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Review

Killer Toon

An artist’s gruesome drawings come to sinister life in this 2013 Korean webcomic themed horror…

Review

The Killer (Fantasia 2022)

A hitman on the verge of retirement has to protect a teen girl, leading to familiar but fun thrills…

Review

Seire (Fantasia 2022)

Eerie Korean folk horror about the belief that no taboos should be broken in the three weeks after a baby’s birth…

Review

Dr. Lamb (2K Restoration) (Fantasia 2022)

The Cat III classic gets a new 2K restoration, making its madness and depravity all the more jaw-dropping…

Review

Chorokbam (Fantasia 2022)

A family disintegrates after dark secrets come to light in this occasionally eerie slow cinema Korean indie…

Review
Offbeat Cops
Uchida delivers what very well might be the feel-good movie of the year…
Review
Space Monster Wangmagwi (Fantasia 2022)
Long thought lost, the 1967 Korean kaiju film finally rampages onto the screen at Fantasia…
Review
Ox-Head Village
Melancholic end to Takashi Shimizu’s “haunted village” trilogy…
Review
Okja
This super pig of a Criterion releases is packed full of meaty and fulfilling extras to gorge on…
Review
Tomie: Forbidden Fruit
The fourth in the series of adaptations of Junji Ito’s manga sadly doesn’t offer much in the way of horror…
Review
Legendary in Action!
Less a celebration of the golden era of Hong Kong cinema than a nail in the coffin…

COMING SOON...

Review: Next Sohee (Fantasia 2022)
Review: The Broken Commandment
Review: Diary

Offical partner of the Hong Kong International Film Festival

Latest news

All the latest news from Asian cinema...

News
China’s FIRST International Film Festival announces full line-up for 2022
Running from July 27 to August 4, the mecca for Chinese indie cinema welcomes its 16th edition – without an audience…
Competitions
Win Okja on Criterion Collection Blu-ray!
We have three copies to giveaway!…
News
BFI continues its retrospective of Satyajit Ray
The two-month season featuring three 4K restorations concludes in August…
News
BFI begins two-month Kinuyo Tanaka season in August
Celebrating the work of the actor and director who played an essential role in Japanese cinema…
News
Five Flavours’ International People’s Jury announces open call!
Warsaw’s premier Asian Film Festival welcomes jury participants from across Europe…
News
More Asian films among the final wave of titles announced for Fantasia
The 26th edition announces its final wave of programming, with July Jung’s Next Sohee revealed as Closing Film…

The 26th edition of Fantasia International Film Festival, which runs in-person July 14 through August 3 in Montreal. Including a Career Achievement Award for John Woo and the works of Satoshi Miki being showcased…

Review
The Killer (Fantasia 2022)
A hitman on the verge of retirement has to protect a teen girl, leading to familiar but fun thrills…
Review
Seire (Fantasia 2022)
Eerie Korean folk horror about the belief that no taboos should be broken in the three weeks after a baby’s birth…
Review
Dr. Lamb (2K Restoration) (Fantasia 2022)
The Cat III classic gets a new 2K restoration, making its madness and depravity all the more jaw-dropping…
Review
Chorokbam (Fantasia 2022)
A family disintegrates after dark secrets come to light in this occasionally eerie slow cinema Korean indie…
Review
Space Monster Wangmagwi (Fantasia 2022)
Long thought lost, the 1967 Korean kaiju film finally rampages onto the screen at Fantasia…
Review
Legendary in Action!
Less a celebration of the golden era of Hong Kong cinema than a nail in the coffin…

NYAFF 2022

The 20th Anniversary edition of the New York Asian Film Festival takes place from July 15th to 31st, with in-person screenings, guests and special events…

Review
Ox-Head Village
Melancholic end to Takashi Shimizu’s “haunted village” trilogy…
Review
Legendary in Action!
Less a celebration of the golden era of Hong Kong cinema than a nail in the coffin…
Review
Lesson In Murder
A visual elegant examination of the desire that drives us all…
Guests and full line up revealed for NYAFF 2022
The 20th Anniversary edition takes place from July 15th to 31st…
News
NYAFF returns with first wave of line up for 2022
New York Asian Film Festival celebrates it’s 20th anniversary, running from July 15 – 31…
Review
Finding Bliss: Fire and Ice – Directors’ Cut
Hong Kong star Josie Ho and friends look for inspiration in Iceland…
Feature
Wei Shujun interview: “The deepest impression on me was a letter from...
We chat with one of the most important representatives of the young generation of Chinese filmmakers…
Review
Ripples of Life
Wei Shujun’s sophomore feature is a sharp look into the filmmaking process and the pursuit of realism…
Review
Terrorizers
Ho Wi Ding returns to the Toronto International Film Festival with another standout directorial effort…
Review
Happy Together
Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Leslie Cheung star masterpiece of melancholia…

The easternKicks Podcast

A regular magazine programme about East Asian film, with the latest news, reviews and interviews.

Podcast
Episode 40 – Making Waves
An exclusive preview of an upcoming Hong Kong screening programme…
Podcast
Episode 39 – The Sadness special
We interview director Rob Jabbaz exclusively…
Podcast
Episode 38 – Spotlight on… Zatoichi
We chat in depth about everyone’s favourite blind swordsman…
Podcast
Episode 37 – The Long Walk special
We chat to the film’s director Mattie Do and screenwriter Chris Larsen…
Podcast
Episode 36 – The End of the Year Show
easternKicks x Asian Movie Pulse as titans unite to chat about the year in Asian film!…
Podcast
Episode 35 – All Aboard… for Hellbound!
We chat about Train To Busan director Yeon Sang-ho’s new series on Netflix…
Podcast
Episode 34 – The horror of Hong Kong!
A Halloween special on modern HK horror, from the 80s to now…
Podcast
Episode 32 – Spotlight on… A Tale of Two Sisters
A look back at a Korean horror classic…
Podcast
Episode 31 – Spotlight on… Daimajin
We unravel Daiei Film Studios very particular take on Kaiju…
Podcast
Episode 30 – The best of NYAFF 2021
We look at the New York Asian Film Festival line up, including an extended chat about Raging Fire…

Udine Far East Film Festival 2022

Europe’s biggest Asian film festival returns online and in-person for its 24th Edition – from 22nd – 30th April…

Review
Legendary in Action!
Less a celebration of the golden era of Hong Kong cinema than a nail in the coffin…
Interview
Fanatic goes behind the scenes in Korean fan culture
Korean director Oh Se-yeon digs deep into the world of Korean fandom…
Review
Incantation
Kevin Ko’s Taiwanese horror universe is being nurtured by the renaissance of the local horror genre…
Review
Kingmaker
Political intrigue and layered drama lifts the lid on Korean history…
Review
Return to Dust
The story of the arranged marriage, set in the dying Chinese village, showing the beauty of rural life…
Feature
How Sino-Italian films are looking for the right recipe
Can an Italy-set romcom with Chinese social satire reignite film collaboration?…
Review
My Small Land
A subtle and complex view of life as a young refugee caregiver, dextrously balancing social issues with personal perspective…
Review
Leonor Will Never Die
Philippine actioner combines playful worlds with meaningful conversations…
Review
Mama Boy
A quirk romantic comedy about a submissive son who falls for the maîtresse of a brothel…
Review
Finding Bliss: Fire and Ice – Directors’ Cut
Hong Kong star Josie Ho and friends look for inspiration in Iceland…

Shawscope Volume One

Arrow Video present the first collection of classics from the famed Shaw Brothers Studio, with 12 films spread across eight discs, jam-packed with extras, and two discs of soundtrack selections pulled from music library De Wolf.

Review
Five Shaolin Masters
Chang Cheh’s manly kung fu extravaganza is as sure to please aficionados as it is to turn off genre skeptics…
Review
Executioners from Shaolin
A Shaw Brothers nutzoid classic – with a bit more underneath the hood…
Review
Dirty Ho
Another Shaw Brothers martial arts classic from Lau Kar-leung and Gordon Liu, this time on the comedic side…
Review
The Mighty Peking Man
The Shaw Brothers’ ambitious take on King Kong remains one of their most far-out and fun films of the 1970s…
Review
Heroes of the East
A softer version of the Chinese vs Japanese theme in this classic from director Lau Kar-Leung…
Review
The Five Venoms
Cult? Sure. Legendary? Definitely. Kick-ass? Mostly. Any good? Depends on how cool you think venomous reptiles and stick-on beards are? Thought so…

cineXtremes

Celebrating the excesses of Hong Kong Category III, Asian extreme and exploitation cinema…

Review
Killer Toon
An artist’s gruesome drawings come to sinister life in this 2013 Korean webcomic themed horror…
Review
Dr. Lamb (2K Restoration) (Fantasia 2022)
The Cat III classic gets a new 2K restoration, making its madness and depravity all the more jaw-dropping…
Review
Space Monster Wangmagwi (Fantasia 2022)
Long thought lost, the 1967 Korean kaiju film finally rampages onto the screen at Fantasia…
Review
Tomie: Forbidden Fruit
The fourth in the series of adaptations of Junji Ito’s manga sadly doesn’t offer much in the way of horror…
Review
The Closet
Psychological thrills and chills from back in 2007, starring the inimitable Francis Ng…
Review
Rebellion
A boozy 2009 Triad thriller from Herman Yau, with a hungover Shawn Yue trying to figure out who killed his boss…
Review
Dark Flight
Passengers are stalked by evil spirits in this 2012 airborne Thai chiller…
Review
Cinderella
Another early 2000s Korean ghost horror, this time with a plastic surgery-themed gimmick…
Review
Muoi: The Legend of a Portrait
It’s Ringu with a painting in this South Korea-Vietnam chiller from 2007…
Review
Curse of the Deserted
A rare example of a Mainland China horror film from back in 2010, with all the caveats that brings…

The best in film festival coverage, year after year

Coverage of Udine Far East Film Festival 2019

Coverage of Five Flavours Film Festival 2018

Coverage of CinemAsia Film Festival 2019

Coverage of New York Asian Film Festival 2019

Coverage of Chinese Visual Festival 2019

Five Flavours Asian Film Festival 2021

The 15th edition of Poland’s premier Asian film festival is back with a hybrid format, returning to Warsaw cinemas with a range of films including a retrospective of Wong Kar Wai…

▶︎ Visit Five Flavours site

Interview
Maung Sun interview: “The film is about the endless pursuit of film”
The Money Has Four Legs director talks about filmmaking and more…
Review
The Story of Southern Islet
Chong Keat Aun’s otherworldly debut…
Review
Looking for a Lady with Fangs and a Moustache
A slight if likeable work from filmmaker and lama Khyentse Norbu…
Review
Dear Tenant
A superb drama exploring LGBTQ equality against traditional gender roles…
Review
The Medium
Na Hong-jin (The Wailing) and Banjong Pisanthanakun (Shutter) combine forces, but is it anything new?…
Review
Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash
A refreshing throwback to 1980s kung-fu cinema with a socially conscious subtext…
Review
Last of the Wolves
A new rogue cop faces a new rogue yakuza amidst intrigue in both of their ranks for an ultraviolent sequel…
Review
As We Like It
Fun and bright adaptation that stays true to the spirit of the original play…
Feature
Ko Chen-Nien interview: “The most complex relationship is the battle between good...
We talk to the director Ko Chen-Nien about her powerful cinematic debut, The Silent Forest…
Review
Money Has Four Legs
A cynical but realistic drama that uses cinema as a metaphor for society…

BFI Japan 2021

A celebration of over 100 years of Japanese Cinema. Coming to big screens UK-wide this autumn…

News
Close-Up on Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Close-Up Film Centre presents a season dedicated to the director of Drive My Car and Happy Hour…
News
BFI Japan comes to big screens UK-wide this autumn
Highlights include a cinema re-release of Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and a major two-part season…
Review
Ichi the Killer
Takashi Miike’s blood-soaked 2001 manga adaptation remains a milestone in extreme Japanese cinema…
Podcast
Episode 24: Spotlight on… Battle Royale
We revisit Kinji Fukasaku’s classic…
Review
Battle Royale
Kinji Fukasaku’s classic returns with a new edition nearly 20 years after it was first released in the UK…
Review
The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On
A war veteran’s single-minded search for truth in this seminal documentary…
Review
Black Rain
Imamura’s film is, without a doubt, one of the most important films about the atomic bomb ever made…
Review
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
A hostess approaching 30 sees fewer days ahead in a male-dominated world, in Mikio Naruse’s understated kitchen sink drama…
Review
Akira
The gorgeous 4K remaster of Katushiro Otomo’s animated sci-fi classic hits UK screens…
Review
The Flavour of Green Tea Over Rice
Rigidity and sentimentality meet in a quiet Tokyo household in Yasujiro Ozu’s superb drama…

Terracotta DVD Store - 20% Off with code

Interviews

Our interviews with filmmakers, directors, actors, composers and much more besides from the world of Asian film…

Interview
Wang Xiaoshuai interview: “We have to move forward little by little”
We talk with the Sixth Generation filmmaker about his upcoming film and the current state of Chinese cinema…
Interview
Fanatic goes behind the scenes in Korean fan culture
Korean director Oh Se-yeon digs deep into the world of Korean fandom…
Interview
Maung Sun interview: “The film is about the endless pursuit of film”
The Money Has Four Legs director talks about filmmaking and more…
Interview
Kim Se-in interview: “I think the film wraps up my 20s”
We talk with the young Korean director about her full-length debut and capturing the complex mother-daughter relationship on screen…
Interview
Li Ruijun interview: “The land is the cleanest and purest existence”
The Chinese filmmaker reflects on the meaning of land, self-reliance, individual choice and China’s rapid modernization…
Interview
Ananta Thitanat interview: “The pandemic accelerated the emergence of this new film...
Documentary filmmaker discusses film culture in Thailand and the afterlife of standalone cinemas…
Interview
Lav Diaz interview: “Existence is a euphemism for compromise. Period.”
The auteur on Philippines tragic history, his fascination for vaudeville and the need for artists to compromise…
Interview
Evan Jackson Leong interview: “The underdog becomes a role model and an...
A film that took more than 14 years to make explores the world of human smugglers in NYC’s Chinatown underworld…
Interview
Takahiro Horie interview: “The root of revenge is love”
We talk to the Sensei, Would You Please Sit with Me? director…
Interview
Ann Hui interview: “I tried to find work whenever I could. I...
We chat to the celebrated Hong Kong filmmaker about her career and the documentary Keep Rolling…

The wonderful world of Wong Kar-wai

With Criterion Collection’s new release of restored Wong Kar-wai classics, also coming to UK cinemas including BFI Southbank, we immerse ourselves in the auteur’s work…

Feature
A look back at In the Mood For Love
Wong Kar-wai’s timeless classic…
Podcast
Episode 28 – The World of Wong Kar-wai
We chat to Bede Cheng of L’Immagine Ritrovata Asia about the restoration process…
Review
Fallen Angels
Wong Kar-wai’s oneiric and vivacious journey to the Hong Kong underworld…
Review
2046
An absolute onslaught of narratives, styles, and structures makes for an infinitely rewarding opus from Wong Kar-wai…
Review
Happy Together
Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Leslie Cheung star masterpiece of melancholia…
Review
In The Mood For Love
Unrequited love never looked so good in this new version of a timeless classic…
Review
Days of Being Wild
Wong Kar-wai submerges us in his dream of Hong Kong and its lovers, killers, and lonely hearts…
Review
Chungking Express
Chance encounters in love are never quite as they seem…
Review
In The Mood For Love (Original Soundtrack)
Set the mood with a sultry cinematic soundscape perfect for the last days of lockdown longing…
Interview
Brigitte Lin interview: “I totally forgot what I had said. Was it...
We talk to the truly iconic actress about her career…

Killer Toon

The Killer (Fantasia 2022)

Seire (Fantasia 2022)

Dr. Lamb (2K Restoration) (Fantasia 2022)

Chorokbam (Fantasia 2022)

Offbeat Cops

Space Monster Wangmagwi (Fantasia 2022)

Ox-Head Village

Okja

Tomie: Forbidden Fruit

Legendary in Action!

China’s FIRST International Film Festival announces full line-up for 2022

Win Okja on Criterion Collection Blu-ray!

BFI continues its retrospective of Satyajit Ray

BFI begins two-month Kinuyo Tanaka season in August

Five Flavours’ International People’s Jury announces open call!

More Asian films among the final wave of titles announced for Fantasia

The Killer (Fantasia 2022)

Seire (Fantasia 2022)

Dr. Lamb (2K Restoration) (Fantasia 2022)

Chorokbam (Fantasia 2022)

Space Monster Wangmagwi (Fantasia 2022)

Legendary in Action!

Ox-Head Village

Legendary in Action!

Lesson In Murder

Guests and full line up revealed for NYAFF 2022

NYAFF returns with first wave of line up for 2022

Finding Bliss: Fire and Ice – Directors’ Cut

Wei Shujun interview: “The deepest impression on me was a letter from...

Ripples of Life

Terrorizers

Happy Together

Episode 40 – Making Waves

Episode 39 – The Sadness special

Episode 38 – Spotlight on… Zatoichi

Episode 37 – The Long Walk special

Episode 36 – The End of the Year Show

Episode 35 – All Aboard… for Hellbound!

Episode 34 – The horror of Hong Kong!

Episode 32 – Spotlight on… A Tale of Two Sisters

Episode 31 – Spotlight on… Daimajin

Episode 30 – The best of NYAFF 2021

Legendary in Action!

Fanatic goes behind the scenes in Korean fan culture

Incantation

Kingmaker

Return to Dust

How Sino-Italian films are looking for the right recipe

My Small Land

Leonor Will Never Die

Mama Boy

Finding Bliss: Fire and Ice – Directors’ Cut

Five Shaolin Masters

Executioners from Shaolin

Dirty Ho

The Mighty Peking Man

Heroes of the East

The Five Venoms

Killer Toon

Dr. Lamb (2K Restoration) (Fantasia 2022)

Space Monster Wangmagwi (Fantasia 2022)

Tomie: Forbidden Fruit

The Closet

Rebellion

Dark Flight

Cinderella

Muoi: The Legend of a Portrait

Curse of the Deserted

The best in film festival coverage, year after year

Maung Sun interview: “The film is about the endless pursuit of film”

The Story of Southern Islet

Looking for a Lady with Fangs and a Moustache

Dear Tenant

The Medium

Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash

Last of the Wolves

As We Like It

Ko Chen-Nien interview: “The most complex relationship is the battle between good...

Money Has Four Legs