Celebrating its Golden Jubilee, the Hong Kong International Film Festival 2026 opened with Anthony Chen’s We Are All Strangers. Spending over ten years, Chen wrapped up the “Growing Up” Trilogy after Ilo Ilo (2013) and Wet Season (2019), with these films determined to reflect on the revolving cityscape of Singapore alongside the growth of the…
Tag: reviews
Korean London Presents: EL CAPITXN to Finally Perform in London
Something remarkable happens when someone who has spent years building for others finally creates for themselves. For most listeners, EL CAPITXN has long been a name tucked into album credits, a producer’s signature, a songwriter’s imprint, the hand behind some of K-pop’s most emotionally powerful records. Within the industry, though, he has always been something of a…
Sold-Out and On Fire: JUNHEE Brings Energy and Charm to London – Concert Review
If you are new to K-pop, JUNHEE is a name worth knowing. A member of A.C.E – a group long respected for its great work – and now a solo artist, he is entering a new phase of his career. Like many idols, he has also stepped into acting, embracing the multi-hyphenate nature of the…
LYKN in Milan: Bellissima Night – Concert Review
The global rise of Thai boy groups is no longer a quiet trend, and we are loving it! Acts like LYKN are beginning to engage international audiences by bringing something wonderfully delightful: a linguistic texture that is refreshingly new to many listeners. Thai, as a language, has that tonal softness to it and a warm…
CLOUDIAN: Live Rock at Its Purest – Concert Review
How do you describe a band like CLOUDIAN? It almost feels impossible, until you hear them live. Only then does it begin to make sense. Only then do you understand that what you are witnessing is not simply a rock band, but an extraordinary band. Formed in Busan over eight years ago as a six-member…
2Z Bring Korean Pop-Rock Energy to London – Concert Review
2Z is an interesting band in modern Korean pop-rock. Since their debut in 2020, the five-piece, comprising Hojin, Jiseob, Bumjun, Nua, and ZUNON, is known for its hard rock, alternative, and new wave influences. While there is a huge enjoyment when listening to their music, I have to say – after seeing them in London…
To Be Seen, Yet Unheard: Mahesh Menon Explores Family and Identity in “A Letter for Tomorrow” – Exclusive Interview
When the Indian filmmaker Mahesh Menon brought his moving short A Letter for Tomorrow to this year’s BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, I was truly taken aback by how wonderful the film was. Drawing from his own upbringing in a matriarchal household, Menon explores the complexity within families – particularly how love is often…
Far East Film Festival 28 Unveils 76-Film Programme, Opening with Anthony Chen’s “We Are All Strangers”
What began in the spring of 1998 as a bold and somewhat puzzling experiment has grown into one of Europe’s most important showcases of Asian cinema. When the Centro Espressioni Cinematografiche (CEC) in Udine shifted its focus from Italian retrospectives to a programme dedicated to Hong Kong films, few could have predicted the outcome. Yet…
82MAJOR Live in London: Young and Simply Unstoppable – Concert Review
There is no denying that new K-pop acts debut with remarkable frequency, and creating your own identity as a rookie is not an easy task. Yet from the very beginning, 82MAJOR, comprising Seongil, Yechan, Seongmo, Seongbin, Seokjoon, and Dogyun, has shown a rare creative ambition; each release is different and increasingly musically ambitious. Watching their…
Gaho Uncovered: From Solo Work to KAVE – Exclusive Interview
Gaho, a South Korean singer, is a one-of-a-kind artist with a strong and characteristic voice that’s easy to recognise and can really imprint on you. The more you listen, the more compelling his sound becomes. Long before the global rise of K-dramas turned their soundtracks into cultural exports, Gaho’s voice was already doing something rare:…
28th Far East Film Festival: FEFF Campus Returns for Its 12th Edition, Welcoming Ten Aspiring Voices to the Global Film Community
The Far East Film Festival Campus initiative continues to bring film lovers together from across the globe, and if that sounds like the beginning of a great film, it’s because, in many ways, it is. As the 28th Far East Film Festival returns from April 24 to May 2, 2026, the FEFF Campus celebrates its…
40th BFI FLARE: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival: “ìfé: The Sequel” Review
Across much of West Africa – and Africa more broadly – LGBTQ+ lives continue to exist under immense pressure. In countries like Nigeria, same-sex relationships are not only socially stigmatised but also legally criminalised, with laws such as the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act reinforcing a culture of fear and invisibility. While there have been small…
40th BFI FLARE: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival: In Conversation with Lexie Bean, Director of “What Will I Become?”
Lexie Bean is a trans multidisciplinary artist whose work moves across writing, film, and community-based practice, always based on questions of identity, memory, and the body. For over fifteen years, they have worked closely with survivors of domestic and sexual violence, creating spaces for storytelling through books, performances, and visual work. Their practice is collaborative…
40th BFI FLARE: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival: “Satisfaction” Review
Something is unsettling about Satisfaction, not because it shocks in obvious ways, but because it does not offer simple answers. It stays in discomfort, in silence, in the spaces where language fails, and in doing so, it asks one of the most difficult questions a film can pose: how do we make sense of our…
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