Category: 2025 Entries
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kawika Guillermo, Nimrods: A Fake-Punk Self-Hurt Anti-Memoir, Duke University Press, 2023. 240 pgs. Fuck โem all. Squares on bothsides. I am the only completeman in the industry.โBurroughs, Naked Lunch…
![[REVIEW] โ ‘________________________’: Rererecapitulating Kawika Guillermoโs Devastatingly Wondrous ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ : ๐ด ๐น๐๐๐-๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐๐-๐ป๐ข๐๐ก ๐ด๐๐ก๐-๐๐๐๐๐๐” by Jason S Polley](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/kawika-guillermo-devastating-nimrods-a-fake-punk-self-hurt-anti-memoir-.jpg?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Filial Piety and Farce: Negotiating Family and Queerness in Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet” by Jade Guย Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Ang Lee. Ang Lee (director), The Wedding Banquet, 1993.…
![[REVIEW] “Filial Piety and Farce: Negotiating Family and Queerness in Ang Lee’s ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ก” by Jade Guย](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ang-lee-director-the-wedding-banquet-.webp?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Sean Wang (director), Didi, 2024. 96 min. In Chinese culture, parents often address their children by their familial roles, a gesture of affection and intimacy. My mother calls me…
![[REVIEW] โThe Weight of Love: Sean Wangโs ๐ท๐๐๐ and the Chinese American Familyโ by Theodora Yu](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/sean-wang-director-didi-2024.-2.jpg?w=625)
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TIFF 2025 โ 10. The Archivistโs Film: A Conversation on Kunsang Kyirongโs 100 Sunsetโ 9. She Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjunโs The Sun Rises On Us Allโ 8. You Don’t Belong to Anyone: A Conversation on…
![[TIFF 2025] โShe Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjunโs ๐โ๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐
๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ด๐๐โ by Nirris Nagendrarajah, Cai Shangjun & Han Nianjin](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/cai-shangjuns-the-sun-rises-on-us-all-2025.-131-min.jpg?w=1000)
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๐ย RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ย RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kevin Alambra (director), Warla, 2025. 111 min. I have just watched Warla. I cannot claim any lived experience concerning trans issues; however, I found myself uneasy with the bluntness…
![[REVIEW] โ๐๐๐๐๐: A Crime of Passionate Advocacy?โ by Matthew Ordonez](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/warla_kv.png?w=600)
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Earlier this week, the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2025 was awarded to the Hungarian novelist Lรกszlรณ Krasznahorkai โfor his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.โ Coverage in outlets such…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Whose Words Win the Nobel? On Translators and the Question of Literary Recognition” by Kabir Deb](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/copy-of-copy-of-taken-as-strictly-true-neuroscience-and-sinology-in-laszlo-krasznahorkais-f09d90b7f09d9192f09d91a0f09d91a1f09d919ff09d91a2f09d9190f09d91a1f09d9196f09d919cf09d919b-f09d918.png?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Johannes Schรถnherr, North Korean Cinema. A History, McFarland, 2012. 224 pgs. My experience with the three books on North Korean cinema I had read up to this pointโPaul…
![[REVIEW] โJohannes Schรถnherr’s ๐๐๐๐กโ ๐พ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐:ย Rise (and Fall?) (and Rise again?) of the Propaganda Machineโ by Cyril Camus](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/johannes-schonherr-north-korean-cinema.-a-history-1.jpg?w=838)
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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 Kiriti Sengupta. Kiriti Sengupta, Selected Poems, Transcendent Zero Press, 2025. 228 pgs. It has been more than a decade since the medical practitioner turned poet,…
![[REVIEW] “The Stillness Between Fire and Water: On Kiriti Senguptaโs ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ” by Abhik Ganguly](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/selected-poems-final-1-scaled-e1754154149300.webp?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mallika Bhaumik, When Time is a Magic Jar, Red River Press, 2025. 108 pgs. When Time is a Magic Jar by Mallika Bhaumik is like finding an old, dusty…
![[REVIEW] โWhen the Jar Spills Time: Reading Mallika Bhaumikโs ๐โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐โ by Wani Nazir](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/when-time-is-a-magic-jar.jpg?w=1024)
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๐ย RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ย RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Mending Bodies. โ Hon Lai Chu (author), Jacqueline Leung (translator), Mending Bodies, Two Lines Press, 2025. 240 pgs.โ Michael Shanks (director), Together, 2025. 102 min.…
![[REVIEW] “The Fantasy of Wholeness through Body Horror in Hon Lai-chuโs ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐ and Michael Shanksโs ๐๐๐๐๐กโ๐๐โ by Charlie Ng](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/the-fantasy-of-wholeness-through-body-horror-in-hon-lai-chus-mending-bodies-and-michael-shankss-together.png?w=1024)
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Editor’s note: In this interview, poet and critic Tiffany Troy speaks with translator Chenxin Jiang about her recent rendering of for now I am sitting here growing transparent (Zephyr Press, 2025) by Hong Kong poet, filmmaker, and scholar Yau Ching.…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “On Translating Hong Kong Identity, Resilience, & Longing” by Tiffany Troy and Chenxin Jiang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/71e5yoi5wl._sl1500_-1.jpg?w=1023)
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๐ย RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ย RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Thuแบญn (author), Nguyแป n An Lรฝ (translator), Elevator in Sร i Gรฒn, New Directions, 2024. 192 pgs. Nobel laureate Patrick Modiano once wrote that โit is not the future which counts,…
![[REVIEW] “Truth, Lies, and the Mask We Choose: On Thuแบญnโs ๐ธ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐” by Michael Londra](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/f09f9381-return-to-first-impressions-f09f9381-return-to-cha-review-of-books-and-films.jpg?w=881)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Eva Yip Man-lai (director), Cecilia Lau (organiser), Yat Yat Kingdom, 2025. In the world of theatre, actors often serve as vessels for the stories of others, portraying characters born…
![[REVIEW] “Between Play and Pain: ๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ก ๐พ๐๐๐๐๐๐โs Tender Confession” by Dawna Fung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/e3808ae4b880e4b880e9818ae6a882e5a0b4e3808b.jpg?w=1015)
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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 So That You Know. Mani Rao, So That You Know, HarperCollins India, 2025. 312 pgs. Referring to notes I made on Mani Raoโs newest poetry…
![[REVIEW] โA Prism of Time: The Shifting Passions of Mani Raoโs Poetry in ๐๐ ๐โ๐๐ก ๐๐๐ข ๐พ๐๐๐คโ by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/mani-rao-so-that-you-know-cha.jpg?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mahmoud Alshaer & Mohammed Al-Zaqzooq (editors), Letters from Gaza: A Collection by the People; Unveiling Their Stories and Emotions from the Year That Has Been, Penguin Random House SEA,…
![[REVIEW] โA War, Many Cries, and a Long, Unkind Sleep: ๐ฟ๐๐ก๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐ง๐โ by Kabir Deb](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/letters-from-gaza-a-collection-by-the-people-unveiling-their-stories-and-emotions-from-the-year-that-has-been-1.jpg?w=906)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Hiro Arikawa (author), Allison Markin Powell (translator). The Passengers on the Hankyu Line, Penguin Random House, 2025. 256 pgs. It seems fitting that I began reading The Passengers on…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โThe Train Ride of Life: Hiro Arikawaโs ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ข ๐ฟ๐๐๐โ by Koay Xinyi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/81pcgpwou4l._sl1500_.jpg?w=956)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โLav Diazโs Magellan: From Counter-Time to Counter-Historyโ by Ramzzi Fariรฑas Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย Magellan. Lav Diaz (director), Magellan, 2025. 165 min. If the art of history is to be…
![[REVIEW] โLav Diazโs ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐: From Counter-Time to Counter-Historyโ by Ramzzi Fariรฑas](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/images.jpeg?w=294)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kong Shangren (author), Wai-yee Li (translator), The Peach Blossom Fan, Oxford University Press, 2024. 816 pgs. Wai-yee Li is one translator who knows how to hook a reader.…
![[REVIEW] โThings Fall Apart: Kong Shangrenโs ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐โ ๐ต๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐น๐๐โ by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/the-peach-blossom-fan.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 So That You Know. Mani Rao, So That You Know, HarperCollins India, 2025. 312 pgs. “Isnโt it better to write poems about topics? On the…
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Editorโs note: This conversation between Shuang Xiao ่็ฝ and T. L. Tsim ่ฉนๅพท้, former director of Chinese University Press, provides a wide-ranging reflection on Hong Kongโs cultural and literary landscape of the 1980s, highlighting Tsimโs collaboration with John Minford on Renditions…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “From Page to Print: In Conversation with T. L. Tsim aboutย ๐
๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ , CUHK Press, and his Fellowship with John Minford” by Shuang Xiao & T. L. Tsim](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/tsim-.jpg?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “A Glimpse of Filipino Gamersโ Lives in Mikhail Redโs Friendly Fire” by Bryan Elijah Trajano Mikhail Red (director), Friendly Fire, 2024. 112 min. As esports continue to gain traction in the…
![[REVIEW] “A Glimpse of Filipino Gamersโ Lives in Mikhail Redโs ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐น๐๐๐” by Bryan Elijah Trajano](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mikhail-red-director-friendly-fire.jpg?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Joan E. Ericson, Be a Woman: Hayashi Fumiko and Modern Japanese Womenโs Literature, University of Hawai’i Press, 1997. 292 pgs. The vicissitudes of womenโs literature in Japan have undergone…
![[REVIEW] โRe-evaluating ‘Womenโs Literature’ as a Category: Hayashi Fumiko as a Woman Writer in Modern Japanโ by Charlie Ng](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/joan-e.-ericson-be-a-woman-hayashi-fumiko-and-modern-japanese-womens-literature-.jpg?w=907)
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โ Afterword: Living Between Languagesโ Three Poemsโ Anything but Human ๅคง้ๅ @ TrendLit Publishing Living between languages by Daryl Lim Wei Jie My poetry was brewed in the multilingual kitchen that is Singapore. The translational and the interlingualโthat is, existing…
![[FEATURE] “๐ด๐๐ฆ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก ๐ป๐ข๐๐๐: Living between Languages” by Daryl Lim Wei Jie](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/anythingbuthuman-copy.jpg?w=838)
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โ Afterword: Living Between Languagesโ Three Poemsโ Anything but Human ๅคง้ๅ @ TrendLit Publishing Expressionof Contentment by Daryl Lim Wei Jie I am extraordinarily really verycomfortable even my toes have gone forpsychoanalysis and my nose hairs havetheir favourite brand of…
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Editor’s note: In “When Everything Becomes a ‘Gender Issue’ in Asia”, Zheng Wang argues that across Asia, public debate often compresses diverse injustices into the single language of gender. While this framework can demand justice, it also displaces other issuesโclass,…
![[ESSAY] “When Everything Becomes a ‘Gender Issue’ in Asia” by Zheng Wang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/markus-winkler-y6uhsowdivs-unsplash.jpg?w=1024)
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TIFF 2025 โ 10. The Archivistโs Film: A Conversation on Kunsang Kyirongโs 100 Sunsetโ 9. She Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjunโs The Sun Rises On Us Allโ 8. You Don’t Belong to Anyone: A Conversation on…
![[TIFF 2025] โThe Need for Change: On Kei Ishikawaโs ๐ด ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐ โ by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/2a-pale-view-of-hills-e981a0e38184e5b1b1e381aae381bfe381aee58589-kei-ishikawa.jpg?w=1024)
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TIFF 2025 โ 10. The Archivistโs Film: A Conversation on Kunsang Kyirongโs 100 Sunsetโ 9. She Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjunโs The Sun Rises On Us Allโ 8. You Don’t Belong to Anyone: A Conversation on…
![[TIFF 2025] โThe Angel of Death: On Jafar Panahiโs ๐ผ๐ก ๐๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐ด๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐๐กโ by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/jafar-panahi-director-it-was-just-an-accident-1.jpg?w=1024)
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TIFF 2025 โ 10. The Archivistโs Film: A Conversation on Kunsang Kyirongโs 100 Sunsetโ 9. She Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjunโs The Sun Rises On Us Allโ 8. You Don’t Belong to Anyone: A Conversation on…
![[TIFF 2025] “Of Eros & Of Dust: On Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s ๐ด ๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐บโ๐๐ ๐ก” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/a-useful-ghost-film-poster--1.jpg?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Masayuki Suo (director), Shall We Dance? 1996, 136 min. At college, I once romanced a young lady by agreeing to take ballroom dancing lessons with her after her…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โForget the Remake, Masayuki Suoโs ๐โ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐? is in Perfect Step with Japanโ by Jeremiah Dutch](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/masayuki-sou-director-shall-we-dance-1996-136-min.-.jpg?w=686)
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TIFF 2025 โ 10. The Archivistโs Film: A Conversation on Kunsang Kyirongโs 100 Sunsetโ 9. She Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjunโs The Sun Rises On Us Allโ 8. You Don’t Belong to Anyone: A Conversation on…
![[TIFF 2025] โLight At The End of the Labyrinth: On Genki Kawamuraโs ๐ธ๐ฅ๐๐ก 8โ by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/exit-8.jpg?w=1024)
Cha 