by Stephen Cremin

Welcome to the fourth edition of Udine Far East Film, launched in 1999 as "the festival that dares to go where no western festival has gone before", showcasing the breadth of Asian cinema rather than the narrow focus of the international festival circuit. Since 1999, a new generation of programmers and festivals have emerged with a new confidence and it's no longer unusual for international events to unashamedly focus on popular Asian cinema. But because of its scale, Udine is still uniquely able to track key trends as the world's largest annual showcase of Asian cinema.

And 2001 was a landmark year for Asian film. Most territories saw a dramatic rise in market share and Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Thailand had hits that broke box office records. It was also the year that America moved in on mainstream Asian cinema wholeheartedly, stretching their interests beyond art-house auteurs as Korea replaced France as the key source for high-concept stories. When a Korean sales agent can describe a US$10m domestic gross for a local film as disappointing, you know these are revolutionary times.

Our themed retrospectives introduce two little-known but important sectors of Asian film production - Chinese animation and Japanese pink cinema - both going through periods of transition after decades of development. We're particulary honored to host the first P-1 Grand Prix competition for pink cinema outside Japan, focusing on the young generation who studied under our guests Sato Toshiki and Zeze Takahisa, both presenting their latest work in our main programme. They're accompanied by Sasaki Yumeka, pink film's leading actress of the moment, who has three films in our programme.

We also host a comprehensive retrospective of Hong Kong director Patrick Leung as he returns to the film world with two new features. While Leung insists that every film he makes is a change in direction, there are consistent themes in his work that we invite you to explore. The past year has also been a standout year for director, scriptwriter and producer Joe Ma and we cover the breadth of his work in 2001 from refined melodrama through screwball comedy to all-out horror, creating a new star in the process, Miriam Yeung, in town as our main diva with her latest comedy.

Hong Kong cinema has always had a special place in the heart of Far East Film. This year we bring attention to the three most exciting talents to emerge behind the camera: Soi Cheang, Edmond Pang and GC Goo-bi. While the line between reality and fantasy is central to horror films, Cheang - whose films bookend our horror day - pushed the boundaries in 2001, revolutionising the local ghost movie in the scariest film from Asia since Sadako crawled through a television screen. Johnnie To's adaptation of Pang's hitman novel blurs the line between fiction and reality to a degree completely unexpected in commercial cinema while GC Goo-bi brings a completely fresh spin to youth romance.

While Hong Kong cinema moved away from action for the financial rewards of comedy romance, Korean cinema saw its own small revolution in the genre. Action directors brought a uniquely Korean style of fighting to the big screen from 14th century historical epics to action comedies that often saw women delivering the punches and kicks. Among our guests is Chung Woo-sung, Korea's leading heartthrob and the director most responsible for moulding his image, Kim Sung-soo. We're particuarly proud of our closing gala, the international premiere of the highest grossing local film of 2002 to date, which points to a new direction for commercial Korean cinema.

Rather than focus on the better known Japanese films that have received high-profile screenings at other European festivals, we bring our attention to master craftsmen Motohiro Katsuyuki, Takita Yojiro and Mitani Koki as well as exciting new talents Mori Junichi and Otani Kentaro with a nod to that most prolific of Asian directors, Miike Takeshi, whose bloody gangster tale is guaranteed to clear the theatre on closing night. Our guests include Udine regular Motohiro and newcomer Mori, working with Japan's leading young actors in everyman tales of idiot-savants and the importance of love.

In a year widely considered substandard by mainland critics, we host the international premieres of the three most exciting Chinese debuts of 2001 with directors and producers in attendance. Among our lineup is the first independent film approved by the government censor, at a time when the most independent of Chinese directors have entered the studio system. This new generation demonstrate that even when making "main line" films - supporting the current government line on a social issue - they can dazzle cinematically and as storytellers in tales about corruption, community and social responsibility.

We contrast these with the more conservative - if accomplished - films produced out of the Shanghai Film Studio, a focus of a special retrospective last year, who plan fifteen new "main line" films in 2002. In recent years the Beijing Film Studio has revolutionised the film noir and we continue our exploration of this trend with a gala screening of Huo Jianqi's new film, winner of the Best Film prize at China's official Golden Rooster Awards. Huo is accompanied by his leading actor, Pan Yueming, a key figure in this trend who Udine audiences will recognise from last year's noir offerings as the victim of another mysterious femme.

Last and unfortunately least is our programme from South-East Asia with a tick of "must do better" on the report card. Among the highlights are a noir from the Philippines which proves that great acting and innovative scripts can bring this powerhouse of popular cinema closer to the forefront of Asian filmmaking. Our guest from Thailand, Yuthlert Sippapak, presents his post-IMF hitman comedy on opening night which alongside our football flick from the Kingdom demonstrating that Thai filmmakers have nothing to learn and everything to teach when it comes to cinematic post-production cool.

Udine Far East Film is only made possible by the support and generosity of filmmakers, sales agents, production companies and friends in the region. This year we are also indebted to our network of official consultants. All are listed and thanked in the back of the catalogue. But the vitality of the festival comes from you, the audience, who pack the Teatro Nuovo, proving that the best of commercial Asian cinema has an international appeal. Please meet our guests at the informal discussions held every evening and vote for our audience awards announced on the final night. Happy viewing.