Japanese actor/singer/multi-lingual culture star Dean Fujioka produces and stars in a brand new cult film ‘Pure Japanese’ which is out now globally via Amazon Prime Video. For genre fans, fed on a steady diet of Tarantino and Takeshi Miike, ‘Pure Japanese’ offers wry introspection, irreverent socio-cultural commentary, and a heady dose of pulp violence thrown in for good measure. Dean says: “When... Source ..read more

Young Adult Matters (어른들은 몰라요, Eoleundeuleun Mollayo) Director: Lee Hwan Written by: Lee Hwan Year: 2020 Country: South Korea Review by guest author Abigail Lee Bright and candy-coloured, gently diffused soft skin on a leafy backdrop are all things one would come to expect from Korean dramas and cookie-cutter pop music videos. Young Adult Matters by Lee Hwan Director Lee Hwan takes this notion and... Source ..read more

Kalel, 15 Director: Jun Lana Written by: Jun Lana Year: 2019 Country: The Philippines Review by guest author Richelle Vergara Winner of the Best Director Award at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Filipino filmmaker Jun Robles Lana’s Kalel, 15 is haunting and powerful. The film addresses the rising HIV epidemic happening in the Philippines through the lens of 15-year-old, Kalel Fernandez (Elijah... Source ..read more

The Eleventh Chapter (第十一回) Director: Jianbin Chen Country: China Year: 2019 Review by guest author Chen Xiu Zhen Amazing is the tenacity of human beings to get to the bottom of things: the Truth. Just look at our preoccupation with spy novels, documentaries, biographies. We all desire some ounce of truth. There are, however, many instances where the truth can be complicated either by one’s own... Source ..read more

When I started this blog around eight years ago, people would often asked me – how do I watch these films you’re writing about? Back then access to Asian films and TV was much more difficult – you would rarely see them in cinemas or TV. But now, with the rise of streaming, it’s so much easier. Moreover, streaming platforms like Netflix invest in local film markets to bring more original content to... Source ..read more

Crazy Rich Asians Director: Jon M. Chu Written by: Peter Chiarelli, Adele Lim Year: 2018 Country: USA Find Crazy Rich Asians on Amazon Crazy Rich Asians came out two years ago, which in 2020 feels at least a decade in the past. The film, based on Kevin Kwan’s novel of the same name, was a commercial success and cemented its place in cinema history as the highest grossing romantic comedy of the... Source ..read more

Permission to Exist Director: Kelley Katzenmeyer Written by: Jaeho Lee Year: 2020 Country: South Korea The civil examination system in Imperial China was used to select candidates to work in the state bureaucracy by merit rather than birth. This was a rather unique system at the time when, in most of the world, only those of aristocratic birth could expect a position in the government. Source ..read more

Garam Hawa (Hindi : गर्म हवा English : Hot Winds or Scorching Winds) Director: M.S. Sathyu Written by: Kaifi Azmi, Shama Zaidi Year: 1973 Country: India You ask me about that country Whose details now escape me I don’t remember its geography, Nothing of its history. And should I visit it in memory, It would be as I would a past lover After years, for a night, no longer restless with passion... Source ..read more

The Luang Prabang Film Festival (LPFF) has announced that its 10th annual event will take place online from 4 to 10 December 2020. The festival will include a carefully curated selection of the best in contemporary ASEAN cinema, but this year’s program will also bring back feature selections from the event’s first ten years and highlight MEKONG 2030, the award-winning anthology film released by... Source ..read more

The Human Condition (人間の條件, Ningen no jōken) Director: Masaki Kobayashi Written by: Masaki Kobayashi, Zenzo Matsuyama, Koichi Inagaki Year: 1959 Country: Japan Talking about Rossellini’s Roma Citta Aperta, Godard said, ‘Italy has regained the right of a nation to look itself in the face’. One wonders if the same doesn’t hold true for Japan and The Human Condition. Despite its indictments of... Source ..read more