The Land of Morning Calm, directed by Park Ri-woong, is a powerful portrait of a fading Korean fishing village and the emotional dislocation of its residents. Supported by moving performances from Yoon Joo-sang, Yang Hee-kyung, and Khazsak Kramer, the film explores generational divides, economic decline, and the complex, often unspoken tensions surrounding immigration and arranged…
Tag: horror
ALULA Film Festival: In Conversation with Bian Zhuo, Director of “As the Water Flows”
Bian Zhuo’s As the Water Flows is a gentle and beautiful film about aging and reconciliation, shaped by the director’s own family story. The film was inspired by the diary of Bian’s late grandfather, a man who suffered greatly during China’s Anti-Rightist Movement. What started as an attempt to recreate that hardship slowly turned into…
Joss and Gawin on “My Golden Blood”, Working Together and Their Fanmeet in Europe – Exclusive Interview
For fans of Thai BL dramas, seeing your favourite actors up close is an experience unlike any other. When Joss and Gawin arrived in London for their first European fan-meeting tour, many of us were quite excited. Fans had spent hours immersed in My Golden Blood, following the story of Mark, a vampire struggling with…
69th BFI London Film Festival: In Conversation with Shih-Ching Tsou, Director of “Left-Handed Girl”
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…
82nd Venice Film Festival: “Girl” Review
Girl was the directorial debut of SHU Qi. It was undoubtedly one of the most anticipated films at the 82nd Venice Film Festival. Girl marked SHU Qi’s first step into directing. It captured immense attention at the event. SHU Qi is a regular presence at Cannes, Berlinale, and the Venice Film Festival. Her first arrival…
82nd Venice Film Festival: In Conversation with Tereza Nvotová, Director of “Father”
Tereza Nvotová has been an important voice in contemporary European cinema. Her debut feature, Filthy (2017), confronted the taboos around sexual assault and went on to win more than 20 international awards. The same year, her HBO documentary The Lust for Power took aim at corruption in Slovak politics, establishing Nvotová as a filmmaker unafraid…
82nd Venice Film Festival: In Conversation with Adam Suzin, DoP of “Father”
Polish cinematographers are among the most talented people behind the camera, shaping European and global cinema. Legends like Sławomir Idziak (Black Hawk Down, Blue), Paweł Edelman (The Pianist, Cold War), Ryszard Lenczewski (Ida, Last Resort), and Janusz Kamiński (Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan) are known for their superb compositions and visual depth. And the new…
82nd Venice Film Festival: In Conversation with Anuparna Roy, Director of “Songs of Forgotten Trees”
At the 82nd Venice Film Festival, Anuparna Roy’s Songs of Forgotten Trees was a rare kind of debut, one that challanges the ways Indian cinema has historically positioned women: not as symbols or accessories to a male narrative, but as living, breathing individuals. Her film places women firmly at the centre and lets them be…
82nd Venice Film Festival: “Father” Review
Tereza Nvotová’s Father (Otec) had its world premiere in the Orizzonti section at this year’s Venice International Film Festival, and from its opening frame, we are in the hands of a filmmaker unwilling to compromise on emotional or cinematic truth. Known for her courageous portraits of trauma in Filthy and Nightsiren, Nvotová turns her attention…
78th Locarno Film Festival: In Conversation with Park Syeyoung, Director of “The Fin”
Seoul-based Syeyoung Park is an interesting independent filmmaker. A graduate of the Korea National University of Arts, with a BFA in Film and an MFA in Video Arts, Park made his feature debut with The Fifth Thoracic Vertebra, which earned him awards at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, Seoul Independent Film Festival, and Fantasia,…
78th Locarno Film Festival: “The Fin” Review
Korean cinema continues to prove its global dominance not just through streaming platforms, but through visionary films that challenge and expand the very language of cinema. With The Fin, director Park Syeyoung delivers a haunting work, an unsettling look at control and survival in the aftermath of ideology. Set in a post-unification, ecologically devastated Korea,…
Freddie Fox Returns Behind the Camera with “The Painting & The Statue” – Exclusive Interview
Freddie Fox has been a compelling figure in theatre, TV, and film for years. He’s well-known for roles in White House Farm, The Crown, Slow Horses, Year of the Rabbit, Pride, and The Great, and was recently seen as Loki in Netflix’s The Sandman. While many may know him for his chameleonic performances, Fox is…
“The Painting & The Statue” – A Sublime, Time-Spanning Meditation on Love, Art, and the Silent Lives In Between
Timeless love is often relegated to mythology, fiction, or short-lived daydreams – the kind of feeling that evades language and logic. But what if that love, impossible and pure, was patiently waiting – not in a grand romance, but in the stillness of a room? Freddie Fox’s The Painting & The Statue dares to ask…
78th Cannes Film Festival: “A Useful Ghost” Review
Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s debut feature, A Useful Ghost, is a superb, part political reflection, part gentle love story, and part quirky ghost tale, all set in glowing fog and the remains of an industrial past. Playful and bold, the film moves through themes of death, memory, and class with ease, guided by a director who clearly…
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