Asian Studies


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.

ON THE BEACH AT NIGHT ALONE
ON THE BEACH AT NIGHT ALONE

2018  Cinema Studies  Asian Studies  Narrative Films  Films of Hong Sangsoo 

From master director Hong Sangsoo comes his most personal film to date, On The Beach at Night Alone.  Starring Kim Minhee (The Handmaiden, Claire's Camera)—in the role that won her the Silver Bear for best actress in Berlin.

WITH THIS RING
WITH THIS RING

Directed by Women  Women's Studies  Asian-American Studies  Family Relations  2017  Asian Studies 

Filmed for six years, With this Ring follows India’s famed female boxing team and provides an inside look at the challenges they face – gender discrimination, pressure to conform to traditional gender roles, and lack of recognition by the public despite dominating the international boxing scene

THE WRONG LIGHT
THE WRONG LIGHT

2017  Asian Studies  Children & Young Adult  Criminal & Law  Family Relations  Southeast Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Directed by Women 

A charismatic activist leads a globally-regarded NGO that provides shelter and education for girls rescued from brothels in Northern Thailand. But as the filmmakers meet the girls and their families, discrepancies begin to emerge and the story they're telling takes an unexpected turn.

STRAY DOGS
STRAY DOGS

Cinema Studies  Asian Studies  2015  Narrative Films 

A haunting masterpiece and possibly the last film from the great Tsai Ming-liang, Stray Dogs is a visually powerful work about a single father and his two young children trying to survive on the streets of Taipei. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.

THE ANABASIS OF MAY AND FUSAKO SHIGENOBU, MASAO ADACHI AND 27 YEARS WITHOUT IMAGES
THE ANABASIS OF MAY AND FUSAKO SHIGENOBU, MASAO ADACHI AND 27 YEARS WITHOUT IMAGES

2014  Terrorism Studies  Middle Eastern Studies  Media Studies  Criminal & Law  Cinema Studies  Asian Studies  Flaherty Collection 

Mixing personal stories, political history, revolutionary propaganda and film theory, artist Eric Baudelaire illuminates the idealism and radicalism of left-wing extremist movements of the 1970s by interweaving the stories of two of its protagonists: May Shigenobu, daughter of the founder of the Japanese Red Army, and Masao Adachi, the revered Japanese director who gave up cinema to take up arms.

AS LONG AS THERE'S BREATH
AS LONG AS THERE'S BREATH

Sensory Ethnography Lab  Women's Studies  Labor Studies  Asian Studies  2014  Directed by Women 

Following the acclaimed Kale and Kale and Monsoon- Reflections, As Long as There's Breath is Stephanie Spray's third film documenting the lives of the Gayeks family in Nepal. Building on a deep bond of trust (Spray was eventually adopted by the family), she captures a multi-generational household struggling for cohesion after the departure of a beloved son.

UNTITLED
UNTITLED

Sensory Ethnography Lab  2014  Asian Studies  Anthropology  Directed by Women 

A revealing one-shot portrait of two Nepali newlyweds in a moment of rest and playful interaction, Untitled challenges our perception of two themes at the very core of ethnographic filmmaking: human relationships and the ways in which they can be experienced by the viewer.

KĀLE AND KĀLE
KĀLE AND KĀLE

Sensory Ethnography Lab  Asian Studies  Anthropology  2014  Directed by Women 

In exploring the lives of two wandering Nepali musicians, an uncle and nephew, Kāle and Kāle (pronounced kah-lay) exposes the rootless occupation of the Gaine caste and communicates both its joys and pitfalls – domestic, economic and spiritual – in their daily lives.

MONSOON-REFLECTIONS
MONSOON-REFLECTIONS

Women's Studies  Sensory Ethnography Lab  Labor Studies  Asian Studies  Anthropology  2014  Directed by Women 

Drawing its title from a poem by the renowned Nepali poet Lekhnath Paudyal, which depicts the monsoon season as sublime and blissful, “joyous from start to finish,” filmmaker Stephanie Spray captures the melancholy and grit of two strong-willed female field hands (passengers in Spray and Velez’ Manakamana) as they carry out their arduous routines; a deeply felt reflection on labor, gender, and fleeting pleasures in rural Nepal.

THE YELLOW BANK
THE YELLOW BANK

2014  Sensory Ethnography Lab  Asian Studies  Anthropology 

A short documentary that captures the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, The Yellow Bank takes you on a contemplative boat ride across the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China. The film uses the eclipse as a catalyst to explore the way weather, light, and sound affect the urban architectural environment during this extremely rare phenomenon.

SONGHUA
SONGHUA

Sensory Ethnography Lab  Labor Studies  Environmental Studies  Asian Studies  Anthropology  2014 

In northeastern China, the Songhua River has for generations served as a vital center – for leisure, commerce, and most importantly, drinking water – for the people of Harbin. Filmed only one year after a major chemical spill in its waters, Songhua depicts the enduring and complex relationship between the city’s residents and their "mother river," and considers the environmental implications of the waterway’s condition.

DEMOLITION / CHAIQIAN (拆 - 迁)
DEMOLITION / CHAIQIAN (拆 - 迁)

Sensory Ethnography Lab  Asian Studies  2014  Sociology  Urban Studies  Labor Studies 

Focusing on a vast demolition site in the center of Chengdu, the Sichuan capital in western China, a bustling site emblematic of the rapid growth and development occurring throughout the country, J.P. Sniadecki’s Demolition is a wonderfully patient and revealing portrait of the migrant laborers who work and live in its shadow.

MANAKAMANA
MANAKAMANA

Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Anthropology  Cultural Studies  2014  Sensory Ethnography Lab  Directed by Women 

Produced by the directors of Sweetgrass and Leviathan, Manakamana is an exhilarating, one-of-a-kind documentary experience. Filmed entirely inside the narrow confines of a cable car, high above a jungle in Nepal, that transports villagers to an ancient mountaintop temple, it is an acute ethnographic investigation into culture, religion, technology and modernity.

CELLULOID MAN
CELLULOID MAN

Art History  Cinema Studies  Asian Studies  2014 

An enthralling journey through the history of Indian cinema, Celluloid Man is a portrait of P.K Nair, the legendary founder-director of the National Film Archive of India. Featuring extensive interviews and film clips, this is a gorgeous cinematic tribute to 'India's Henry Langlois' and to the importance of preservation.

YUMEN
YUMEN

Asian Studies  Anthropology  Performing Arts  Cinema Studies  2014  Sensory Ethnography Lab 

A collaboration between two Chinese artists, Xu Ruotao and Huang Xiang, and acclaimed American filmmaker J.P. Sniadecki, Yumen is a documentary-fiction hybrid that tells the story of a ghost town, a once-thriving oil-rich community in China's western Gansu province, through a series of wandering characters and inventive vignettes. Produced with the support of SEL

YOUR DAY IS MY NIGHT
YOUR DAY IS MY NIGHT

Asian-American Studies  Asian Studies  American Studies  Urban Studies  Women's Studies  New York City  2014  Directed by Women  Immigration 

Blending autobiographical monologues, intimate conversations, and staged performances, Lynne Sachs' Your Day Is My Night documents the lives of Chinese immigrants sharing a "shift-bed" apartment in the heart of New York City's Chinatown, offering a deeply felt portrait of the Asian-American immigrant experience.

PEOPLE'S PARK
PEOPLE'S PARK

Anthropology  Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Cultural Studies  2014  Sensory Ethnography Lab  Directed by Women 

Produced at Harvard's groundbreaking Sensory Ethnography Lab (Sweetgrass, Leviathan, the upcoming Manakamana), People's Park is an exhilarating single shot documentary that immerses viewers in an unbroken journey through an urban park in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, offering a fresh gaze on public interaction, leisure and self-expression in China.

ELEMENTAL
ELEMENTAL

Environmental Studies  Native American Studies  Asian Studies  2013  Directed by Women 

A powerful and unusually intimate portrait of modern environmental activism, Elemental captures the stories of three eco-warriors, separated by oceans, but united by their deep connection with nature and commitment to confront some of the most pressing ecological challenges of our time.

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