A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Chinese and Chinese-language Films, South African Films
“China / Africa Big Business (Episode 4: Doctors for Africa)” (ENDEVR, 2013) A very good episode in the “China / Africa Big Business” series from the…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films, South African Films
“China / Africa Big Business (Episode 6: Precious Water)” (ENDEVR, 2013) This South African documentary follows two Chinese corporations on opposite sides of southern Africa in…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films, South African Films
“China / Africa Big Business (Episode 2: Building Homes)” (ENDEVR, 2013) Part of a South African-made series of six episodes on Chinese business investment in Africa,…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
“The War in the Shadows: Challenges of Fighting Terrorism in Xinjiang” (China Global Television Network, 2021) Part of a series of documentaries produced by China Global…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films, Spanish Films
Alejandro Suarez Lozano, “The Fisherman” (2015) A cleverly made and succinct little SF horror film set in Hong Kong, “The Fisherman” combines a character study that…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
Teng Cheng, Li Wei, “Jiang Ziya: Legend of Deification” (2020) Inspired by the 16th-century Chinese novel by Xu Zhonglin, “The Investiture of the Gods”, itself based…
Australian and New Zealand Films, Chinese and Chinese-language Films
“The Secret Armada” (Foreign Correspondent, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 14 July 2020) Despite the spine-tingling thrill of the episode title, this piece on apparent North Korean fishing…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films, Southeast Asian Films
Tan Ce Ding, “The Masseuse” (2018) An intriguing film set in a not-too distant dystopian future in Kuala Lumpur, “The Masseuse” poses questions about the nature…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films, French and French-language Films
Ellis Ka-yin Chan, Tena van der Galovic, Zozo Jhen, Yen-chen Liu, Marine Varguy, “A Gong (Grandpa)” (2018) A tale of a small Taiwanese boy attending his…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films, North American Films
Lulu Wang, “The Farewell” (2019) As a character study of an individual torn between her parents’ Chinese culture and the Western culture she has grown up…