For years, Shih-Ching Tsou has been the heartbeat behind some of contemporary cinema’s most human stories. Born and raised in Taipei, she moved to New York after graduating from Fu Jen Catholic University, earning her master’s in Media Studies at The New School. Her career began with Take Out (2004), a small, vérité-style indie she…
Tag: Asian Cinema
69th BFI London Film Festival: In Conversation with Calif Chong, Isabella Wei and Matthew P. Scott of “High Wire”
Hong Kong director Calif Chong’s debut feature, High Wire, makes a striking entrance, a film that is at once humorous, compelling, and real. Best known for her acclaimed 2019 short Underneath, Chong ventures into feature territory with a story that examines the delicate balance of duty and desire, the weight of parental expectation, and the…
69th BFI London Film Festival: “High Wire” Review
Hong Kong director Calif Chong, best known for her acclaimed 2019 short Underneath, delivers something different with High Wire. High Wire speaks to something human and widely felt: the way immigration reshapes people, their hopes, their fears, and their relationships with the next generation. For many immigrant parents, the act of starting over comes with…
69th BFI London Film Festival: “Hair, Paper, Water” Review
Vietnamese cinema has long existed in the margins of Southeast Asian film culture, overshadowed by the global recognition of its regional neighbours. Yet, in recent years, a resurgence has begun to take shape, led by filmmakers whose work values poetic observation over plot. Among them, Trương Minh Quý. His latest collaboration with Belgian filmmaker Nicolas…
69th BFI London Film Festival: In Conversation with Hsu Ya-Ting, Director of “Island of the Winds”
Born in Taiwan shortly before the end of martial law, Hsu Ya-Ting has become an important voice in Taiwanese documentary cinema. Her films weave together the personal and the political, exploring how memory and place shape people’s lives. With Island of the Winds, she tells an intimate story of the elderly residents of Losheng Sanatorium,…
69th BFI London Film Festival: “Island of the Winds” Review
Hsu Ya-Ting’s Island of the Winds is a heart-rending documentary that immerses the viewer in the often-overlooked lives of the elderly residents of Lesheng Sanatorium, a former leper colony on the outskirts of Taipei. From the very first moments, the film builds an intimate closeness to its subjects, allowing their memories and struggles to surface…
69th BFI London Film Festival: “ChaO” Review
From the endlessly imaginative Japanese studio STUDIO 4°C comes ChaO, a stunning animated feature that marries slapstick comedy with sweet romance, all told through a burst of colour and hand-drawn beauty that feels almost radical in today’s digital-first era. Director Yasuhiro Aoki, making his feature debut, draws on decades of experience in character animation to…
69th BFI London Film Festival: “Human Resource” Review
Abortion remains one of the most polarising debates in the world: a subject weighed down by politics, religion, and morality, but rarely centred on the lived experiences of the women forced to make impossible choices. Too often, the men who play a part in unplanned pregnancies can walk away, while women are left carrying the…
The Magic of Thai BL: JossGawin’s Unforgettable London Fan Meet
There’s something magical about Thai BL dramas; their stories connect people not only in Thailand but all around the world. Whether it’s the slow burn, the unspoken glances, the richness of emotion, or simply seeing parts of ourselves in the characters, these shows become personal experiences, unless, of course, they involve supernatural beings. While some…
Alula Film Festival 2025 Announces Full Lineup, Returning to Los Angeles to Celebrate Independent Chinese-Language Cinema
The Alula Film Festival has unveiled the complete lineup for its 2025 edition, set to take place from October 16 to 19 at The Culver City Theaters in Los Angeles. Dedicated to independent, arthouse, and auteur-driven works, Alula continues to serve as a vital platform for bold and original Chinese-language cinema. Formerly known as the…
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