January 2026
This issue of the Asian Cinema Digest rings in 2026 with rediscovered gems including the nostalgic 90’s Hindi action franchise Khiladi, an 80’s Shaw Brothers wuxia flick, and an essay by Iranian auteur Abbas Kiarostami. Check out interviews with filmmakers Clara Law and Cherien Dabis, along with regional film festival calls for submissions.
TO SEE
Image still from Woman of the Dunes (1964, Hiroshi Teshigahara)Taiwan Film & Audiovisual Institute: Love, Death & Rebels: The Japanese New Wave
“In the sound of a skirt ripping, and the roar of a motorboat slicing across the sea, I heard the heralding of a new generation of Japanese cinema.” – Nagisa Oshima
Taiwan Film & Audiovisual Institute presents a selection of 15 landmark films from the Japanese New Wave, outlining a period where filmmakers embraced youth culture, eroticism, and death, forging a cinema defined by radical form and political vision.
Look out for titles including Yasuzo Masumura’s poignant courtroom drama The Wife’s Confession (1961), Hiroshi Teshigahara’s bizarre exploration of the scorching desert in Woman of the Dunes (1964), and a double-bill of Toshio Matsumoto’s For the Damaged Right Eye (1968) and Funeral Parade of Roses (1969). Love, Death & Rebels screens from now until 22 February 2026.
Image still from Appunti del passaggio (2016, Maria Iorio, Raphaël Cuomo)e-flux: General Relativity, Take Two
e-flux presents General Relativity: Take Two, a free online screening series which surveys the film and video work of historical and contemporary artist duos. Taking an interest in the poetics of their shared practice, politics of their shared authorship, and their shared lives, curator Greg de Cuir Jr. turns the lens of relativity inwards to examine the directorial and creative processes.
Spanning six chapters, selected works from each duo’s oeuvre streams for two weeks between January 7 and March 31, 2026. Next up in the series, Maria Iorio and Raphaël Cuomo’s works Appunti del passaggio (2014-2016), Undead Voices (2019-2021), and 2 (2024) meld spoken word with sublime imagery, painting lyrical portraits while maintaining concern for the state of the marginalised and the precarious in art and society.
TO LISTEN
Image still from Khiladi (1992, Abbas-Mustan)Filmi Ladies episodes 177 and 178: Khiladi films, parts 1 and 2
In this two-part series, Beth and Pitu from the Filmi Ladies delve into four films from the expansive Khiladi franchise. While all of the films feature the word “Khiladi” (literally translated as “Player”) in their titles and star Akshay Kumar in the leading roles, their stories are completely unrelated. Join Beth and Pitu as they explore the wild and wacky wardrobes, song-and-dance sequences, and plots of each vastly-different Khiladi film. In part 1, Beth and Pitu introduce Khiladi (1992) and Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995), while in part 2, they discuss Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994) and Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996).
TO READ
Image still from The Goddess of 1967 (2000, Clara Law)ScreenSlate: Art Is a Poor Thing: A Conversation with Clara Law
In line with Metrograph’s retrospective In Limbo: The Films of Clara Law, Steve McFarlane speaks with the Melbourne-based filmmaker on her prolific practice— from her roots in Hong Kong’s broadcast television and studio systems, her stint in The National Film and Television School, to her later embracing of a low-budget DIY-ethos filmmaking, and collaborative relationship with her partner Eddie Ling-Ching Fong.
Law shares about the influences which shaped her works: Farewell China (1990), starring Maggie Cheung as an undocumented immigrant in New York, and Tony Leung Ka-fai as her husband who goes looking for her; The Goddess of 1967 (2000) featuring Rose Byrne and Rikiya Kurokawa as an unlikely pair embarking on a road trip in a used Citroën DS.
Image still from All That’s Left of You (2025, Cherien Dabis)Reverse Shot: Interview with Cherien Dabis
Writing for Reverse Shot, Marya Gates interviews Cherien Dabis about her latest film All That’s Left of You (2025). Dabis’ soaring multi-generational drama follows a Palestinian family through several marked periods in history, which was inspired in part by her own family background.
Dabis speaks about the lengthy process of writing and preparing for the film, drawing inspiration from Wang Xiaoshuai’s So Long, My Son (2019) and Egyptian poet Muhammad Hafiz Ibrahim’s written word which bookends the film. She also shares about the circumstances shaping the multi-national production of the film, and the film’s creative use of visual effects and remote directing.
Image still from Demon of the Lute (1983, Tang Tak-cheung)Asian Movie Pulse: Demon of the Lute (1983)
Don Anelli reviews the Shaw Brothers kid-friendly wuxia epic Demon of the Lute (1983) by writer-director, action director, and stuntman Tang Tak-cheung. The film stars Kara Hui as Feng Ling, the heroic protagonist who assembles a ragtag team of allies, fighting through a gauntlet of supernatural assassins to defeat the mysterious Lute Demon.
Anelli praises the film’s unabashedly cheesy special effects— from its extravagant character design to its creative weaponry including Feng Ling’s telekinetic fire sword and the Lute Demon’s levitating stone throne. While the film maintains the Shaw Brothers’ signature high-energy martial arts choreography and seamlessly blends it with a lighthearted atmosphere suited for young audiences, Annelli argues that its meandering and convoluted storyline bogs down the film’s imaginative and fast-paced action sequences.
Image still from The Experience (1973, Abbas Kiarostami)e-flux Notes: Abbas Kiarostami’s An Unfinished Cinema
e-flux Notes publishes Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami’s essay An Unfinished Cinema, a lucid statement on cinema and spectatorship, which was written and first distributed at the Odéon Theatre in Paris, December 1995 on the centenary of cinema.
Kiarostami’s “unfinished cinema” points toward the gaps in a film’s story and the space of the darkened theater as opportunities for the audience to dream and intervene freely in the work, transforming and thereby ‘completing’ the film. The essay expresses Kiarostami’s hopes for cinema’s continued implication and involvement of audiences as an intelligent and constructive constituent element.
TO SUBMIT
Call for Submissions: 14th Diaspora Film Festival (Korea)
The Diaspora Film Festival (Korea) which will take place from May 22-26 2026 in Incheon, South Korea, focuses on films exploring themes of migration, refugees, and separation. The festival accepts short and feature-length films from all genres relating to diaspora issues. Application guidelines can be found here, and the deadline for submissions is 23 January, 2026.
Call for Papers: 30th Southeast Asia-Pacific Audiovisual Archive Association (SEAPAVAA) Conference
The 30th edition of the Southeast-Asia Pacific Audiovisual Archive Association (SEAPAVAA) Conference which will take place from 7-11 June 2026 in Ipoh, Malaysia, invites submissions aligning with the theme “Redefining audiovisual in archives— Relevancy, Technology, and Unity”. Application guidelines can be found here, and the deadline for submissions is 23 January, 2026.
Call for Submissions: 16th Beijing International Film Festival
Back for its 16th edition, Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) is accepting submissions for various categories including its Short Film Section and Forward Future Competition Section, prioritising world and international premieres. Application guidelines can be found here, and the deadline for submissions is 25 January, 2026.
Call for Submissions: 28th Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia (Japan)
Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia (Japan) is an Academy Awards accredited festival where competition-winning films will be eligible for nomination in the following year’s Academy Awards short film categories. The festival is accepting narrative, documentary, and animated short films. Application guidelines can be found here, and the deadline for submissions is 31 January, 2026.
Call for Submissions: 9th Malaysia International Film Festival
Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest) embraces emerging talents, experimental works, and timeless classics, striving to create an inclusive space for diverse voices and stories. The festival is accepting feature films over 60 minutes in length in its competition and non-competition categories. The application guidelines can be found here, and the deadline for submissions is 6 February, 2026.
Call for Papers: 3rd Global Audiovisual and Archiving Conference
Global Audiovisual and Archiving (GAVA) Conference 2026 hosted by the Thai Film Archive will take place from 15-18 June 2026. The conference’s theme “Outside of the Frame” invites a focus on both contemporary and historical audiovisual archiving practices within the Asian region, including its colonial and transnational entanglements. The application guidelines can be found here, and the deadline for submissions is 15 February, 2026.
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.
