Friyay!: What to watch

108 minutes/Now showing/4 stars

With eight Golden Horse nominations, this dramatisation of a real scandal at a Taiwanese school for the disabled might be overshadowed by the romantic comedy My Missing Valentine's 11 nominations.

Co-writer and director Ko Chen-nien (who has nods for Best New Director and Best Original Screenplay) delivers a story that is unflinching in depicting the horror of bullying and assault - sexual or otherwise - while examining why institutions are reluctant to investigate and prosecute such cases, especially when disabled children are the victims.

New student Chang Cheng (Liu Tzu-chuan) is trying to fit into social circles at his school for the hearing-impaired when he discovers that students have a "game" - one that shocks the boy, who finds that it also involves his crush, Bei Bei (Chen Yan-fei).

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SAUDI ARABIAN FILM

104 minutes/Streaming at The Projector Plus/4 stars

Selected as Saudi Arabia's entry to the 2019 Academy Awards, this drama details what happens after a doctor finds that the only way she can improve conditions at her clinic is to run as a candidate for the municipal council.

Mila Al Zahrani (above) plays Maryam, a woman whose run for office is only a few degrees more difficult than the issues she faces every day as a female physician in a country that segregates men from women at social events.

It is directed and co-written by Haifaa al-Mansour, whose 2012 female coming-of-age film Wadjda was the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia.

WHERE theprojector.sg/themes/now-on-vod ADMISSION $10 for a 48-hour rental period

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14TH KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL

All eight films at this year's edition are online at the Shaw Kinolounge portal, and all viewings are free.

The family drama Moving On (G, 104 minutes, 2019) deals with loss, as seen through the eyes of a teenage girl. After misfortune befalls her father, Okju (Choi Jung-un), her parents and brother move into the tiny apartment owned by her grandparents. There, under Okju's gaze, three generations come to terms with what it means to be a family today.

Written and directed by Yoon Dan-bi, the film won four awards at the Busan International Film Festival last year, as well as the Bright Future prize for Yoon at this year's Rotterdam Film Festival.

WHEN Nov 16 to 29 WHERE kinolounge.shaw.sg/page/kff/ ADMISSION Free with registration at Kinolounge. There will be a virtual dialogue with Moving On director Yoon Dan-bi on Nov 19 at 3pm via Zoom. To join, e-mail KFFsingapore@gmail.com with your name, e-mail address and questions for the director.