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Asian cinema

Asian cinema
Views, news, and reviews of films from the continent's biggest movie production centres.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM
Visitors feel the weight of the Forbidden City as they step through its gates. Photo: Getty Images

Power behind the throne: why the Forbidden City was built to intimidate

How the stone, timber, symmetry and sheer size of a 600-year-old complex made Beijing’s imperial kingdom feel almost divine.

Reading Time:5 minutes
Floating seafood restaurants at the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter.

Reflections | The uncertain origins of Hong Kong’s Tanka people

Reading Time:1 minute
The ancient temples of Angkor Wat provide a stunning backdrop for the Angkor Empire Marathon. Photo: Cambodia Tourism Board

Why Cambodia’s Angkor marathons are a big winner with runners from around the world

In partnership with:Cambodia Tourism Board
Reading Time:4 minutes
Blue Box Cafe in Tiffany & Co’s Causeway Bay store. Photo: Blue Box Cafe

Hong Kong’s hottest new openings, from steakhouse Don Pedro to modern Chinese haute cuisine at Joyn

Reading Time:2 minutes
Sophia the singing robot and Johnny Poon, conductor and dean of creative arts at the Hong Kong Baptist University. Photo: Alexander Mak

Sophia the robot learns to sing as Hong Kong teaches androids the joys of music

Reading Time:7 minutes
The Chengdu Science Fiction Museum offers a deep dive into the history and future of Chinese and global science-fiction. Photo: Getty Images

Tomorrow’s world: museums, art spaces and tech-hubs from Shenzhen to Spain that help broaden the mind

Reading Time:6 minutes
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Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
Director Renny Harlin during the Director Masterclass at the Mediterrane Film Festival in Malta on June 26. Photo: Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock for Mediterrane Film Festival.
American cinema

‘I benefited’: Renny Harlin on working in China during its ‘Wild East’ film era

The Finnish filmmaker talks about the ‘great’ years he spent in China during its pre-pandemic film boom and how using AI can benefit movies.

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Hong Kong

Will Fosun’s luxury project revive Hong Kong’s Movietown magic?

TV shows and streaming video

Review | Human Vapor: Shun Oguri, Yu Aoi anchor Netflix’s bold sci-fi thriller reboot

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Running on Karma with Andy Lau hid a Buddhist tragedy behind muscles

Lau played a muscular monk-turned-stripper with karmic visions opposite Cecilia Cheung in this film that began light and then got grim.

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Andy Lau in a still from Running on Karma (2003). Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai teamed up to make this dark Buddhist tragedy packaged as a comedy that received a positive reception despite catching viewers off guard.
Cinema

From the Vault: culturally significant films

In the From the Vault feature series, the South China Morning Post’s film experts reflect on culturally significant films celebrating notable anniversaries.

Singapore

Will Dear You’s smash success push Singapore to ease dialect film policies?

Extra Teochew shows of the indie hit signal ‘increasing liberalisation’ towards dialect films, but long-term changes will take time, analysts say.

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Asian cinema: Korean films

What’s showing this year at Asia’s top genre film festival BiFan?

The 2026 Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival boasts a formidable programme of horror, action, science fiction and fantasy titles.

Ryu Seung-yon in a still from the Korean comedy Extreme Job (2019), one of the many movies showing at the 2026 Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, in South Korea.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Fennie Yuen went from Hong Kong teen idol to serious actress

A popular Hong Kong actress in the 1980s and 90s, Yuen started in teen comedies like the Happy Ghost films before pivoting to dramatic roles.

Singapore

‘Overwhelming’ demand sparks extra Teochew shows for Dear You in Singapore

The decision comes after all eight of the Chinese migration film’s previously announced Teochew-language screenings sold out.

Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | Cantopop star, scandal, redemption: Andy Hui’s turbulent 40-year career

Hui had a dream career and marriage to Sammi Cheng, then a 2019 cheating scandal threatened it all. Seven years on, he has turned things around.

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Hong Kong singer and actor Andy Hui Chi-on in 1997. Hui, one of Cantopop’s “New Four Heavenly Kings”, was embroiled in a cheating scandal in 2019 that threatened to destroy his legacy. Photo: Dickson Lee
Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | Dear You: nostalgic Teochew family drama is a surprise box office hit in China

Lan Hongchun’s film on love, loyalty and immigrant struggles is a sensation in China, with lead Li Sitong giving a career-making performance.

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Li Sitong as the young Nanzhi in a still from Dear You (category IIA, Teochew), directed by Lan Hongchun. Wang Yantong and Wu Shaoqing co-star.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Palimpsest: The Story of a Name – Mary Stephen’s riveting study of identity

Hong Kong-born director Mary Stephen’s documentary explores her obscure heritage against a background of colonialism and self-reinvention.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Dog Day Evening: Kafkaesque comedy reflects on a Hong Kong hostage incident

Inspired by a true story, Dog Day Evening explores the often infuriating world of customer hotlines and service cancellations.

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Singapore

Lost in translation? Singapore wants Dear You film mostly in Mandarin, not Teochew

Linguists and the local Teochew community say watching the hit Chinese film in its original form can help sustain cultural diversity.

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A still from “Dear You”, the hit Chinese film shot in southern Teochew dialect. Photo: Handout
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Why Hirokazu Koreeda paired Haruka Ayase and a TV comic in Sheep in the Box

A-lister Haruka Ayase and television comic Daigo Yamamoto star as a grieving couple confronting an AI ‘resurrection’ in Sheep in the Box.

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Haruka Ayase in a still from Sheep in the Box, Hirokazu Koreeda’s latest sci-fi drama. Daigo Yamamoto co-stars.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Pang Ho-cheung’s early black comedies disrupted Hong Kong cinema

The writer-director’s You Shoot, I Shoot (2001) and Men Suddenly in Black (2003) injected a dose of dark satire into a waning local industry.

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K-drama news

Profile | Meet Park Ji-hyun, star of Flex X Cop and See You at Work Tomorrow!

After making a late start in acting, Park quickly rose to the top playing layered characters in K-dramas from Yumi’s Cells to Reborn Rich.

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Hong Kong society

Paul Chan praises blockbuster film about Teochew community during local premiere

Hong Kong’s finance chief, who is of Teochew descent, applauds Dear You for moving depiction of characters’ deep-rooted sense of home, kinship.

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Paul Chan (centre) at the film premiere of “Dear You”. Photo: Dickson Lee
American cinema

When RZA cut his teeth as a kung fu director in The Man with the Iron Fists

The Wu-Tang Clan leader’s directorial debut with Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu was an ambitious ode to the martial arts films he grew up loving.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Hong Kong animations are finally turning heads. Meet the artists behind them

Hong Kong animators making waves at global festivals talk about growing the city’s niche but resilient industry and the challenges they face.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Beyond Hostage Crisis: Manila tragedy spawns misguided faith-based movie

This dramatisation of the 2010 Manila hostage crisis, in which eight Hongkongers died, fails to explore the tragedy in any depth.

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A still from Beyond Hostage Crisis (category IIB, Cantonese, English), directed by Tony Leung Hung and starring Chris Tong (first from right) and Zhang Yaodong (second from right). Sahronizam Noor and Fish Liew co-star.
Law

Legal Tales | ‘We’re Nothing At All’: why Hongkongers must avoid collective apathy

Charity screening of Herman Yau’s latest film sparks reflection on marginalisation, justice and social responsibility in Hong Kong.

A still from the film “We’re Nothing At All” directed by Herman Yau. Photo: Golden Scene
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | The Furious: an instant classic if you like gory, bone-crunching violence

Generic, unfunny and emotionally hollow, The Furious will nevertheless delight those who simply want to watch people getting slaughtered.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How the Young and Dangerous films of the 1990s made triad gangsters sexy

As Young and Dangerous turns 30, we look back at the six-film series that marked a shift in how gangsters were portrayed.

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Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | How Hong Kong wuxia ‘princess’ Michelle Yim has kept shining for 55 years

After her wuxia TV roles wowed viewers across Asia in the 1970s, Yim moved to movies and plays. Now 70, she will hold her first solo concert.

Michelle Yim has enjoyed a prolific career in television, movies and on stage, and recently announced her first solo music concerts, which will take place in June 2026. Photo: Instagram/mixue_michelleyim
Fame and celebrity

Bridgerton’s Katie Leung on her love of Hong Kong film stars and motherhood

In an interview with Style at Hong Kong’s first Comic Con, the actress speaks about representation and being at peace with herself.

Actress Katie Leung at Hong Kong Comic Con 2026. Photo: Hong Kong Comic Con 2026 Limited
American cinema

The rise of liminal space horror movies like Backrooms and Exit 8

Box-office hit Backrooms highlights a growing obsession with eerie liminal spaces like hallways, alleyways and empty shopping centres.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Sharla Cheung excelled next to Stephen Chow in 1990s Hong Kong cinema

Sharla Cheung Man’s cool glamour and movie-star looks were a feature of 1990s Hong Kong cinema. Here are some of her best films.

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