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Asian cinema

Asian cinema
Views, news, and reviews of films from the continent's biggest movie production centres.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM
Paul Tough, the principal and CEO of Kellett School, at the new Sixth Form Centre. Photo: Alexander Mak

Kellett School: 50 years of shaping futures in Hong Kong

Paul Tough, the principal and CEO of Kellett School, talks to PostMag about finding ‘eureka!’ moments in his learning journey, changes in education and an ambitious strategic vision for the Hong Kong institution.

Supported by:Kellett School
Reading Time:6 minutes
Wanrong and Puyi, in Tianjin, circa 1925. Photo: Getty Images

Paul French lifts veil on final months of China’s last emperor in the Forbidden City

Reading Time:6 minutes
Wing Shya, Hong Kong-based photographer, artist and director, in Tai Hang. Photo: Alexander Mak

Wing Shya: photographer to Wong Kar-wai on working with the great and good of Hong Kong cinema

Reading Time:6 minutes
The Yuen Long branch of Wing Wah Restaurant does a brisk mooncake trade ahead of the 1976 Mid-Autumn Festival. Photo: SCMP Archives

In pictures: the evolution of Hong Kong’s Mid-Autumn mooncake

Reading Time:1 minute
AIA Scholars (from left) Selina Wong, King Chan, Zara Chui, Atta Yu and Wilson Cheng. Photo: Alexander Mak

AIA invests in Hong Kong’s future with US$100m AIA Scholarships scheme

Supported by:AIA
Reading Time:2 minutes
Chef-nun Jeong Kwan at the Bukhara Biennale, in Uzbekistan, as part of a kimchi-fermentation collaboration with the Koryo-saram community. Photo: courtesy Andrey Arekelyan and Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF)

Bukhara Biennial spearheads cultural blossoming of the city as well as the wider Uzbekistan

Reading Time:6 minutes
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Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
Hong Kong filmmaker Law Yik-man (middle) watches on with other participants at the Asian Film Awards Academy’s 2026 International Film Camp. Photo: Asian Film Awards Academy
Cinema

How the Asian Film Awards’ film camp is grooming a new generation of directors

Asian Film Awards Academy’s 2026 International Film Camp brought together 16 of Asia’s emerging filmmakers in Macau. We spoke to four of them.

Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | Oh My Ghost! Oh My God!: Naomi Watanabe gets lost in dismal horror comedy

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Godzilla Minus Zero: Japanese monster sequel an action-packed visual marvel

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Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | How Helena Law Lan, 91, became Hong Kong cinema’s grand dame of horror

Law was a Hong Kong TV staple in the 1970s, but it wasn’t until later that she became a cultural icon playing mystical villains in films.

Hong Kong actress Helena Law at an interview with the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong’s Ho Man Tin neighbourhood in 2000. Law established herself as a Hong Kong TV show regular during the 1970s, but it wasn’t until 1993, when she was 58, that she played the villainous character she would become best known for. Photo: Dickson Lee
American cinema

Loved Heart of the Beast? 10 more great movies where the dog takes the lead

From Hachiko to Good Boy, pooches not people deliver the biggest performances in these movies ranging from tear-jerkers to horror.

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Artificial intelligence

Pakistani-made ‘micro film’ scoops top prize at Asian festival’s Hong Kong final

The event was the first Hong Kong finals of the Inspiring Asia Micro Film Festival, whose 2026 edition champions community empowerment.

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Art

Mariko Mori’s landmark Tokyo retrospective traces an extraordinary cosmic journey

From 1970s anime to ancient Jōmon culture and Buddhist thought, the Japanese artist’s retrospective explores cosmic connections.

Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum is staging a retrospective exhibition tracing Japanese artist Mariko Mori’s cosmic journey. The show, which runs from October 31 to March 28, 2027, includes this 1995 work Birth of a Star. Photo: Handout
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

From Cheng Pei-pei to Michelle Yeoh, Hong Kong’s history of action heroines

Hong Kong studios embraced female action stars long before Hollywood. Here’s how some of the biggest triumphed in wuxia and kung fu films.

Wellness

He trained Jet Li. Wu Bin, 89, shares his secrets to great health in old age

Martial arts legend Wu Bin talks about mentoring Jet Li and other wushu stars, and how building good habits is key to health in older life.

European cinema

Best movies from the 2026 Venice Film Festival, including Possible Love and Musk

Indie dramas and documentaries, rather than big Hollywood productions, took the spotlight at this year’s festival. Here are 10 of the best.

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Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk walks to the stage to speak alongside Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Film reviews

Review | Let Us Through, Dear Ancestors: Lav Diaz’s gruelling colonial epic

Director Lav Diaz’s latest film explores colonial terror, faith and resistance in a perilous 17th century jungle in the Philippines.

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Christian Bables (centre) in a still from Let Us Through, Dear Ancestors.
K-drama news

Profile | Who is Nana, star of Netflix K-dramas The Scandal and Mask Girl?

Nana’s rise in the industry has been a journey of talent, resilience and reinvention, going from singer and model to bona fide actress.

On Our Radar

HKLGFF: 37 years of queer cinema, from Leslie Cheung to RuPaul

Asia’s longest-running international LGBTQ film festival invites Hong Kong audiences on an emotional, cinematic ride, with a revamped programming featuring six distinct ‘moods’.

Film reviews

Review | A Bit of Light: Iranian drama about Tehran doctor strikes melancholic chord

Ali Asgari’s Tehran-set drama about an aggrieved doctor who decides to end it all as war looms is well acted but never fully bursts into life.

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Missagh Zareh in a still from A Bit of Light, directed by Ali Asgari and co-starring Sadaf Asgari and Forouzan Jamshidnejad. Photo: Seven Springs Pictures
Hong Kong society

‘Rest in eternal peace’: veteran horror actor, filmmaker Simon Loui dies at age 62

Long-time friend, fellow actor Frankie Ng reveals to reporters on Friday that Loui lost his battle with gastric cancer earlier this week.

Veteran entertainer Simon Loui (centre) appeared in nearly 100 films over the course of his career. Photo: Handout
Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | How Cantopop lyricist Wyman Wong became a cultural force in Hong Kong

Songwriter for the stars, fashion journalist, LGBTQ activist – Wong’s impact on modern Hong Kong culture cannot be overstated.

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

On This Day | Deanie Ip scores first best actress win for Hong Kong in Venice – SCMP archive

Ip’s portrayal of an ageing domestic servant in Ann Hui’s film won her the prestigious Volpi Cup, the first for a Hongkonger.

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Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | Once Upon a Time in the Middle East: Shen Teng leads anti-war blockbuster

Full of roaring action and heart-wrenching tension, this mainland China hit delivers a message of peace through Chinese cooking appreciation.

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Shen Teng in a still from Once Upon a Time in the Middle East (category IIB; Chinese, English, Arabic), directed by Wen Muye. Jiang Qiming and Omar Sherif co-star.
Asian cinema: Korean films

The making of Na Hong-jin’s sci-fi spectacle Hope, most expensive Korean film

The director talks about tension, timelines, sequel potential and a clash of tastes at Cannes as Hope gears up for US and Hong Kong releases.

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Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | Arrested Memory: Ethan Ruan leads Sabu’s muddled police thriller

Ethan Ruan plays a detective with memory issues investigating a kidnapping case in this action-packed if confused police procedural.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Look Back: Hirokazu Koreeda explores childhood manga dreams

A deep, intense friendship between two schoolgirls is explored in Hirokazu Koreeda’s adaptation of a manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto.

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Natsuki Deguchi as the grown-up Fujino in a still from Look Back (category I, Japanese), directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. Aju Makita, Furi Nanase and Rokka Okada co-star.
Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | Possible Love: Burning director Lee Chang-dong back with another masterpiece

Zo In-sung and Cho Yeo-jeong play a rich couple opposite Sul Kyung-gu and Jeon Do-yeon’s have-nots in Lee’s sharp critique of Korean society.

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Jeon Do-yeon as Mi-ok in a still from Possible Love. Photo: Netflix.
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People? is a striking portrait of Vietnam war trauma

The Vietnam war drama, in competition at the Venice Film Festival, explores trauma, redemption through a US Marine’s true-life journey.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

The wild days of Hong Kong’s Category III era: when sex and gore went mainstream

The adults-only, Category III rating was introduced in 1988, making stars of actresses including Shu Qi and Amy Yip.

Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | The Last Song You Left Behind: Japanese teen romance plays a familiar tune

Shunsuke Michieda and Meru Nukumi star as classmates who slowly develop feelings for each other over an unusual musical collaboration.

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Meru Nukumi in a still from The Last Song You Left Behind (category I, Japanese), directed by Takahiro Miki. Shunsuke Michieda co-stars.
US-China relations

Can Chinese sleeper hit Dear You conquer the US box office next?

After grossing nearly US$300 million in mainland China, its North American release will test its popularity beyond Chinese-speaking diaspora.

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

Review | I Know Who You Are: Hu Ge leads Chinese spy drama that falters at the finish

Feng Xiaogang’s drama set during the early years of the People’s Republic of China entertains but is let down by an unsatisfying ending.

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Crime in Hong Kong

Man, 87, arrested after gravestone of film star Linda Lin Dai found vandalised

Marble altar at Lin’s Happy Valley grave found covered in cement, with police saying cemetery staff reported suspected vandalism.

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