Film
- Bollywood, Books, Crime films, Culture, Film, Film adaptations, India, Romeo and Juliet, South and Central Asia, Stage, William Shakespeare, World news
O’Romeo review – Bollywood Shakespeare takes dive into grisly mafia queens territory
After hit takes on Macbeth, Othello and Hamlet, Vishal Bhardwaj’s Romeo and Juliet adaptation sees dead-eyed l…
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Harry Potter’s Draco Malfoy becomes mascot for year of the horse in China
Mandarin transliteration of character’s name regarded as auspicious, prompting wave of memes and fan artDraco …
- Afghanistan, Africa, Cate Blanchett, Culture, Drama films, Europe, Festivals, Film, Iran, Middle East and North Africa, Migration, Rotterdam film festival, Short films, Somalia, South and Central Asia, Syria, Ukraine, World news
Displacement Film Fund review – Cate Blanchett masterminds short film collection that brims with life and intensity
Rotterdam film festivalA set of shorts by film-makers from Afghanistan, Iran, Ukraine, Syria and Somalia are s…
- Culture, Dalai Lama, Drama films, Film, India, Short films, South and Central Asia, Tibet, World news
State of Statelessness review – Dalai Lama presides over intimate dramas about Tibetans’ life of exile
Tibetan directors, who all live outside Tibet, deliver a quartet of films that explore the pain of separation …
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‘They want to destroy my career’: Kiwi Chow on life as a dissenting director in Hong Kong
With his new film rejected by official censors, the award-winning film-maker says he is being punished for his…
- Asia Pacific, Culture, Film, K-POP, KPop Demon Hunters, Music, Netflix, Pop and rock, South Korea, World news
‘Almost collapsed’: behind the Korean film crisis and why K-pop isn’t immune
Both industries dominate the world but now face fundamental transformation and uncertainty at homeSouth Korea’…
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Afghanistan’s historic Ariana cinema torn down by Taliban – in pictures
A renowned Kabul cinema that for decades attracted the city’s film fans is being demolished to make way for a …
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Dharmendra, Bollywood’s ‘He Man’ and one of its most enduring stars, dies at 89
India’s prime minister among those paying tribute to celebrated actor whose career spanned six decadesDharmend…
- Afghanistan, Culture, Drama films, Engineering, Film, Robots, South and Central Asia, Technology, World news
Rule Breakers review – rousingly feelgood real life story of Afghan girls’ robotics team
This story of emancipated young women escaping draconian social strictures brims with enthusiasm and features …
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Film festival in New York cancelled after China puts pressure on directors
Participants ask for their films not to be shown at IndieChina event, which was due to launch this weekendAn i…
- Afghanistan, Culture, Documentary films, Education, Film, Literacy, Society, South and Central Asia, Taliban, Women, World news
Writing Hawa review – Afghan woman fights for freedom as the Taliban close in
Najiba Noori’s thought-provoking documentary follows her mother, finally getting her chance at autonomy just a…
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Under the Open Sky review – absorbing portrait of a threatened way of life
Intimate, unhurried documentary follows a family of camel herders on the plains of western IndiaThe title of S…
- Alison Brie, Asia Pacific, Australia news, Censorship, China, Culture, Film, LGBTQ+ rights, Relationships, World news
Horror film digitally altered in China to make gay couple straight
Viewers outraged after same-sex wedding scene changed in Together, starring Dave Franco and Alison BrieAn Aust…
- Biology, Cannes film festival, Coronavirus, Culture, Drama films, Festivals, Film, India, Infectious diseases, Martin Scorsese, Medical research, Microbiology, Science, South and Central Asia, World news
Homebound review – emotionally rich study of friends in rural India trying to get home in the pandemic
Neeraj Ghaywan’s film benefits from excellent lead performances, strong cinematography and an apparent mentors…
- Animation in film, Culture, Family films, Film, Pakistan, South and Central Asia, Studio Ghibli, World news
The Glassworker review – beautiful Ghibli-esque anti-war fable
Pakistani animator Usman Riaz’s dazzling debut owes much to Hayao Miyazaki, founder of Japan’s legendary studi…