Author: t
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Ma Ka Fai’s note: These are selected excerpts from my novel Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong III (้ๅคฉ่ณๅฐ), forthcoming this year. The storyโs protagonist, Hon Tien-Yan, is a passionate martial arts enthusiast and an ardent admirer of Bruce Lee.…
![[TRANSLATION] “Master Ip and the Dragonling” by Ma Ka fai, translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ma-ka-fai-e9a6ace5aeb6e8bc9d.png?w=1024)
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Poet’s note: I consider this poem an ode to beginningsโa constant reminder that, before the hurt sets in, before any damage is done, the first page of any story holds infinite promise. There is always a reason for characters to…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Beginnings are Generous” by Marco Yan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/frost-flowers-thumb.jpeg?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Marcus Fedder, My Shanghai Neighbours, Black Spring Press, 2023. 130 pgs. Having spent four years living in a Shanghai lane between 2012 and 2016 (when I left China), I…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โResurrecting Longtang Memories: Marcus Fedderโs ๐๐ฆ ๐โ๐๐๐โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐โ๐๐๐ข๐๐ โ by S.C. Gordon](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/my-shanghai-neighbours-1.jpg?w=985)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Umi Ishihara (director), Gravity and Radiance, 2021. 30 min. Images featured in this piece courtesy of the director. Gravity and Radiance, a 2021 experimental documentary by the London-based Japanese…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Transcendence and RedemptionโUmi Ishiharaโs ๐บ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐” by Marsha McDonald](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/gravity-and-radiance-3.png?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Idol, Burning. Rin Usami (author), Asa Yoneda (translator), Idol, Burning, Canongate, 2022. 96 pgs. Rin Usamiโs Idol, Burning (ใๆจใใ็ใใ, 2020) offers an incisive exploration of…
![[REVIEW] “Belief, Devotion, and Estrangement in Rin Usamiโs ๐ผ๐๐๐, ๐ต๐ข๐๐๐๐๐” by James Au Kin-Pong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/idol-burning-canongate.jpg?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Rory B. Quintos (director), Anak, 2000. 135 min. Where would we be without our mothers? Watching Anak, one is immediately drawn into its poignant narrative, centred on the life…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Cost of Love and Sacrifice in Rory B. Quintosโs ๐ด๐๐๐” by Jhon Steven C. Espenido](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/the-child.webp?w=800)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Aparna Upadhyaya Sanyal, Instruments of Torture, Harper Collins India, 2024. 200 pgs. In this haunting collection of stories, each narrative is aptly named after a medieval torture device, metaphorically…
![[REVIEW] โLabyrinthine Corridors of the Human Psyche: Aparna Upadhyaya Sanyalโs ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐โ by Namrata](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/aparna-sanyal_cha.jpeg?w=800)
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Authorโs note: This is a review of the Disco-TECA performance that took place at The Stage, London, as part of Queer East 2024, which may be different from its previous or subsequent versions. A trailer of the show can be…
![[REVIEW] โDisco-TECA: Disco Culture as Queer Cultureโ by Hongwei Bao](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/g47a2566x.jpg?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [EXCLUSIVE] “You Are Not of Human Kind: A Freudian Comparison of Liaozhai and Nosferatu” by Angus Stewartย Robert Eggers (director), Nosferatu, 2024. 132 min. Over Christmas, I finally lifted my copy…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “You Are Not of Human Kind: A Freudian Comparison of ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐งโ๐๐ and ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ข” by Angus Stewartย](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/nosferatu.png?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS โ Julie Otsuka, When the Emperor Was Divine, Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. 148 pgs.โ Julie Otsuka, The Buddha in the Attic, Alfred A. Knopf, 2011. 129 pgs.โ Julie Otsuka,…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Julie Otsuka: The Ideal of Justice and the Reality of History” by Jiahe Chen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/julie-otsuka_cha.png?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย Idol, Burning. Rin Usami (author), Asa Yoneda (translator), Idol, Burning, HarperVia, 2022.144 pgs. Japan, for me, has long been a pop music paradise. On my…
![[REVIEW] โWhen a Passion Turns Toxic: Rin Usamiโs ๐ผ๐๐๐, ๐ต๐ข๐๐๐๐๐โ by Wendy Tokunaga](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/rin-usami-author-asa-yoneda-translator-idol-burning.jpg?w=946)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Annie Zaidi, Bread, Cement, Cactus: A Memoir of Belonging and Dislocation, Cambridge University Press, 2020. 166 pgs. Annie Zaidiโs memoir Bread, Cement, Cactus: A Memoir of Belonging and Dislocation…
![[REVIEW] โLived Reality: Annie Zaidiโs Memoir ๐ต๐๐๐๐, ๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐ก, ๐ถ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐ ” by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/annie-zaidi-bread-cement-cactus-a-memoir-of-belonging-and-dislocation.jpg?w=971)
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“Article 5.3: Under no circumstances shall any citizen go to the capital.” This is one of the most serious of all our laws. Anyone who grew up in my village of Orfetel, only a few daysโ travel from the ruins…
![[EXCLUSIVE] โIn Farghestanโ by Matt Turner](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/farghestan6-1.png?w=972)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Half Sound, Half Philosophy. Jing Wang, Half Sound, Half Philosophy: Aesthetics, Politics, and History of Chinaโs Sound Art, Bloomsbury, 2021. 232 pgs. Jing Wangโs Half…
![[REVIEW] “Overhearing ๐๐: Jing Wangโs ๐ป๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐, ๐ป๐๐๐ ๐โ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐โ๐ฆ” by Maurice Windleburn](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/half-sound-half-philosophy-aesthetics-politics-and-history-of-chinas-sound-art.jpg?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yvonne Yevan Yu, Christine Vicera, and Julie Ham (editors), Ingat: An Anthology of Works by Migrant Domestic Worker Creatives in Hong Kong, Small Tune Press, 2024. 228 pgs. The…
![[REVIEW] โSometimes Painful, Sometimes Upliftingโ๐ผ๐๐๐๐ก: ๐ด๐ ๐ด๐๐กโ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐ท๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ ๐ป๐๐๐ ๐พ๐๐๐โ by Tim Pit Hok Yau](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/4670.jpg?w=500)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on In the Mood for Love. Wong Kar-wai (director), In the Mood for Love, 2000. 98 min. I have been haunted by the same film for twenty-five…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Ghosts of Wong Kar-wai: On ๐ผ๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ฃ๐” by Anders Kรธlle](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/in-the-mood-for-love-wong-kar-wai-2020-4k-red-ds-os-195-_blur.webp?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jiaming Tang, Cinema Love, John Murray, 2024. 304 pgs. Cinema Love is the impressive debut novel by Chinese-American writer Jiaming Tang. The bookโs blurb and the opening chapters may…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โGut-punching Melodrama: Jiaming Tangโs ๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ฃ๐โ by Hongwei Bao](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/jiaming-tang-cinema-love-john-murray.jpg?w=975)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย Mina’s Matchbox. Yลko Ogawa (author), Stephen B. Snyder (translator), Minaโs Matchbox, Pantheon Books, 2024. 288 pages. In Yลko Ogawaโs previous novel, The Memory Police, set…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โMemory-keeping: Yลko Ogawaโs ๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐โ๐๐๐ฅโ by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/819ycgclrml._sl1500_.jpg?w=940)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Lauren Walden, Surrealism from Paris to Shanghai, Hong Kong University Press, 2024. 152 pgs. In Surrealism from Paris to Shanghai, Lauren Walden has done modern Chinese art history a…
![[REVIEW] โRecovering Shanghaiโs Lost Surrealist Tradition: Lauren Waldenโs ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐โ๐๐๐โ๐๐โ by Paul French](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/surrealism-from-paris-to-shanghai.jpg?w=1024)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Listen. Chan Kwan Ee Tom, Listen, Atmosphere Press, 2023. In monochrome, a fallen beast is manipulated by puppet strings that ensnare a hand. Upon closer inspection,…
![[REVIEW] “What Did I Hope to Hear?: A Review of Chan Kwan Ee Tom’s ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐” by Lian-Hee Wee](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/listen_chan-kwan-ee-tom.jpg?w=1024)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Wong Siu-pong (director), Obedience, 2024. 71 min. Although Wong Siu-pongโs latest observational documentary, Obedience, does not actively stir emotions in its audiences, it is laden with unspoken weight. Featuring…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โA Placeโs Sorrowful Tomorrow: Wong Siu-pongโs ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ by Vanessa Winghei Yeung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/obedience_wong.jpg?w=1024)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jose Lorenzo โPepeโ Diokno, Isang Himala, 2024. 145 min. Isang Himala (A Miracle), directed by Jose Lorenzo โPepeโ Diokno, is an adaptation on three levelsโof the screenplay by National…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โThe Miracle of Adaptation in Pepe Dioknoโs ๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐๐โ by Richell Isaiah Flores](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/jose-lorenzo-pepe-diokno-isang-himala-2024_2-2.jpg?w=1024)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Sawako Nakayasu, Pink Waves, Omnidawn, 2022. 90 pgs. When I received Sawako Nakayasu’s Pink Waves, I was drawn to its cover. Green, black, and blue arranged in shapes suggest…
![[REVIEW] “She Was Elegylight: Sawako Nakayasuโs ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ” by Tim Tim Cheng](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/pink-waves.png?w=1024)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Stuart Heisler (director), Tokyo Joe, 1949. 89 min. Of all the gin joints in all the world, Humphrey Bogart had to walk into yet another one. Swap North Africa…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โPlay it againโฆ Ito?: Stuart Heislerโs ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ฝ๐๐โ by Jeremiah Dutch](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/tokyo-joe-old-japan-hollywood-movie-humphrey-bogart-film-shibuya-tokyo-japanese-history-9.webp?w=1024)
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There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
![Protected: [ESSAY] โA History of Peel Street Poetryโ by Akin Jeje](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/images.png?w=225)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Izumi Kyลka (author), Charles Shirล Inouye (translator and author of introduction and afterword), Japanese Gothic Tales, University of Hawaiโi Press, 1996. 202 pgs. Japan Gothic Tales comprises four short…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS]โThe Haunting World of Random Encounters in Izumi Kyลkaโs ๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐บ๐๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ โ by Vanessa Winghei Yeung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/japanese-gothic-tales-1.png?w=1024)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kogonada (director), Columbus, 2017. 100 min. Thereโs a profound sense of openness in Kogonadaโs Columbus (2017). The film invites us to step into its scenes, transforming them into spaces…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โBeyond the Physicality of Places: Kogonadaโs ๐ถ๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ข๐ โ by V Clark](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/columbus-1.jpg?w=736)
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Artwork by Raimonda I suppose youโve seen obituaries shared on WeChat. People post them thoughtlessly, almost as if itโs routine. It feels strange, doesnโt it, that a life concludes in such a trivial manner? I used to find it unsettling,…
![[EXCLUSIVEโFICTION] “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)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN 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…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Hereโs To Family Drama, In All Its Universalityโ๐ด๐ข๐๐ข๐ ๐ก: ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐ฆ” by Hai-Mo Hu](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1.august-osagecountyensemblecastpic.jpg?w=1024)
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TIFF 2024 โ Introductionโ 8. Band of Outsiders: On Neo Sora’s Happyendโ 7. The Soul of an Artist: On Hong Sang-sooโs By The Streamโ 6. The Two Maidens: On Trฦฐฦกng Minh Quรฝโs Viet and Namโ 5. The Master and Her…
![[TIFF 2024] โBand of Outsiders: On Neo Soraโs ๐ป๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐โ by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/happyend_cha.png?w=1024)
Cha 