+ Housen-Sponsored Program with 7 Student Films
Osaka Asian Film Festival (OAFF) today announces Special Presentation: Cinema Journey to India, Mongolia and Vietnam and its 3 films; also, the Housen Cultural Foundation-supported program and , which will screen 7 student films.
The 21st edition of the festival will take place for the first time in the summer to coincide with the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo. To commemorate this special occasion, OAFF will hold a free-of-charge special presentation titled Cinema Journey to India, Mongolia and Vietnam on September 6 at the Osaka City Central Public Hall, a nationally designated Important Cultural Property. The films to be screened include: the worldwide box-office hit PATHAAN (2023), a powerful action epic starring the great Indian stars Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone; The Sales Girl (2021), JANCHIVDORJ Sengedorj’s coming-of-age story about a nuclear engineering student who happens to work at a sex toy shop in urban Mongolia; and Song Lang (2022) by Leon Le, depicting the bond between a debt collector and Vietnamese traditional cai luong performer, set against the backdrop of Saigon in the 90s.
OAFF’s regular program sponsored by Housen Cultural Foundation, Housen Cultural Foundation-supported program and focuses on student productions. This year’s lineup with 7 features and shorts includes ZHANG Yaoyuan (張曜元)’s short, Selection (2025) and three world-premieres. The films will be shown on September 1 and 2 at Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka free of charge.
The Opening film, Closing film, titles in the Competition, Spotlight, Indie Forum and Special Programs and the festival key art will be revealed sequentially after mid-July.
[The Lineup as of July 3, 2025]
Special Presentation: : Cinema Journey to India, Mongolia and Vietnam (September 6 @Osaka City Central Public Hall)
PATHAAN dir. Siddharth ANAND | 2023 | India
The Sales Girl [Khudaldagch ohin] dir. JANCHIVDORJ Sengedorj | 2021 | Mongolia
Song Lang dir. Leon LE | 2018 | Vietnam
Housen Cultural Foundation-supported program (September 2 @Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka)
Fools on Fire [よみ芝居] dir. Diana DAI [戴雨林] | 2025 | Japan
Journey of the Egret [シラサギの旅] dir. YANG Liping [楊礼平] |2025 | Japan | World Premiere
Selection [祝日] dir. ZHANG Yaoyuan [張曜元] | 2025 | Japan, China | Japan Premiere
The Wish [心の願い] dir. GONG Zelin [弓沢林] | 2025 | Japan, China | World Premiere
Housen Cultural Foundation-supported program (September 1 @Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka)
Love Potion [ラブポーション] dir. YAMADA Kaho [山田夏穂] | 2024 | Japan | World Premiere
Painting Our Sea [ここに海をつくる] dir. KATAMINE Ayano [片峯綾乃] | 2024 | Japan
PEAK END [PEAK END] dir. SHIN Chaerin [신채린] | 2025 | Japan
About Osaka Asian Film Festival
The Osaka Asian Film Festival aims to facilitate human resources development and exchange, to invigorate the Osaka economy, and to increase the city’s appeal, through providing opportunities to watch excellent Asian films, supporting filmmaking in Osaka and attracting filmmakers from Asian countries and regions to Osaka. Promoting Osaka worldwide as a gateway city for Asian films, and engaging with many people from the fields of culture, art, education, tourism and business, from Osaka and all of Asia, OAFF works as an open platform to contribute to the development of Osaka and cinema.
Marking its 21st edition this year’s OAFF, under programming director TERUOKA Sozo (暉峻創三), will again select high-quality Asian films. The Competition section, which receives increased recognition every year, will again select films previously unreleased in Japan. The regular sections, Special Screenings and Indie Forum, and other special programs will also feature a wide variety of excellent Asian films.
OAFF attracts a large number of viewers from all over Japan and overseas, as well as from the local Kansai area. From Osaka to all of Japan and all of Asia, OAFF introduces many films and strives to make Osaka a hub of moving image culture.
Dates: August 29 – September 7, 2025
Venues: ABC Hall, Theatre Umeda, T-Joy Umeda, the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, Osaka Central Public Hall
Hosted by Osaka Executive Committee for the Promotion of Moving Image Culture
AloJapan.com