9 incredible films created by Asian filmmakers

Getting into the little-explored territory of films

There are a multitude of streaming services that drown us in mainstream television shows and movies. This cacophony is so enthralling that we don’t often get the opportunity to discover some of the greatest filmmakers from the other side of the planet. While Asian filmmakers like Bong Joon-ho have made it into the limelight, there are scores of talented directors from the Far East, Southern Asia, and the Middle East whose films have yet to get their fair due in the West. Whether you're a fan of foreign cinema or simply want to expand your horizons, you'll want to catch up on our favorite movies created by Asian filmmakers.

1. Pushing Hands (1991)

Ang Lee is perhaps among the most well-known faces when it comes to film directors of East Asian origin. He's best known from films like Life of Pie (2012) and Brokeback Mountain (2005), which were global box office successes. But Ang's directorial debut film, Pushing Hands, is where his upward journey began. The film is about an elderly Tai Chi master who immigrated from Beijing and is trying to find his place in the New Your City, living with his son.

The martial art teacher Chu (Sihung Lung) doesn’t know a word of English but has to manage his life with his daughter-in-law (Deb Snyder), who can’t speak Mandarin. This clash of cultures leads to a series of comical moments between the two, but not without Chu feeling alienated by the day. His son Alex (Bo Z. Wang) is culturally expected to care for his father, but he is in two minds.

Pushing Hands also marks the first installment of what would later turn into a trilogy, with The Wedding Banquet (1993) and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), all dealing with the conflict between two generations.

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2. About Elly (2009)

About Elly is an acclaimed psychological thriller written and directed by Iranian auteur Asghar Farhadi. It follows Sepideh as its protagonist, played by the brilliant Golshifteh Farahani, who is on a fun vacation to a deserted beach house with her family. She brings along her daughter’s kindergarten teacher Elly (Taraneh Alidoosti) to set her up with Ahmad (Shahab Hosseini).

To do that, Sepideh has to tell a bunch of lies that make things difficult from the start. But the situation gets much more complicated when Elly goes missing from that desolate place. Tangled up in her own web of lies, Sepideh must tell even more lies to keep the situation under control when the police are involved. But things don’t necessarily turn out just as she hoped for.

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3. The Namesake (2006)

The Namesake is based on a novel of the same title by Jhumpa Lahiri. The film is about Nikhil “Gogol” Ganguli (Kal Penn), a second-generation immigrant born and raised in the State. His parents left their hometown, the beautiful east-Indian city of Calcutta, for a better life in New York. That contrast meant a childhood of chaos for Gogol that led him to distance away from his culture. While he has adjusted to the American life as an adult, some events about his father push him to get back to his roots and learn who he was named after.

Written by Sooni Taraporevala and directed by Mira Nair — the duo is also known for another widely acclaimed film Salaam Bombay! (1988) — The Namesake has a fine lead cast, including Kal Penn, who make the film all the more worthwhile. Gogol’s parents are played by two of the most supremely talented Indian actors, Tabu and the late Irrfan Khan.

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4. Happy Together (1997)

Regarded as one of the brightest filmmakers of modern times, Hong Kongese director Wong Kar-wai is credited for a ton of movies that have consistently received universal acclaim. He may have a peculiar way of developing the final script, he writes on the day of the shoot, but that has only made his films more engrossing. One such movie is Happy Together, which is among the most prominent LGBTQ films to come out of the region, and it even won Kar-wai the best director’s title at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.

The film follows a gay couple's turbulent relationship, which results in them breaking up during a trip to Argentina. With no money to return home, they part ways and start doing low-paying jobs to fund their tickets. But when fate has them cross paths once again, they find they're unable to get back together. The leads in Happy Together are played by Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, who has appeared in many of Kar-wai’s films and was famously seen more recently in Marvel’s Shang Chi.

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5. Capernaum (2018)

This gem revolves around a 12-year-old Zain El Hajj (Zain Al Rafeea), who is serving a five-year jail sentence. But that’s not something he wished for. What he really wants is to sue his parents for bringing him into the world. Zain’s life in the slums of Lebanon is far from easy; he has seven siblings to take care of and tries to make some cash, usually not through the most moral means. His resilience towards everything and affection for his sister allow the film to be much more than just a gloomy ride, and everybody’s gripping acting further elevates the film.

Capernaum won numerous awards and is widely admired for its honest depiction of the Lebanese people's plight, and rightly so. Director Nadine Labaki has a penchant for portraying the everyday lives of Lebanese people, which shows in this film, in which she also plays a minor role.

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6. The Scent of Green Papaya (1993)

A 10-year-old Mui starts working as a housemaid for a once-wealthy family that is now sinking into poverty. After spending her entire childhood working in that house, the matriarch, unable to further support her, sends an adult Mui (Tran Nu Yên-Khê) to another house for a similar job. There, she develops a bond with her employer, an engaged pianist.

The Scent of Green Papaya won the Caméra d’Or prize at the Cannes in 1993, and it was Vietnam’s official selection for the Academy Awards. Following this film’s critical appreciation, Tran Anh Hung went on to make Cyclo (1995), which also received similar praises. His wife, Tran Nu Yên-Khê, has appeared in most of his movies, including this one, where she plays the older Mui.

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7. My Son the Fanatic (1997)

Directed by Udayan Prasad, My Son the Fanatic is based on a namesake short film by celebrated British playwright Hanif Kureishi, who also wrote this feature film. It stars the talented Om Puri playing the protagonist, along with Rachel Griffiths and Akbar Kurtha in lead roles. The story deals with some hard-hitting subjects, yet there’s a lot of warmth in the film that the actors have brought in with their performances.

Parvez (Om Puri) is a Pakistani taxi driver who isn’t an orthodox Muslim and has gotten accustomed to the western ways of life. A shocker comes when his son (Akbar Kurtha) gets drawn toward religious fundamentalists, which threatens to destroy Parvez’s little life in Britain. He finds solace in his fondness for a prostitute, complicating his life further. The film very maturely shows you how both the young and elders can take paths that may not necessarily be acceptable to the other or the society.

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8. Seven Samurai (1954)

In 16th century Japan, a small farming village becomes aware of bandits’ plan to raid the village for their harvest. To shield themselves from the attack, the villagers decide to assemble a group of samurai to fend off the ambush. A total of seven skilled samurai come together to keep the village safe, but it becomes an uphill task when several internal conflicts arise.

Seven Samurai is directed by Akira Kurosawa, who is regarded as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, with many critically acclaimed films under his belt. Despite being decades old, Seven Samurai remains a timeless piece often recounted as among the most remarkable productions in film history worldwide.

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9. Agantuk (1991)

Agantuk, the Bengali word for guest, is an apt title for this film. Manomohan Mitra, played by veteran actor Utpal Dutt, arrives in India after 35 years to see his only relative alive, Anila Bose (Mamata Shankar). Anila and her husband start to doubt the long-lost uncle’s identity as they suspect an imposter is after a share in her grandfather’s will. While their son is fully convinced that Mitra isn’t deceiving anyone, the couple does all they can to uncover the truth.

This film was written and directed by Bengali auteur Satyajit Ray. Agantuk is particularly notable because it is Ray’s last film before he passed away the following year. Ray is known for his rich filmmaking career, including titles like the Apu trilogy (1955-59) and Charulata (1964). His admiration for the world cinema and his fearless attitude seeps through his incredible body of work that spans decades.

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Discover more international films on your favorite streaming platforms

Most streaming services that we have access to already include movies from acclaimed directors from around the world. But in a sea of conventional content, the algorithms unfavorably make it hard to spot them unless you manually look them up.

We've merely scratched the surface of all the extraordinary movies from talented Asian directors. Our selections are a perfect introduction to critically-acclaimed Asian cinema, but there are thousands of incredible options on various streaming platforms if you're willing to do a little research.