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Asian cinema

Asian cinema
Views, news, and reviews of films from the continent's biggest movie production centres.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM
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

The Southeast Asian nation’s ever more popular running events pass through scenery so beautiful even racers stop to take photographs.

In partnership with:Cambodia Tourism Board
Reading Time:4 minutes
The grounds of the Sentosa Janda Baik resort are a riot of lotus leaves, statuesque traveller’s palms, coconut trees and fragrant frangipani. Photo: John Brunton

Escape KL’s bustle with a short trip to Janda Baik, a Malaysian eco-gem

Reading Time:7 minutes
Ornate structures at the Tiger Balm Garden, in Tai Hang, in 1986. Photo: SCMP Archives

In pictures: Haw Par Mansion and the long-lost Tiger Balm Garden

Reading Time:1 minute
An exhibit in "Dan Flavin: Grids" at David Zwirner's Hong Kong gallery. Photo: courtesy David Zwirner

Dan Flavin’s luminous legacy shines in Hong Kong’s first solo exhibition

Reading Time:2 minutes
The Renegades, a Hong Kong-based all-women dragon-boat team, train at Stanley Main Beach. Photo: Alexander Mak

How Hong Kong’s all-female Renegades dragon-boating team is making waves

Reading Time:6 minutes
Children as young as three can ride ponies, guided by equestrian coaches, at Pony World. Photo: Alexander Mak

Love at first ride: Hong Kong’s Penfold Park now a horse-themed playground for young fans

Reading Time:3 minutes
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Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
Yukki Tai as the frustrated Tak (left) and Michael Ning as desk agent Ringo in a still from Dog Day Evening.
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

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

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

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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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Eric Kot (left) and Cheung Tat-ming in a still from You Shoot, I Shoot, Pang Ho-cheung’s 2001 directorial debut.
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.

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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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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RZA in a still from The Man with the Iron Fists. The Wu-Tang Clan leader directed, starred in and co-wrote the 2012 movie about a former slave turned blacksmith in 19th century China caught between warring clans, a shipment of government gold and a brothel.
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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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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(From left) Joe Taslim, Yayan Ruhian and Xie Miao in a still from The Furious (category III, Mandarin, English, Thai), directed by Kenji Tanigaki. Yang Enyou co-stars.
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.

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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Renate Reinsve in a still from Backrooms.
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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China’s Communist Party

Actress Lin Chi-ling quits Taiwan culture board amid backlash

Lin withdrew from the board of the Taiwan Creative Content Agency after backlash from the island’s arts community and Beijing.

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India

Reel politik: India tells filmmakers to drop ‘China-bashing’ as ties warm

India’s diplomatic thaw with China is causing films about the 2020 Galwan Valley clash to be retitled, reshot or shelved entirely.

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China’s President Xi Jinping shakes hands with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the welcoming ceremony of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin last August. Photo: Indian Press Information Bureau/AFP
Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | Unexpected Courage: Rene Liu’s mid-40s career woman risks life over pregnancy

Rene Liu stars as a woman whose successful career is put on hold when she continues a risky pregnancy in this poorly conceived drama.

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ByteDance

ByteDance AI films shake up Cannes as TikTok owner challenges Hollywood norms

A new cinematic tool, Seedance 2.0, can generate feature-length movies for a fraction of traditional costs.

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European cinema

Best movies from the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, from Fjord to Minotaur

The 2026 Cannes Film Festival may have lacked its usual blockbusters, but that gave indie films more exposure. Here are 10 of the best.

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Virginie Efira in a still from All of a Sudden – one of the highlights of the Cannes Film Festival – directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

The best car stunts in Hong Kong cinema: Police Story, Initial D and more

The most famous car stunt in Hong Kong movie history, and one that made its stuntman instantly famous, feature on our list of the best.

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Shawn Yue in a still from Motorway (2012), a cops-and-robbers revenge tale that puts car handling at its centre and one of the titles on our list of the films featuring Hong Kong’s best car stunts.
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | The Samurai and the Prisoner: Kiyoshi Kurosawa back with feudal-era thriller

The veteran Japanese director’s new film with Masahiro Motoki as a besieged warlord is an intelligent, captivating spin on the samurai genre.

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Asian cinema: Korean films

How Colony features a new kind of zombie to reflect modern fears

Director Yeon Sang-ho of Train to Busan fame explains how AI and social media anxiety inspired the zombies in his new horror film.

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Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | Hope: director Na Hong-jin of The Wailing fame returns with a monster mess

A promising beginning and strong performances are not enough to save Hope from being a messy spectacle with woeful CGI monsters.

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Jung Ho-yeon (front) and Hwang Jung-min in a still from Hope.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Why Alex Law and Mabel Cheung’s nostalgic films are among their finest

Two of the most poignant movies by life partners Law and Cheung explore migration and memory, and star the likes of Sammo Hung and Simon Yam.

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Simon Yam (left) and Sandra Ng in a still from Echoes of the Rainbow (2010).
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Sheep in the Box: Hirokazu Koreeda tackles grief in sci-fi drama

Hirokazu Koreeda’s Cannes entry probes grief, artificial intelligence and family bonds, but its subplots leave the film scattered.

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K-drama news

Profile | Who is Cha Eun-woo, K-pop idol starring in Netflix K-drama The Wonderfools?

Since his 2014 debut, the ‘Face Genius’ has embodied a fantasy figure in many roles. His latest hits screens as he performs military service.

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