July 2025
This issue of the Asian Cinema Digest brings recommendations of restored gems and archival materials, from Taiwanese documentaries to Golden-age Hollywood crime noir, and cinematic deep cuts by Yasujiro Ozu, Ann Hui, and Lino Brocka. Check out fresh horror picks featuring possessed vacuum cleaners and matter-bending sharks.
TO SEE
Image still from Tails (2025, Isabelle Grace Monteiro)Asian Film Archive: Singapore Shorts ‘25
Asian Film Archive presents Singapore Shorts ‘25, the latest edition of the annual showcase celebrating diverse and groundbreaking short films by Singaporean filmmakers from 1-22 August. This year’s lineup features 3 official selections of 17 distinctive and eclectic works curated by a panel comprising professionals from different creative industries, and “Refuge Island”, a special programme developed by some participants of AFA’s and Objectifs’ Film Programmers Lab 2025 under the mentorship of independent programmer Phoebe Pua.
The screenings will be accompanied by an installation piece, in-person Q&A sessions with the filmmakers, and critical response pieces. Tickets and more information here.
Asian Film Archive: Singapore Mentioned
Asian Film Archive presents Singapore Mentioned, a special programme spotlighting 3 non-Singaporean films which make reference to Singapore. From passing but crucial mentions to larger historical backdrops which reflect on how Singapore might exist through an outsider’s gaze— these films cast a new light on how Singapore might figure in somebody else’s story, why that is, and what we might reap from that.
William Wyler’s sleek noir The Letter (1940) starring Bette Davis evokes the ‘Chinese quarters of colonial-era Singapore, which become sultry playgrounds for murder, scandal, and corruption. Tất Bình’s The Backstage Slap (2002) follows a dwindling theatre troupe in post-renovation (Đổi Mới) era Vietnam, spinning a poignant allegory of hair, memory, and the struggle to move on. Lau Kek Huat’s documentary From Island to Island (2024) is an unflinching deep dive into the experiences of Taiwanese, Singaporean, and Southeast Asian diaspora under Japanese colonial rule during World War II.
Singapore Mentioned runs from 2-24 August 2025 with single screenings for all three films. Tickets and more information here.
Image still from Manila in the Claws of Light (1975, Lino Brocka)Criterion Channel: Directed by Lino Brocka
Criterion Channel presents 4 titles by preeminent Philippine auteur, Lino Brocka. Intense, searing visions of life, death, sex, and struggle scorch the screen with raw emotion and righteous anger at class inequality, sexual violence, and the pervasive corruption of the Marcos era. Era-defining works of Filipino cinema including Bona (1980) , Manila in the Claws of Light (1975) , shattering revenge drama Insiang (1976), and blistering action thriller Cain and Abel (1982) are now streaming on Criterion Channel.
Image still from July Rhapsody (2002, Ann Hui)Criterion Channel: July Rhapsody (2002)
Criterion Channel spotlights Ann Hui’s July Rhapsody (2002). Brimming with serene, ineffable beauty, July Rhapsody is a profound and soothing tale from Hong Kong auteur Ann Hui about paddling through life’s chaos—even as things that seem eternal, like the Yangtze River, quietly fade away. Starring Jacky Cheung, Anita Mui, and Karena Lam, their characters wade through simmering desires and long-buried resentments in this achingly delicate melodrama. Available for screening on Criterion Channel.
Image still from Formosa (undated, TFAI)TFAI: The Earliest Documentary About Taiwan
Preserved and released in full for public viewing by Taiwan Film & Audiovisual Institute, Formosa depicts the natural landscapes, architecture, customs, culture, and indigenous peoples of Taiwan during the period of Japanese colonisation. The introductory documentary was donated as a duplicate print by the Netherlands Filmmuseum (now Eye Filmmuseum) in 1991, and its creation may be roughly dated to the period between 1917 and 1922. As the earliest known surviving motion picture in and about Taiwan, the film’s content and its circulation as an artefact stands testament to the importance of the preservation of early film culture in understanding colonial perceptions and imagination.
TO LISTEN
Image still from Night and Day (2008, Hong Sang-soo)Deep Cut Podcast: Hong Sang-soo: Night and Day (featuring Alexander Lee)
The hosts of the Deep Cut podcast are joined by Asian Film Archive programmer Alexander Lee to chat about Hong Sang-soo’s Night and Day (2008). As part of AFA’s special programme Twin Tales: Éric Rohmer and Hong Sang-soo, Hong’s film was paired with Rohmer’s Love in the Afternoon (1972). While Alex shares about the considerations behind the pairing, the podcast hosts delve into narrative motifs, dissecting Hong’s use of zooms, and the film’s slimy protagonist, Sung-nam. They discuss Hong’s unusual incorporation of subjective storytelling devices in the form of narration and dream sequences, and the alluring influences of Paris and Rohmer on Hong’s filmmaking. More on Twin Tales.
Image still from Branded to Kill (1967, Seijun Suzuki)The Film Comment Podcast: Cinema of the Rice Cooker
As part of a special programme presented at Brooklyn Academy of Music entitled Let Them Cook: Cinema of the Rice Cooker, Film Comment editor Devika Girish and seasoned guest critics (in both film and food) delve into the cinematic appeal of the humble household appliance.
The panel follows a screening of Seijun Suzuki’s Branded to Kill (1967), which features a yakuza assassin with a fetish for the smell of cooking rice. Cinema of the rice cooker runs deep— other films mentioned in the episode include Raymond Yip’s Sixty Million Dollar Man (2005), Yasujiro Ozu’s Good Morning (1959), and Bong Joon Ho’s 1994 short Incoherence. They consider all aspects of the rice cooker— from its technological ingenuity and nostalgic olfactory associations, to its place within urban, gendered, and often isolating domestic environments.
TO READ
Image still from Gehenu Lamai (1978, Sumitra Peries)Screen Slate: Il Cinema Ritrovato 2025
Catch up with the latest edition of Il Cinema Ritrovato, the world’s largest festival dedicated to restorations and repertory screenings organised by Cineteca di Bologna in Italy. Writing for Screen Slate, Jonathan Mackris describes the breathtaking array of films from classics to deep cuts: a new restoration of Satyajit Ray’s Days and Nights in the Forest, Edward Yang’s Yi Yi (2000) and Yasujiro Ozu’s The Only Son (1936). Other Asian picks mentioned include the festival opener, Sumitra Peries’ Gehenu Lamai (1978), and Tang Shu Shuen’s The Arch (1968)— both trailblazing gems which depict multi-generational portraits of women with a deft eye for framing and unorthodox compositions.
Image still from A Useful Ghost (2024, Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke)Asian Movie Pulse: Interview with Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke
Marina D. Richter interviews filmmaker Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke about his fantasy black comedy A Useful Ghost (2025), which screened earlier this year at the Critics’ Week section of the 2025 Cannes International Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix. Boonbunchachoke speaks about drawing inspiration from Mae Nak Phra Khanong, a Thai folkloric tale about a woman who tragically dies during childbirth while her husband is away at war, and returns to terrorise her village as a vengeful spirit. Enamoured by the practical considerations of ghosts possessing household appliances (specifically a vacuum cleaner), he shares about the development of these initial ideas and balancing the film’s genre elements with incisive commentary about air pollution in Bangkok. (Also check out Richter’s review of the film here.)
BIFFBAMPOP! : In Morihito Inoue’s ‘Onsen Shark/Hot Spring Shark Attack’ You Will Believe a Shark Can Squish
Writer Sachin Hingoo dives headfirst into the annual Tokyo International Shark Film Festival, reviewing its Audience Award-winning film Onsen Shark (2025) by Morihito Inoue. Hingoo describes Inoue’s debut film as “terminally unserious” like the Sharknado films and an obvious tribute to the classic Jaws (1975), but with its own special flavour and feel. Putting forth a passionate argument for B-grade sharksploitation that doesn’t take itself too seriously, Hingoo revels in the silliness and chaos of charmingly rendered sharks living in hot tub drains.
TO SUBMIT
Call for Submissions: Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival
Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival is a showcase of films that explore and expand the myriad meanings of ngilngig—a common Bisaya expression for the fantastic, the ghastly, the macabre; or for something that elicits horror, goosebumps, and repulsion. Ngilngig Festival is the first fantastic film festival of its kind in Southeast Asia, featuring stories which promote and preserve regional myths, traditions, history, and cultures. The application guidelines can be found here, and the deadline for submissions is 31 July, 2025.
Call for Submissions: 36th Singapore International Film Festival
Singapore International Film Festival provides a global platform for international and Singapore cinema, enabling established and aspiring filmmakers to premiere their films. The application guidelines can be found here, and the deadline for submissions is 1 August 2025.
Call for Submissions: 28th Kyoto International Student Films and Video Festival
Back for its 28th edition, the Kyoto International Student Film & Video Festival is the largest international student film festival in Japan. It is entirely organized and run by university students in Kyoto. The festival offers a forum for cultural and international exchange and ultimately vitalizes Kyoto. The application guidelines can be found here, and the deadline for submissions is 1 August 2025.
Call for Submissions: 12th Taiwan International Children’s Film Festival
Taiwan International Children’s Film Festival (TICFF) was founded in 2004 by Public Television Service, Taiwan, aiming to expose Taiwanese children to diverse cultures and broaden their international outlook. As a biennial film festival, TICFF is the biggest film festival in Taiwan as well as in Asia dedicated to children 12 years old and younger. The application guidelines can be found here, and the deadline for submissions is 15 August 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.
