The Unbidden (USA, 2016)
The ties that bind a close-knit group of friends are severely tested by the shared demons of the past in Quentin Lee’s effective supernatural chiller...
Kubo and the Two Strings (USA, 2016)
“If you must blink, do it now. Pay careful attention to everything you see no matter how unusual it may seem. If you look away,...
Behemoth (China, 2015)
With intermittent voiceover narration loosely based on Dante’s The Divine Comedy, Zhao Liang’s otherwise wordless, observational documentary Behemoth straddles the poetic, the purgatorial, and the...
Japanese Film Festival (JFF), October 14 – December 4
The Japanese Film Festival (JFF) returns in 2016 for its 20th anniversary with a huge national tour of Canberra, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne,...
A Road (Japan, 2015) [JAPAN CUTS 2016]
A Road is the debut feature of Daichi Sugimoto, who also produced and stars. Sugimoto is a young tyro still at university but already making...
The Hedonists (China, 2016)
Despite its title, viewers may still be surprised at how light-hearted Jia Zhangke’s recent short The Hedonists actually is, especially when compared to the director’s...
The Mahjong Box (China, 2016)
The Mahjong Box is the second feature from Shanghai-based French filmmaker Fabien Gaillard whose laidback, observational debut Lao Wai (2010) impressed with its naturalistic take...
Kickstart This: On Halloween by Quentin Lee
Horror films are rarely heartwarming experiences, but while Quentin Lee’s new short On Halloween fully intends to scare the wits out of its audience, the motivation...
Still Walking (Japan, 2008)
With its studied focus on strained familial ties and generational differences, Hirozaku Kore-eda’s home drama Still Walking has been compared to the films of Yasujiro...
Interview with Fan Popo
Fan Popo is an independent filmmaker, gay rights activist and writer based in Beijing. Originally from Jiangsu Province, he graduated from the Beijing Film Academy...