DAY 2: FRIDAY MARCH 31 2006

		Welcome to CinemAsia

Day 2 of CinemAsia was visibly more relaxed for all concerned after the bustle and excitement of opening night.

Screenings of Shanghai Dreams at the Rialto and Executive Koala and the Japan/Korea Shorts program at the Vondelpark drew solid crowds. Festival organisor Petra van Dongen revealed that the print of Shanghai Dreams had arrived in the nick of time just one day before its first screening, having been delayed in Turkey, of all places, by someone simply leaving their job and neglecting to inform anyone that the movie needed to be shipped to Amsterdam. Such is the less glamorous side of film festival organization! In a quiet period during the screening of the Malaysian love story Sepet, Petra talked about the labyrinthine way of the various film-funding bodies, and how this festival will keep her busy well into April, if not May with the country-wide festival tour and the requisite evaluation submissions.

However, plenty more to see at the festival in the meantime! The other movie screening at The Rialto was Thai comedy Pattaya Maniac. Not as downright lurid and camp as CinemAsia 2004's The Adventures of Iron Pussy (the title pretty much speaks for itself), it's a dumb-guys-and-gangsters beach romp, held together by the characters' collective obsession with karaoke, of all things, and featuring a lead actor with a quite uncanny resemblance to Shrek. A farcical plot involves a merry-go-round exchange of 3 million baht for valuable and rare amulets, gangster's moll Nok, and various kidnap victims along the way. The obligatory Thai drag queens make a welcome appearance at the very end. Present at the screening was Aaron Wan, previously seen in children's movie Het Paard van Sinterklaas and also to be seen in Filmlab winner Ping. Also present was Lens director Djie Han Thung, who found the film to be reasonably entertaining, and the general consensus of opinion amongst the departing audience was just that – an entertaining and amusing movie.

Festival attendees could also see work by Dutch Asian photographer Ting Chan on display in the Rialto foyer. Chan has exhibited her photographs of young Asians in Utrecht, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Paris.

German director/producer Berengar Pfahl was in town with his composer colleague Matthias Raue to discuss their up-coming filming of Shanghai Baby (the best-selling novel by Wei Hui). Bai Ling dropped by for some tea, there was wine, there was singing, there was Amsterdam nightlife ...

Much to choose from today: the CinemAsia Filmlab Made in Holland Shorts program at Rialto (17.45), Hawaiian night at the Filmmuseum Vondelpark and more Asian films at the Rialto tonight.