From a 34-second Japanese animated short to a five-and-a-half hour epic about the Philippines under the Marcos regime, organisers of the first Brisbane Asia-Pacific Film Festival are confident their program will have something for everyone.
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The full program for BAPFF – the phoenix which has arisen from the ashes of the Brisbane International Film Festival – was released on Thursday.
Eighty-five films from more than 30 countries will screen at six locations across the city between November 29 and December 16.
The festival will incorporate the Asia-Pacific Screen Awards at City Hall.
Executive chairman Michael Hawkins said he was confident the tie-in would draw crowds.
"The message we got loud and clear from APSA last year was from people who attended that and saw just a morsel of the films wanted to know where they could see the whole thing," he said.
"That gave us great encouragement to undertake this."
Head programmer Kiki Fung moved to Brisbane Marketing to work on BAPFF after Screen Queensland handed over control of the festival to the City Council (along with $700,000 in funding).
"It's an opportunity for us to look at films from this region in depth," she said.
"If you're open-minded and curious, come and join us."
She said one of her favourite films on the program was From What is Before, by Filipino long-form master Lav Diaz – an exercise in endurance at 338 minutes.
"You would never, ever see this film in a commercial cinema," she said.
"But if you sit through it, he has a fascinating sense of time and space, and he takes you on a journey into history...and the effect of the Marcos regime on ordinary people in a village."
By contrast, Japanese animated tale Let Out gets its story across in a mere 34 seconds.
"We have a special program of 14 animated shorts from across the reason, China, Japan, Russia," she said.
Ms Fung said other highlights included a screening of Crossroads of Youth, Korea's oldest silent film, presented by a traditional live narrator, a section devoted to women in film, the Palme d'Or winner from Cannes 2014, Winter Sleep, and the world premiere of Blood Links, the story of Australian artist William Yang's search for his Chinese ancestors.
BAPFF executive chairman Michael Hawkins admitted another event had disrupted the festival's marketing preparation.
"The timelines have gotten entwined with G20," he said.
But Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the BAPFF push would begin soon enough.
"Once G20 has gone, I think there'll be an immediate switch of focus," he said.
"There'll be a sort of anti-climax when G20 finishes when people ask 'What's next?' Well, this is it."
Cr Quirk said it might take some time for people to get used to BAPFF, after 22 years of BIFF.
"I think people will warm to it, but I think whatever happens this year it will grow," he said.
The full BAPFF program and timetable is now available online.
