Vying for the top prize at Venice

It takes three filmmakers from Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines to prove to the world that Asian cinema can not to be trifled with. Though only three from Asia have made the cut in a field of 18 films selected officially for competition at the 69th Venice International Film Festival (29 August – 8 September 2012), the creative wattage of Japan's Takeshi Kitano, South Korea's Kim Ki-Duk, and the Philippines's Brillante Mendoza are more than enough to light up the festival's line-up that counts the latest work from heralded American filmmakers Terrence Malick and Bryan de Palma along with European celluloid visionaries vying for the top prize at the world's oldest film festival.

KIM KI-DUK made history in 2004 when he won
best director at the film festivals in Berlin and
Venice in the same year for two different films. 

Kitano, Ki-Duk, and Mendoza are among the most internationally acclaimed auteurs whose works were selected to compete in the previous editions of the Venice film fests as well as in Cannes, Berlin, and the rest of showcases for global cinema. Though Ki-Duk’s Pieta marks the first time in seven years a Korean movie has entered the competition section of the festival since Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Lady Vengeance in 2005, he earlier competed in Venice with The Isle (2000) and 3-Iron (2004) for which he won Best Director. Mendoza, who returns to Venice with his new film Thy Womb, earlier made his mark in Venice’s competition section with Lola (Grandmother) in 2010.

  

BRILLANTE MENDOZA made history in 2009 as the first Filipino filmmaker
to win the best director award at the Cannes International Film Festival

For his part, Kitano's new film Outrage Beyond marks his return to Venice where his films have been hailed with multiple awards. Here's a sneak a peek of Kitano's two films--Zatoichi and Hana-bi (Fireworks)-- that once wowed the critics and audiences at Venice: