April 2025
This issue of the Asian Cinema Digest highlights pioneering Asian auteurs in the Chinese Neo-noir and Japanese Avant-Garde movements, and dives into films that engage with memory and identity across a range of cinematic forms, from fiction to documentary.
TO SEE
Image still from Caught by the Tides (2024, Jia Zhang Ke)Asian Film Archive: Jia Zhangke Mini-Retrospective
Asian Film Archive spotlights 6 titles and a newest release by Jia Zhangke with film screenings that run until 26 April 2025.
As a leading voice in China’s Sixth Generation of directors, Jia’s films are experimental and sprawling, responding to ideologies of reform and modernisation through his genre-bending approach which combines documentary and fiction. Be sure to snag tickets for the previously sold-out screenings of Mountains May Depart (2015) and Still Life (2006), stirring dramas about loss and nostalgia featuring unexpected sci-fi elements. Catch the screenings of Caught by the Tides (2024), Jia’s latest film that acts as a culmination of his filmography and collaborations with his wife and muse, Zhao Tao.
Image still from Twilight’s Kiss (2019, Ray Yeung)Criterion Channel: Three Melodramas by Ray Yeung
Criterion Channel features Ray Yeung’s stirring melodramas which carve a niche for intimate and sensitive explorations of queer and Asian identity within contemporary Hong Kong cinema. Front Cover (2015) navigates the intersections of cultural identity and sexual orientation, putting a queer twist on the classic romantic comedy. Twilight’s Kiss (2019) and All Shall Be Well (2024) are moving portraits of older gay and lesbian couples navigating love and loss in their golden years. Available for screening now on Criterion Channel.
Image still from The Wild Goose Lake (2019, Diao Yinan)Criterion Channel: Chinese Crime Thrillers
Criterion Channel rounds up nine Chinese crime thrillers which employ mainstays of the Noir genre— gritty narratives, morally complex characters, and pervasive disillusionment— as a lens for potent social commentary. The selection features titles including Yang Qing’s Chongqing Hotpot (2016), Jia Zhangke’s Ash is Purest White (2018), and Diao Yinan’s The Wild Goose Lake (2019). Now screening on Criterion Channel.
Image Still from Pastoral: To Die in the Country (1974, Shūji Terayama)M+ Cinema Spring Edition: Japanese Avant-Garde Pioneers
Ahead of the Asian Avant Garde Film Festival, M+ is screening Amélie Ravalec’s electrifying documentary, Japanese Avant-Garde Pioneers (2025). It traces the emergence and evolution of the avant-garde art movement in Japan, rooted in the sociopolitical turbulence and profound trauma of World War II. Ravalec’s film highlights the contributions of experimental photographer Nobuyoshi Araki, theatre-maker Shūji Terayama, and Hijikata Tatsumi and Kazuo Ohno, founders of the Butoh dance form. The screening takes place on 10 May 2025, and will be accompanied by a pre-screening talk by Ulanda Blair, M+ Curator of Moving Image.
TO LISTEN
Image still from Mickey 17 (2025, Bong Joon-ho)Deep Cut 097.: Bong Joon-ho: Mickey 17 (2025)
Deep Cut is a director-focused film podcast featuring deep-dive discussions about international, art-house, and independent cinema. In this latest episode, hosts Wilson Lai, Benjamin Yap, and Eli Sands delve into a spoiler-filled review of Bong Joon-ho’s science-fiction black comedy, Mickey 17 (2025).
Image still from Fist of Fury (1972, Lo Wei)Heroic Purgatory: Fist of Fury
Film podcast Heroic Purgatory returns for a new season focusing on historical martial arts, kickstarting with Bruce Lee’s iconic contribution to Hong Kong martial arts cinema, Fist of Fury (1972). Hosts John Atom and Jason Maher discuss the film’s historical context, action choreography, its impact on Lee’s career, as well as its legacy in Hong Kong and Asian cinema.
TO READ
Image still from An Unfinished Film (2024, Lou Ye)Documentary Magazine: Doc Fortnight 2025: Archival Emergence
Dan Schnidel writes on the Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) 24th edition of Doc Fortnight, bringing out a common aesthetic thread of reappropriating archival material. Schnidel highlights some fresh picks from the programme including Eight Postcards From Utopia (2024), John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office (2025), as well as Lou Ye’s latest docufiction An Unfinished Film (2024). From post-communist Romanian advertisements to lab experiment footage, the films in this year’s selection fruitfully interlace archival materials with modern documentary, using the archive as an active medium for creativity.
Image still from Việt and Nam (2024, Trương Minh Quý)In Review Online: Looking at Yourself in the Mirror: An Interview with Trương Minh Quý
Conor Truax speaks to filmmaker Trương Minh Quý about his debut narrative feature, Việt and Nam (2024). Trương and Truax delve into specific aspects of the film including cultural references, which are possibly lost in translation for international viewers, and the striking use of sound.
Truax calls attention to the film’s exploration of history and historiography is also a prominent theme in Trương’s filmography, including feature documentary The Tree House (2019), praising the careful distinction drawn between national mythology and personal memory. Trương shares about the profound effects of large historical events on himself and his characters, both in the past and present, which has shaped his approach towards filmmaking.
Image still from All We Imagine As Light (2024, Payal Kapadia)The New York Review: Of Light
Poorna Swami writes for The New York review on Payal Kapadia’s critically acclaimed feature All We Imagine As Light (2024). The film follows three vastly different women working at the same hospital in Mumbai on a trip to a beach town, an idyllic natural environment where their desires are allowed to manifest away from the grip of societal expectations in the city.
Swami’s thoughtful prose refutes a binaristic perspective of the unforgiving city versus the healing countryside, contending that a sense of quiet idealism permeates both urban and rural settings in the film. Through beautifully evocative descriptions of the film’s cinematography, Swami conjures the tentative, yet palpable desires of Kapadia’s characters.
Image still from Flowers of Shanghai (1998, Hou Hsiao-Hsien)Metrograph: Mark Lee Ping-Bing in Conversation with Bradford Young
Cinematographer Bradford Young speaks to his hero, Mark Lee Ping-Bing, whose six-decade career has included a long and fruitful partnership with Hou-Hsiao Hsien and collaborations with Wong Kar-wai, Trần Anh Hùng, and Ann Hui.
Lee shares about his love for ancient poetry and prose, and his cinematography practice which aims to imbue his works with a similar density of context and textures. He speaks about the evolution of his unique visual grammar through his extensive partnership with Hou-Hsiao Hsien, particularly in the use of simple lighting setups, and his experimentation with film and digital technologies throughout the years.
TO SUBMIT
Call for Submissions: 16th Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival
The Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival (KKIFF) is Malaysia’s longest running film festival based in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The festival includes international and regional movie screenings, talks, workshops and training for filmmakers. This competition is open to citizens and residents of ASEAN, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The rules and regulations can be found here, and the deadline for submissions is 18 April 2025.
Call for Projects: Docs by the Sea
Docs by the Sea is an international documentary forum dedicated to empowering filmmakers through film labs and pitching forums. Participating filmmakers will work with top mentors and have the opportunity to present their projects to connect with international industry representatives. The application guidelines can be found here, and the deadline for submissions is 24 April 2025.
Call for Submissions: 11th Minikino Film Week
Minikino Film Week International Short Film Festival returns for its 11th edition, celebrating short films through its International Competition featuring films from its official selection along with various programs including the annual Indonesia Raja, a national short film exchange program and S-Express, a Southeast Asian programmers network. The rules and regulations can be found here, and the deadline for submissions is 28 April 2025.
Call for Submissions: 9th SeaShorts Film Festival
SeaShorts Film Festival showcases Southeast Asia’s stories and emerging filmmaking talents by bringing together the arts and cultural community from the region. The festival is also a platform for regional exchange and learning, talent recognition, networking and collaboration. The rules and regulations can be found here, and the deadline for submissions is 16 May 2025.
Call for Papers: Launch Symposium of the Association for Curators and Programmers of Asian Cinemas (ACPAC)
The Association for Curators and Programmers of Asian Cinemas (ACPAC) is accepting abstracts and papers for its launch symposium, Rethinking Film Curation in Asian Cinemas. The event hopes to ignite discourse between film curators, scholars and industry professionals, and will be co-hosted by AFA in September 2025. The rules and regulations can be found here, and the deadline for submissions is 25 April 2025.
This edition of the Asian Cinema Digest was compiled by Kuo Yi Quan. The Asian Cinema Digest is a monthly compilation of content taking place internationally involving Asian cinema and the moving image. Featured programmes are not representative of AFA’s views and are unaffiliated to the AFA unless otherwise stated.
