Where do all these tourists come from? The locals ask themselves. There is nothing here, whisper the tourists to each other. This intriguing juxtaposition is from Banana Pancakes and the Children of Sticky Rice, a great documentary made by Dutch filmaker Daan Veldhuizen, who integrated himself into the rural off the beaten track Laotian village of Muang Ngoi. A visually beautiful film, with rich detailed images, the film focusses on two principal characters, Khao and Shaim, young men and old friends, with very different goals in life. Veldhuizen has succesfully managed to weave together the story of these men as well as the backpackers who make it to this remote feeling village.

If the much reported lack of ethnic diversity amongst the Oscar nominees has been bothering you, go and have a look at Breaking Boundaries, this year’s Asia House Film Festival, filled with excellent stories and actors that unfortunately rarely make it to Europe.  Two weeks of a diverse programme of 19 films, which include five European and six UK premieres. All of the films will be shown in London for the first time.

The Festival, now in its eighth year, will take place from 22 February to 5 March, and includes an eclectic range of feature films, documentaries and short films coming out of countries including Japan, Laos, China, Kazakhstan, Myanmar and Afghanistan.

Jasper Sharp, the Festival’s Artistic Director, said: “The films selected as part of the 2016 programme represent a world in which culture, politics and economies are transcending national boundaries. There will be a number of films from countries often completely overlooked by followers of Asian cinema, giving audiences a chance to experience the lives and landscapes of such a dynamic and multi-faceted continent.”

Opening the 2016 Festival at the Ham Yard Hotel in Soho will be Yermek Tursunov’s 2015 film Stranger (Zhat), Kazakhstan’s official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 2016 Academy Awards. A vividly shot outdoors epic set in 1930s Kazakhstan, the film charts one man’s search for freedom set against the historical backdrop of the country’s darkest years. Tursunov and the film’s producer, Kanat Torebay, will host a Q&A session following the screening.

Thursday 25 February will see the Festival move to the iconic recently reopened Regent Street Cinema for the European premiere of Tursunov’s latest film Little Brother (Kenzhe). Yermek Tursunov will also participate in a director Q&A after this screening.

Amongst the great selection of short films is Marine and Sona Kocharyan’s fantastic documentary How to Cross (From Jiliz to Jiliz). The film deals with an invisible but very present border. There is no sign, no wire, no checkpoint – just a small stream separating a village into two, one part in Armenia and the other part in Georgia. Lousine is a little girl who dreams of seeing her grandmother and her other relatives who live on the other side of the border. She has not seen them in six years. She succinctly sums up the madness: “It is strange you know. Truth is, we travelled from Jiliz to Jiliz. We started off from Jiliz we went and went and went and went…and when we arrived we saw that we were in Jiliz again.”

Don’t miss it.

ASIA HOUSE FILM FESTIVAL takes place from 22 February to 5 March at London venues http://asiahouse.org/  

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