Korean moviegoers and cultural explorers will have an opportunity to experience a diverse range of cinematic genres from Southeast Asia at the ASEAN Film Festival, which will showcase 10 selected films from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The festival will be held from Nov. 27-Dec. 4 at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Busan International Film Festival. Admission is free. 

The gala will kick off with a screening of “Maida’s House” by Indonesian film director Teddy Soeriaatmadja. The movie is about a woman’s struggle to save a historic house from redevelopment, highlighting a message of reconciling religion and ethnicity, tradition and modernity.

“What’s so special about Rina,” a 2013 Bruneian comedy directed by Harlif Haji Mohamad and Farid Azlan Ghani, details the struggles of Hakim, a handsome yuppie, to find true love.

The Singaporean film “Ilo Ilo,” directed by Anthony Chen, features a cast from throughout Southeast Asia. Set in Singapore during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the movie chronicles the intricate domestic politics and the bonds that form in a Singaporean family after the arrival of a Filipino housekeeper.

“The Missing Picture” is a Cambodian-French documentary directed by Rithy Panh about the Khmer Rouge. Half of the film is composed of news and documentary footage, while the other half shows the carnage of the genocide by brutal dictator Pol Pot using clay figurines.

The festival is part of the “Best of ASEAN” program, which also includes Jewels of ASEAN, an art installation focusing on famous regional landmarks, to be held from Dec. 2-14 at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul; ASEAN on Wheels, a tour of major cities in Korea in buses decorated with cultural themes, from Dec. 3-13; and ASEAN-Korea Youth Forum, a platform for youths to discuss issues of common interests, on Dec. 3 at Seoul City Hall.

The events will serve as a prelude to the ASEAN-Korea Commemorative Summit commemorating the silver jubilee of bilateral relations, which will be held at Busan Exhibition and Convention Center on Dec. 11 and 12.

For more information, visit www.twitter.com/ASEFF2014 or search for “ASEAN Film Festival” on Facebook.

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)