrating the dark side of Taiwanese society.

Meanwhile, best narrative feature went to Chienn Hsiang’s directorial debut Exit, about the relationship between a middle-aged woman and a hospital patient, while Midi Z won best director for Myanmar-set drama Ice Poison.

Exit also scooped a best actress award for Chen Shiang-chyi, while best actor went to Lee Kang-sheng for Stray Dogs. Best supporting actor went to Tsao Yu-ning for period...

Baseball has been used many times in cinema to tell tales of triumph and tragedy.  The New York Asian Film Festival brings us Kano, the true story of how the sport brought together three very separate racial groups in 1930s Japanese-occupied Taiwan. Here's our chat with the director, Umin Boya.The Lady Miz Diva:  Many people coming to the festival will know you from Seediq Bale, and that you had acted for a long time.  What made now the right time for you to director your first feature? Umin Boya:  Actually, I have been a director for about seven or eight years now, but I usually work in TV movies.  This is my first feature film.  It's because of Wei Te-Sheng, the director of Seediq Bale. ...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Fumi Nikaido will receive the inaugural Screen International Rising Star Award at the 13th New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff), set to run from June 27-July 14.

The festival will open with the international premiere of Alan Mak and Felix Chong’s crime thriller Overheard 3 and close with the North American premiere of Park Chan-kyong’s documentary Manshin: Ten Thousand Spirits.

The previously announced North American premiere of Umin Boya’s period baseball epic Kano is the Centerpiece Presentation.

Taiwan’s Jimmy Wong Yu will collect the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award, while the Star Asia Award will go to Hong Kong’s Sandra Ng and South Korea’s Sol Kyung-gu.

The roster features a spotlight on local Hong Kong cinema called Hong Kong Forever!, a Sir Run Run Shaw Tribute and a focus on South Korean actor Lee Jung-jae.

Overall the Nyaff will present 60 features, among them Lou Ye’s Blind Massage, Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s My Man...

Fumi Nikaido will receive the inaugural Screen International Rising Star Award at the 13th New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff), set to run from June 27-July 14.

The festival will open with the international premiere of Alan Mak and Felix Chong’s crime thriller Overheard 3 and close with the North American premiere of Park Chan-kyong’s documentary Manshin: Ten Thousand Spirits.

The previously announced North American premiere of Umin Boya’s period baseball epic Kano is the Centerpiece Presentation.

Taiwan’s Jimmy Wong Yu will collect the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award, while the Star Asia Award will go to Hong Kong’s Sandra Ng and South Korea’s Sol Kyung-gu.

The roster features a spotlight on local Hong Kong cinema called Hong Kong Forever!, a Sir Run Run Shaw Tribute and a focus on South Korean actor Lee Jung-jae.

Overall the Nyaff will present 60 features, among them Lou Ye’s Blind Massage, Kazuaki Kumakiri...

Any fan of Asian cinema who lives anywhere near New York City probably already knows about the annual event that brings some of the biggest, best and often weirdest movies from all across Asia to packed houses of enthusiastic fans as the New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff) has grown from a small cult following that would attend the festival at the Anthology Film Archives to a major event held in partnership with the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Japan Society's annual Japan Cuts.

This year's festival runs from June 27 to July 14 with 60 feature films kicking off with the international premiere of Alan Mak and Felix Chong's crime thriller Overheard 3 and including a number of North American and New York premieres. Manshin: Ten Thousand Spirits, the documentary about Korean shaman Kim Keum-hwa by Park Chan-wook's brother Park Chan-kyong will close the festival, while Umin Boya's...

The Film Society of Lincoln Center, in collaboration with Subway Cinema and the Japan Society, have announced the full lineup for the 2014 New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff). The Hong Kong thriller "Overheard 3," directed by Alex Mak and Felix Chong will open the festival.  The festival will show 60 feature films, including one international premiere, 20 North American premieres, six U.S. premieres. Eleven more films will make their New York debuts.  Some of the highlights to look forward to include the mystical "Manshin: Ten Thousand Spirits," directed by Park Chan-kyung, Umin Boya's sports drama "Kano," Lou Ye's Berlinale Golden Bear contender "Blind Massage" and Kazuaki Kumakiri's "My Man."  In addition to the films, Nyaff will honor Jimmy Wong Yu, a Taiwanese actor who is considered a major player in establishing what we know as the modern kung-fu movie genre, with their Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award. Other awards will go out.

The North American premiere of Umin Boya’s Kano has been selected as the Centerpiece selection for this year’s New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff), set to run from June 27–July 14.

Returning for its 13th edition, the festival will include its Korean Actor In Focus programme, when Lee Jung-jae will present some of his most notable films as well The Face Reader and New World.

The programme will include Takashi Miike’s gangster story The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji, Philip Yung’s juvenile delinquent drama May We Chat, Benny Chan’s genre film The White Storm, Lee Kung-lok’s porn industry comedy 3D Naked Ambition and Andy Lau in Allen Yuen’s police thriller Firestorm.

The Film Society Of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema made the announcement (8) in association with the Japan Society.

For further details click here.