The Asian Summer Film Festival, already has the program of its 21st edition prepared. From July 16th to 21st of this year, the attendees of the event will be able to enjoy six days of cinematographic festival with proposals of all genres from Japan, China, South Korea, Hong Kong or India, among others. In total there are 45 films —36 feature films and 9 shorts— divided into 6 sections that can be seen in the two main venues of the event: L’Atlàntida and Bassa dels Hermanos.

The most awaited titles. Among this year’s most relevant films, two that captivated audiences in Berlin and Cannes stand out. They are Aatmapamphlet, by debutant Ashish Avinash Bende, and If Only I Could Hibernate, by Zoljargal Purevdash, respectively. The first one is a story with a genre and touches of humor set in India in the nineties, about a boy, his friendships and the social changes that simultaneously change the country’s landscape. The second is set in Mongolia, where a brilliant young man tries to build a good academic future despite the difficulties he lives in his home, in a poor and unstructured family. Also noteworthy, among all the titles at this year’s Festival, are the action films Fight for Tomorrow and Jigarthanda Double X. Directed by Chan Tai-Lee and with the screenwriter and producers of the celebrated Ip Man saga, Fight for Tomorrow is a twilight story about the reunion of a gangster and his son in contemporary Hong Kong, and will have its world premiere at the festival. Meanwhile, India’s Jigarthanda Double X will be another highlight. Karthik Subbaraj’s new work is a metacinematic western and an unleashed action film; a social comedy and much more, full of playful references to the masters Satyajit Ray and Clint Eastwood.

Another session that promises strong emotions is the tribute to Akira Toriyama. The alma mater of series that have marked generations such as Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump, who passed away on March 1st this year, will have his tribute at the Festival with a session that will screen unreleased short films starring Goku, Arale and company —Dragon Ball: Goku’s Traffic Safety and Dr. Slump: Arale-chan, Let’s Learn Traffic Safety— as well as one of the Dragon Ball medium-length films. In addition to the screenings, there will be a cosplay contest and Arnau Tordera, vocalist of Obeses, will sing some of the mythical themes of Toriyama’s series live.

An edition full of music and friendship. The power of friendship and music are two central themes in the programming of the 21st Asian Summer Film Fest. Proof of this are two of the films in the Official Competition Section, the Thai Bad Boyz Band, a teenage story about first love and rock and roll that has been a phenomenon in its country; and Band Four, which draws from the musical tradition of Hong Kong cantopop in a story about family reunions starring pop star Kay Tse. Still in a musical vein, but much crazier, is the Japanese horror film Visitors, which will be part of the Sala B section and which plunges the members of a music band into a spiral of madness and horrors. In a completely opposite direction is the South Korean Soulmate, by director Min Yong-Geun, a remake of the Chinese film of the same name that is an ode to the friendship between two girls over a period of 14 years. And with a musical name but a plot that leans towards black comedy and thriller is Rob n Roll, about two criminals, friends and losers, who have an apparent stroke of luck, in a proposal that recalls Johnnie To’s early films.

More children’s and family movies. In addition to Aatmapamphlet and Bad Boyz Band, and the previously announced The Concierge, two more proposals are added to the morning sessions, dedicated to family audiences. The first is the South Korean animated film Yumi’s Cells, which follows the passage from childhood to youth of a girl through her cells, in a delightful comedy that could be a reversal of the American The Upside Down. Also to be released is Yatsurugi 11, a new installment of the Japanese youth saga of fighting and humor to which, this time, a few soccer pirouettes are added to save the world.

Akihabara! Sala B and marathon. The Asian Summer Film Fest 2024 premieres a new cinema and section. This is Sala B, an alternative venue – Sala 2 of L’Atlàntida de Vic, the main venue of the event – where every afternoon some of the most daring, underground and geeky proposals of the festival will be screened, with a special predilection for horror and the most tragic science fiction. This is the case of Jyukinshi (The Wizard), about yakuzas and demon hunters; Lion-Girl, about a superheroine in a post-apocalyptic world; and Visitors. The classic film starring Jet Li, The New Legend of Shaolin, will also be screened in the Sala B section in a remastered version that includes 10 minutes of footage never seen before in Europe, and Game of Shark, the new film by Minoru Kawasaki, about time travel and absolutely irreverent humor, in its world premiere.

The Sala B section is incorporated into a program that includes the now customary Akihabara!, which brings together heterodox and lighthearted proposals of popular Japanese cinema. In addition to the tribute to Akira Toriyama, there will also be gems such as another animation classic, Space Adventure Cobra, pulp science fiction based on the manga by the legendary cartoonist Buichi Terasawa; and two more films by the brilliant and prolific Minoru Kawasaki, the now contemporary classic The Calamari Wrestler, about a squid that succeeds in wrestling, and the very recent Den Ace Chaos, tokusatsu full of humor and special effects of a proud Z series that will be seen in public for the first time at the Nits Festival. These, along with the already announced Ultraman Blazar the Movie: Tokyo Kaiju Showdown, make up the craziest cycle of the festival.

Another of the cycles that is beginning to have classic status is the morning marathon of Chinese action, on the last Sunday of the festival, which brings together some of the most adrenaline-pumping proposals in the selection. This year, the three films that will fill the screen of L’Atlàntida with blood, sweat and tears are the unbridled Desperado; Eye for an Eye 2 and The Comeback, directed by Chris Huo —who doubles at the festival with this film and Hunt the Wicked—, a critique of gentrification in the form of an action film about a peaceful merchant who is pursued by the past in the most violent way.

Second parts are good indeed. In addition to the new Yatsurugi or Ultraman releases, the Asian Summer Film Fest will present several sequels that prove that not all second parts are bad, but quite the contrary. Proof of this are the already announced Alienoid: Return to the Future, the Japanese Good Morning, Sleeping Lion 2 and the Chinese Eye for an Eye 2, first parts of which could be seen at Festival Nits 2023. In the first, an action comedy, the protagonist, a retired mercenary, will have to work under the orders of a young chef; and in the Chinese film, a blind samurai will teach martial arts to a girl whom he saves from evildoers.