Asian Studies


EAT BITTER
EAT BITTER

2024  African Studies  Asian Studies  Business  Economics  Environmental Studies  Family Relations  Political Science  Urban Studies  Sociology 

An eye-opening documentary filmed in the Central African Republic follows a native sand diver and a Chinese national developing the land.  As we follow the hardships and struggle, the film raises the question of what are we prepared to sacrifice for a better tomorrow, without a promise that it will ever arrive.


TYPHOON CLUB (4k restoration)
TYPHOON CLUB (4k restoration)

2023  Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Media Studies  Narrative Films 

Winner of the Grand Prix at the first Tokyo International Film Festival in 1985, Typhoon Club is widely regarded as the seminal film of director Shinji Somai’s career. A work of raw, elemental power, it follows an ensemble of junior high students in a provincial town, beset by a summer-y malaise as a typhoon looms. The 10th best Japanese film of all time, according to Japan’s Kinema Junpo poll.

P.P. RIDER
P.P. RIDER

2023  Cinema Studies  Asian Studies  Media Studies  Narrative Films 

From acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Shinji Sômai comes an exuberant farce tinted with deep shades of melancholy and real violence, P.P. Rider is an ode to the dreams of youth against authority. Adapted from a comic strip-like scenario by Leonard and Chieko Schrader, it’s a film of unparalleled freedom, and a testament to Somai’s ability to inject his work with the potent marrow of life.

HOUSE SPECIAL
HOUSE SPECIAL

2023  Asian Studies  Cultural Studies  Education  Gastronomy  Immigration  Indigenous Studies  Family Relations  Sociology  Women's Studies  World History 

A five-part docu series that chronicles the Chinese Canadian experience through the lens of small-town Asian food joints and the families that run them. Ride the rails with chef and author, Jackie Kai Ellis, as she explores Canadian Chop Suey cuisine.

WALK UP
WALK UP

2023  Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Narrative Films  Films of Hong Sangsoo 

In his ninth film for Hong Sangsoo, Kwon Haehyo plays Byungsoo, a film director who goes with his daughter  to a building owned by an old friend, Hong fills the building spaces with a profusion of everyday details spanning art, love, career, religion, dietary decisions and home renovations.

THE NOVELIST'S FILM
THE NOVELIST'S FILM

2023  Cinema Studies  Asian Studies  Narrative Films  Films of Hong Sangsoo 

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival. For his 27th feature, Hong Sangsoo holds a mirror up to his own artistic process and asks what exactly it is we’re looking for from a work of art. 

IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE
IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE

2023  Cinema Studies  Narrative Films  Asian Studies  Performing Arts  Films of Hong Sangsoo 

In her first role for Hong, Lee Hyeyoung, a prominent theater and screen actress in South Korea, makes a captivating return to the big screen. With In Front of Your Face, Hong suggests that perhaps the most important things in this life are also the most immediate.

THE DAY AFTER
THE DAY AFTER

2018  Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Narrative Films  Films of Hong Sangsoo 

An official selection of the Cannes Film Festival, The Day After begins as a darkly hilarious story of a man embroiled in extramarital entanglements but soon shifts—in a way only Hong can manage—into a heartfelt portrayal of a young woman on a quest for spiritual fulfillment.

CLAIRE'S CAMERA
CLAIRE'S CAMERA

2017  Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Cultural Studies  Europe  Narrative Films  Performing Arts  Photography  Films of Hong Sangsoo 

 A refreshingly sunny performance from Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher, Elle) is at the center of this comic charmer from South Korean Master Hong Sangsoo. Intricately plotted with wit and charm to spare, CLAIRE'S CAMERA explores the power of images to transform us. 

THE WOMAN WHO RAN
THE WOMAN WHO RAN

2022  Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Narrative Films  Women's Studies  Films of Hong Sangsoo 

THE WOMAN WHO RAN is a subtle, powerful look at dramas small and large faced by women everywhere. With characteristic humor and grace, Hong takes a simple premise and spins a web of interconnecting philosophies and coincidences. Winner of the  Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin Film Festival.

A NIGHT OF KNOWING NOTHING
A NIGHT OF KNOWING NOTHING

2022  Anthropology  Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Directed by Women  Political Science  Sociology  World History 

Director Payal Kapadia deftly merges reality with fiction, weaving together archival footage with student protest videos to create a vital tapestry of the personal and the political. With its dreamlike editing rhythms and a revelatory use of sound, A Night of Knowing Nothing is both an essential document of contemporary India and a nostalgic look at youth fighting the injustice of their time.


INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION

2022  Media Studies  Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Family Relations  Narrative Films  Films of Hong Sangsoo 

Winner for Best Screenplay at Berlin Film Festival.  For his twenty-fifth feature as director and his first as cinematographer, Hong Sangsoo offers a simple tale of young people on the edge of adulthood. Introduction cuts to the essence of who we are as people, like an unexpected hug on a winter's day.

SWIMMING OUT TILL THE SEA TURNS BLUE
SWIMMING OUT TILL THE SEA TURNS BLUE

2021  Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Cultural Studies  Education  Literature  Political Science  Sociology 

From master director Jia Zhang-Ke  comes a vital document of Chinese society since 1949. Jia interviews three prominent authors—Jia Pingwa, Yu Hua, and Liang Hong. SWIMMING OUT TILL THE SEA TURNS BLUE is an indispensable account of a changing China from one of the countrys foremost cinematic storytellers.


YOURSELF AND YOURS
YOURSELF AND YOURS

2020  Asian Studies  Narrative Films  Cinema Studies  Films of Hong Sangsoo 

When painter Youngsoo (Kim Joohyuk) learns that his girlfriend, Minjung (Lee Yooyoung), was recently seen having drinks with another man, he can’t help but question her about it. It doesn’t go well and they part on bad terms. The next day, Youngsoo tries to find her, but can’t. As he wanders and frets, Minjung has a series of encounters with other men. But to them it seems she’s not herself.

GRASS
GRASS

2019  Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Films of Hong Sangsoo 

In the corner of a small café, Areum sits typing on her laptop. At the tables around her, other customers enact the various dramas of their lives. Is she merely writing what she hears? Or is she hearing what’s been written? 


HOTEL BY THE RIVER
HOTEL BY THE RIVER

2019  Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Films of Hong Sangsoo 

An aging poet, Younghwan, summons his two estranged sons to a solitary hotel beside the Han River because he feels his death is near. While waiting for them to arrive, he meets two women out walking in the new-fallen snow and is struck by their angelic beauty.


SUBURBAN BIRDS (narrative)
SUBURBAN BIRDS (narrative)

2019  Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Urban Studies 

Hao (Mason Lee) is part of a team of young engineers called in to investigate a series of craters that have opened up on the edge of the city. As he and his team survey the subsiding area, another story is taking place in the same suburban landscape. A younger boy, also named Hao, spends long afternoons playing with friends and making mischief until one-by-one, his playmates start to disappear. As these parallel stories unfold, the connections between them proliferate and grow stranger. 

CHINESE PORTRAIT
CHINESE PORTRAIT

2019  Anthropology  Asian Studies  Art History  Cinema Studies  Photography  Urban Studies 

From acclaimed director Wang Xiaoshuai (Beijing BicycleSo Long, My Son) comes a personal snapshot of contemporary China in all its diversity. Shot over the course of ten years on both film and video, the film consists of a series of carefully composed tableaus of people and environments, each one more extraordinary than the last. 

LAILA AT THE BRIDGE
LAILA AT THE BRIDGE

Asian Studies  Cultural Studies  Directed by Women  Health  Middle Eastern Studies  Cinema Studies  Women's Studies  2018  2019 

Laila at the Bridge takes the viewer on a harrowing journey to Kabul’s dark underpass, following a woman who attempts to save as many drug addicts as she can.


I'VE GOT A LITTLE PROBLEM
I'VE GOT A LITTLE PROBLEM

2018  Art History  Cultural Studies  LGBTQ  Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Short Films  Human Sexuality 

I’ve Got a Little Problem chronicles internationally renowned photographer and poet Ren Hang’s struggle with Chinese censorship, painful public scrutiny, and manic depression, that eventually sent his life spiraling out of control.

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