Emerging from years of Soviet Union rule, which heavily restricted what stories could be told, a new wave of filmmakers born after the declaration of independence in 1991 are leading the rise of films that unflinchingly have much to say about injustice, culture and tradition.

Asia Pacific Triennial Cinema Children of Independence: The Rise of Central Asian Cinema
Gallery of Modern Art & Cinema A, Brisbane
12 February – 19 March 2025
www.qagoma.qld.gov.au

Throughout cinematic history, ‘the future’ has served as a rich playground for filmmakers to explore the imagined, the taboo and the unknown. Today, anthropocentric concerns, including the accelerated rate of climate change, increased migration, and the rapid pace of technological development, have catapulted concerns about the future of the environment, culture and identity into the present, raising questions about the legacies of humankind.

Presented across four interconnected strands titled ‘Ends of the Earth’, ‘Revolutionary Roads’, ‘Random Access Memories’ and ‘Human Evolutions’, the selected films boldly ask the question ‘what if?’ to consider what the movement of humanity — both in terms of geography and evolution — means for our environmental future, our personal and cultural identities, and our memories across the region.

Asia Pacific Triennial Cinema – Future Visions
10 January – 16 March 2025
Gallery of Modern Art & Cinema A, Brisbane
www.qagoma.qld.gov.au

Her stories draw from Indonesian art traditions including costume, dance and theatre regularly focussing on women navigating cultural restrictions and expectations. Her films masterfully explore the narrative through nuanced relationships between parents and children, husband and wife, siblings and young love.

Andini has found acclaim at many of the world’s leading international film festivals – including Berlin, Toronto, Tokyo and Busan.

This program represents the first focus on her body of work and a rare international spotlight on a mid-career woman filmmaker from the Southeast Asia region.

Asia Pacific Triennial Cinema – Kamila Andini
11 January – 8 February 2025
Gallery of Modern Art & Cinema A, Brisbane
www.qagoma.qld.gov.au

A major figure of the second wave of Taiwan New Cinema, Tsai’s films transcend formal boundaries, increasingly drawing on his concurrent practice as an acclaimed video artist to devise new ways of conceiving cinema. His films are known for their long takes, meditative pacing and engrossing depictions of lonely figures living on the edges of urban metropolises. Key to his practice is his long-standing partnership with his collaborator and muse Lee Kang-sheng, an enigmatic screen presence who has appeared in nearly all of Tsai’s cinematic works.

Born in Kuching, Tsai spent much of his childhood in his hometown’s movie houses before moving to Taiwan at the age of 20. After working in theatre and television for several years as a writer — and later as a director of telefilms — he made his transition to feature filmmaking in 1992 with Rebels of the Neon God, an enthralling portrait of urban ennui and youthful discontent. His international breakthrough came with the Golden Lion-winning Vive L’Amour 1994, a story of three people longing for connection, told with sparse dialogue and bursts of surreal humour.

His subsequent films further introduced elements of (auto)biography (The River 1997) and musical numbers (The Hole 1998), while also exploring visions of cinemagoing (Goodbye, Dragon Inn 2003) and filmmaking (Face 2009). His shift to digital cinematography with 2013’s Stray Dogs rid him of the technical constraints of analogue film, allowing shots to extend to previously unfeasible lengths in his pursuit of a new kind of observational cinema. With Tsai’s career extending into its fourth decade, aging has become a preoccupation for the director, with works such as Days 2020 documenting his shifting relationship with the human body in a manner that is both open and empathetic.

Since the start of the new millennium, Tsai has cultivated a parallel career as a lauded video artist, whose work has been commissioned by fashion designers and major art institutions, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris. As his feature films have grown more experimental, their language has become imbricated with that of his video works in fascinating new ways.

He has also helmed the ‘Walker’ series, which began in 2012 and produced its tenth and most recent entry in 2024. The series features a red robed Lee Kang-sheng walking at a spellbindingly slow pace through different scenarios: bustling city centres, art installations and remote seaside dunes. Inspired by the historical monk Xuanzang, the ‘Walker’ films embrace a radical re-conception of time, space and stillness — exemplifying Tsai’s place as one of cinema’s inimitable artists.

Asia Pacific Triennial Cinema – Tsai Ming-liang
1 November – 22 December 2024
Gallery of Modern Art & Cinema A
www.qagoma.qld.gov.au