The Reel Bits • 22nd March 2021 Review: Soak Tracing the reunion of a high schooler and her estranged mother over one night, Hannah Bang’s taut short seeps under the skin with its ambiguous approach to narrative and moral responsibility.
ROUGH CUT • 11th June 2020 Review: ‘A Hundred Years of Happiness’ is a Marriage of Unfulfilled Potential and Slow Storytelling — Jakeb Anhvu’s observational documentary can feel more like an exercise in aesthetics than the fascinating cultural study it promises.
Filmed in Ether • 10th June 2018 TJFF 2018 Review: Hanagatami Celebrated Japanese filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi does not miss a step in his new and 'timeless' anti-war film, Hanagatami.
Filmed in Ether • 30th July 2023 Japan Cuts 2023 Review: Amiko Japanese filmmaker Yusuke Morii shows immense promise with their gorgeous debuting coming-of-age feature Amiko.
Filmed in Ether • 13th June 2022 SFF 2022 Review: Singing in the Wilderness Dongnan Chen's documentary Singing in the Wilderness reveals the cultural crisis facing a Miao community and their world famous choir.
Filmed in Ether • 28th May 2021 Dreamscapes 2021 Review: Day of Destruction & Wolf's Calling As part of Toshiaki Toyoda's Wolf Mountain trilogy, we look at his short film Wolf's Calling and feature length picture, Day of Destruction.
The Reel Bits • 22nd March 2021 Review: Soak Tracing the reunion of a high schooler and her estranged mother over one night, Hannah Bang’s taut short seeps under the skin with its ambiguous approach to narrative and moral responsibility.
The Reel Bits • 18th March 2021 Review: I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) Unafraid to wear its influences and commentary on its sleeve, Kelley Kali and Angelique Molina’s film is more than fine in its uplifting tale of homelessness in COVID times (yes, really).
Filmed in Ether • 23rd August 2020 MIFF 2020 Review: Hong Kong Moments Zhou Bing covers the ongoing Hong Kong protests that began in 2019 from multiple angles in new documentary, Hong Kong Moments.
ROUGH CUT • 10th August 2020 Melbourne International Film Festival 2020 Shorts Round-Up: International In this year’s heavy-hitting International Shorts line-up, three women-centric films stand out, exploring separate facets of female isolation.
Filmed in Ether • 10th July 2020 Taiwan Film Festival 2020 Review: Detention Despite its glaring issues, John Hsu's horror blockbuster Detention is the rare video game-to-movie adaptation that works.
ROUGH CUT • 13th June 2020 Sydney Film Festival 2020 Shorts Round-Up: Live-Action — Her Own Music’, ‘Mukbang’, and ‘Idol’ tell their stories of adolescence and social media madness sensitively – and quickly.
ROUGH CUT • 11th June 2020 Review: ‘A Hundred Years of Happiness’ is a Marriage of Unfulfilled Potential and Slow Storytelling — Jakeb Anhvu’s observational documentary can feel more like an exercise in aesthetics than the fascinating cultural study it promises.
Filmed in Ether • 22nd March 2020 Review: Diner Mika Ninagawa's opulent visuals aren't enough to save her manga adaptation, Diner, from its thin plot and poor action direction
Filmed in Ether • 10th August 2019 Review: Nina Wu Midi Z's timely contribution to the #MeToo movement, Nina Wu, is anchored by a powerful performance from actress and co-writer Wu Ke-xi.
Filmed in Ether • 18th July 2019 Review: Clean Up Kwon Man-ki's impressive debut feature Clean Up is a crime drama that grapples with complex themes of morality and guilt.
ROUGH CUT • 4th July 2019 Review: The Third Wife A child bride navigates her newfound womanhood in this sensitively directed drama.
Filmed in Ether • 2nd July 2019 Review: One Child Nation With One Child Nation, co-directors Jialing Zhang and Nanfu Wang have crafted an incredible documentary that closely examines China's one child policy.
Filmed in Ether • 29th June 2019 Review: Parasite Bong Joon-ho's award-winning film Parasite is a welcome return to South Korean filmmaking for the director and is one of his absolute best works to date.
Filmed in Ether • 29th August 2018 KOFFIA 2018 Review: Microhabitat Female-driven indie drama Microhabitat is a socially conscious feature about a young woman's struggle to keep up in modern-day Korea
Filmed in Ether • 3rd July 2018 SFF 2018 Review: Shoplifters Japanese master Hirokazu Koreeda returns to the family drama in top form with the heartfelt Palme d'Or award-winning film, Shoplifters.
Filmed in Ether • 27th June 2018 SFF 2018 Review: Burning Lee Chang-dong has returned after an eight year absence with new film and Cannes 2018 favourite, Burning, an adaptation of a Haruki Murakami short story.
Filmed in Ether • 25th June 2018 SFF 2018 Review: An Elephant Sitting Still An Elephant Sitting Still is a mystifying four hour Chinese feature and a stunning debut despite the tragedy surrounding its filmmaker, Hu Bo.
Filmed in Ether • 10th June 2018 TJFF 2018 Review: Hanagatami Celebrated Japanese filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi does not miss a step in his new and 'timeless' anti-war film, Hanagatami.
Filmed in Ether • 19th May 2018 Review: Psychokinesis Psychokinesis is Yeon Sang-ho's follow up to the massively successful Train to Busan and puts a different spin on the superhero genre.
Filmed in Ether • 14th March 2018 MQFF 2018 Review: Maybe Tomorrow Best friends Jess and Alex find love in each other in Maybe Tomorrow, the lesbian coming-of-age drama by debut filmmmaker Samantha Lee.
Filmed in Ether • 8th December 2017 Review: The Tokyo Night Sky is Always the Densest Shade of Blue In a city of ten million, it can be easy to be just part of the crowd. We look at Yuya Ishii's The Tokyo Night Sky is Always the Densest Shade of Blue.