Friendly Kuala Lumpur

Booklovers, booksellers, storytellers and writers can easily squeeze into various demos of important issues. This documentary brings this group of people in the limelight, discussing the value of art space in bookshops. The book-loving director Kong King Chu visited independent bookshops in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia for three to four years, tried to understand how a bookshop can become a dynamic, inspiring and heartwarming space, even these booksellers carry different attitude towards life, books and community, as well as management beliefs. These booksellers do not care about the commercial value emphasized by the capitalist society and they are content in their own way by sharing their enthusiasm about books with the others in spite of all difficulties. Thus, they keep trying new methods to sharpen their touch on social issues and become an important starting point for the general public to reflect upon conflicts in our society.

Journey with the musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic and their conductor Sir Simon Rattle on a breakneck concert tour of six metropolises across Asia: Beijing, Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei and Tokyo. Their artistic triumph onstage belies a dynamic and dramatic life backstage. The orchestra is a closed society that observes its own laws and traditions, and in the words of one of its musicians is, “an island, a democratic microcosm – almost without precedent in the music world - whose social structure and cohesion is not only founded on a common love for music but also informed by competition, compulsion and the pressure to perform to a high pitch of excellence... .” Never before has the Berlin Philharmonic allowed such intimate and exclusive access into its private world.

Team Storror showcase Parkour on a stage never before seen - the rooftops of Asian megacities. The film follows team Storror on their exploration into what drives them to push the sport to such extremes, and the battles that face them when trying to shoot a feature film totally guerilla. RCA delves into the mental and physical preparation Parkour athletes have to undertake to make impossible 'leaps of faith', possible.

Local filmmaker Woo Ming Jin and his crew traversed across Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore to find 'Seruan Merdeka' (1947) - the first film made in Malaya post-WWII, and also the first film in the history of Malaysian cinema to feature a biracial cast of Malays and Chinese. While tracking the film's whereabouts, Woo met many locals along the way, whom he interviewed in an effort to find out more about the country's history.

From Belgium, Jialai Wang maintains contact via smartphone and camera with her mother and grandmother in China. When her grandmother’s health deteriorates, Jialai returns to Shanghai, but when she arrives, her grandmother has already died, and she is left alone with her mother. A devout Buddhist, her mother seems to pay more attention to her daily prayers, Maoist past and dog Dongdong than she does to her daughter. She herself had been abandoned as a child by her own mother, when she divorced Jialai’s grandfather and moved to the city.

'Hibiscus' highlights the city's hidden beauty and the warmth of its people that may go by unnoticed on a daily basis but are beautiful reminders to appreciate.

A film about memory, identity and the overwhelming power of love. One-year-old Devi was found starving at a railway station in Delhi. The police took her to Palna, an orphanage, where she lived for a year. When Devi learned to talk she often wanted to talk about Amma, her first mother. In the film, the 6-year-old Devi journeys to her own past, as her family adopts another daughter from Palna, a baby sister for Devi.

Achtung Australien! Achtung Asien!

Temiar Senoi, an indigenous people of Malaysia, live in the realm of unique dream culture. Their exceptionally harmonious and non-violent way of living has been claimed to be a direct result of their dream directed habits. Their sole aim is to exist in balance with nature and fellow man. But the nature is under threat by a massive rain forest logging operation masterminded by the Malaysian government. And the tribe itself is under another, direct threat by the same government, who try to institute "modern" customs among the tribes, including state religion and education programs.

By mid-1945, Hitler is dead and the war has ended in Europe. Halfway around the world, however, the fighting is still going strong on a small island in the Pacific. Okinawa was the site of the last battle of the last great war of the 20th century, with a casualty rate in the tens of thousands. Through it all, military cameramen risked their lives to film the conflict, from brutal land combat to fierce kamikaze attacks at sea. See the footage they captured and experience this intense battle the way the soldiers saw it -- in color.

During the rice sowing season, Jun, a young Catalan of Chinese origin, works as a seasonal worker in the Ebro Delta. This ancient labour will make him confront his own roots and the distance that separates him from his family.

Herbalist Letha Hadady shares the secrets of her trade in this fascinating lesson in nontraditional medicine, revealing which Chinese herbs help mitigate conventional Western diseases such as high blood pressure, depression and diabetes. You'll also discover certain food products that contribute to overall health. Follow Letha to her kitchen, where she concocts her potent potions, and find out how you can replicate her approach in your home.

A nuanced portrait of a new generation, Dear Thirteen is a cinematic time capsule of coming of age in today’s world. Through the eyes of nine thirteen-year-olds, we see how pressing social, geographical and political challenges are shaping, and being shaped by, young people: rising anti-Semitism in Europe, guns in America, gender identity and racial divisions across Australia and Asia. With no adult commentary outside the filmmaker, Dear Thirteen offers an intimate view into the universal uncertainty inherent in growing up.

With the help of record label 88rising, we look through the eyes six different artist from six different backgrounds, all within Asia, as they share their thoughts on the recent rise of hip-hop throughout the region.

Orangutan Rescue - Back to the wild

The movie follows director Zhang Yimou as he is preparing to make the movie Hero.

The documentary retraces the steps of Bruno Manser, a man from Switzerland who went to live with the indigenous tribe of the Penan in the Jungle of Borneo and endef up helping their struggle to defend their rainforest against greedy logging companies. The movie features original film, photo and voice recordings by Bruno Manser made in the 1980s, as well as new recordings showing how the life of the Penan has changed in just a few decades.

Over the years Malaysia as a country has invested millions into promoting tech startups, in an attempt to replicate Silicon Valley in the West. This documentary looks at a 10year journey of e-Sentral, an e-book tech company that began as a startup, and its journey going through the different phases of growth. The film interviews startup industry players in Malaysia; leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs sharing their perspectives and experiences on how it actually is, and not as how it has been typically portrayed. A must watch if you like the tech space as the film portrays a genuine feel for perseverance and grit.

The camera floats quietly to capture the beauty that emerges from the mundane. Accompanied by Ryuichi Sakamoto's composition, Arseny Tarkovsky's poem celebrates life.

Zentralasiens Kampf ums Wasser