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📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kogonada (director), Columbus, 2017. 100 min. There’s a profound sense of openness in Kogonada’s Columbus (2017). The film invites us to step into its scenes, transforming them into spaces…
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Artwork by Raimonda I suppose you’ve seen obituaries shared on WeChat. People post them thoughtlessly, almost as if it’s routine. It feels strange, doesn’t it, that a life concludes in such a trivial manner? I used to find it unsettling,…
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📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS John Wells (director), August: Osage County, 2013. 116 min. As Christmas draws near in the West, the East prepares for the arrival of Lunar New Year. To those unfamiliar…
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TIFF 2024 ▞ Introduction▞ 8. Band of Outsiders: On Neo Sora’s Happyend▞ 7. The Soul of an Artist: On Hong Sang-soo’s By The Stream▞ 6. The Two Maidens: On Trương Minh Quý’s Viet and Nam▞ 5. The Master and Her…
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TIFF 2024 ▞ Introduction▞ 8. Band of Outsiders: On Neo Sora’s Happyend▞ 7. The Soul of an Artist: On Hong Sang-soo’s By The Stream▞ 6. The Two Maidens: On Trương Minh Quý’s Viet and Nam▞ 5. The Master and Her…
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📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Toshihiko Tanaka (director), Rei 莉の対, 2024. 190 min. Toshihiko Tanaka, an actor and photography enthusiast, crafts a compelling narrative in his minimalist yet emotionally resonant debut, Rei. The story…
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📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Matthew Meyer (author and illustrator), The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons: A Field Guide to Japanese Yokai, Hardcover Collector’s Edition, 2015. 224 pgs. Images copyright 2015-2025 © Matthew…
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📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yan Lianke (author), Carlos Rojas (translator), Sound and Silence: My Experience with China and Literature, Duke University Press, 2024. 192 pgs. In late April 2024, Literary Hub released an…
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📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on The Life of Tu Fu. Eliot Weinberger, The Life of Tu Fu, New Directions, 2024. 64 pgs. A flying goose dropping out of…


![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Beyond the Physicality of Places: Kogonada’s 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑢𝑠” by V Clark](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/columbus-1.jpg?w=736)
![[EXCLUSIVE—FICTION] “A Social Post” by Edward Allen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/a-social-post-by-edward-allen_illustration-by-raimonda-1.jpg?w=1024)
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Here’s To Family Drama, In All Its Universality—𝐴𝑢𝑔𝑢𝑠𝑡: 𝑂𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑦” by Hai-Mo Hu](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1.august-osagecountyensemblecastpic.jpg?w=1024)
![[TIFF 2024] “Band of Outsiders: On Neo Sora’s 𝐻𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦𝑒𝑛𝑑” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/happyend_cha.png?w=1024)
![[TIFF 2024] “The Soul of an Artist: On Hong Sang-soo’s 𝐵𝑦 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/by-the-stream.png?w=1024)
![[REVIEW] “The Parallax Effect: Toshihiko Tanaka’s 𝑅𝑒𝑖” by Marianna Jaśniak](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/rei-1.png?w=1024)
![[REVIEW] “Tales of Japanese monsters, ghosts, and spirits: Matthew Meyer’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝐻𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠” by Marsha McDonald](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/screenshot-2024-11-29-at-22.20.32.png?w=1024)
![Protected: [REVIEW] “The Strangeness Within: On Rajyabardhan Dhal Mahapatra’s The Nomad’s House” by Kathiravan Annamalai](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/copy-of-copy-of-copy-of-untitled-design.png?w=600)
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Yan Lianke: The Reader Comes First” by A. B. Freeman](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/feb5978a-5dfd-11ea-be3e-43af5536d789_image_hires_104029.jpeg?w=1024)
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Fictional Autobiography: Eliot Weinberger’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑢 𝐹𝑢” by Juan José Morales](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/screenshot-2024-11-29-at-17.39.54.png?w=1024)