Things That Go Bump in the East 2023

Fantasia’s showcase of bite-sized Asian tales of the macabre, THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE EAST, again offers a celebration of the otherworldly from the other side of the world, split between animation and live-action. This year’s selection of eight sinister shorts have been summoned from South Korea, China, Bangladesh, Singapore, India, Taiwan, and the U.K.

The strains of “God Save the Queen” echo through the school’s empty hallways, in Tarun Thind’s SARANGI, but who will save the solitary student stalked by the ghostly music? In Luo Mingyang’s TWO SIDE, a selection from the Capsules series of indie animation shorts on China’s Bilibili platform, a boy who’s unable to accept the manslaughter he committed is tortured by his own imagination. A teacher uncovers a dark and startling truth about the mysterious child she’s tutoring in Koo Jaho’s ENGLISH TUTOR. A down-on-his-luck tannery manager keeps getting turned away by the local landlords, who’d rather rent their properties to white-skinned foreigners, in FOREIGNERS ONLY. Nuhash Humayun, the filmmaker behind MOSHARI (an Audience Award-winner from last year’s Things That Go Bump) is back with another socially charged short that will make your skin crawl!

A woman wakes up in a dark and unrecognizable world, encountering grotesque creatures made from lumps of flesh, in Kim Minjeong’s TANG — a terrifying mix of unique South Korean digital animation and disturbing horror, making its world premiere at Fantasia! With a hushed voice, the woman gives the girl a camera, in Kathleen Bu’s YOU WILL SEE. With it comes the yearning to catch the perfect moment, and the fear of missing it. In Virat Pal’s NIGHT OF THE BRIDE, a woman is held hostage by an entire family, ready to do whatever it takes to marry their only son. The grand finale of this year’s Things That Go Bump in the East is the animated A NIGHT WITH MOOSINA, in which country girl Chun Mei is lured to the mountainside lair of a malevolent spirit. Human relations with other creatures great and small inform this ghastly yet gorgeous new work from award-winning Taiwanese animator Tsai Shiu-Cheng. – Rupert Bottenberg