Indonesian film Pai Kau is set to be screened at the 2018 Osaka Asian Film Festival scheduled on March 9-18 in Osaka, Japan.

The movie has been included in the "New Action! Southeast Asia" category that highlights the region's breakthrough cinema, showcasing up to eight films, from action to art house.

"I found Pai Kau to be an interesting discovery when I was picking out films for this year's festival. It is highly entertaining and very artistic," said the festival's program director, Teruoka Sozo, in a statement as quoted by Antara on Tuesday.

Entering its 13^th year, the festival is set to feature around 50 long fiction films from Asian countries. Korean director Lee Joon-ik's Anarchist from the Colony and Japanese filmmaker Toda Akihiro's The Name are slated to be its opening and closing flicks, respectively.

Read also: Pengabdi Setan, Marlina to be screened at Rotterdam film festival

For Pai Kau, the Osaka festival will be its first international screening.

"We were not planning to include Pai Kau at the festival, so we're grateful to receive appreciation from the festival's programmer so that we're able to premiere internationally in Japan and meet with a larger audience," said Pai Kau producer and actress Irina Chiu.

According to Kyoto University associate professor of Southeast Asian studies Nishi Yoshimi, Pai Kau, which follows couple Lucy and Edy Wijaya's tense wedding day due to the presence of an uninvited woman named Siska, was a breath of fresh air for Indonesian cinema because of its use of the Mandarin language, proving the country is a cultural melting pot, where new philosophies grow and prosper.

Another Indonesian film that will represent the archipelago at the event is Posesif (Possessive) by director Edwin. (kes)

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