Category: 2025 Entries
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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 So That You Know. Mani Rao, So That You Know, HarperCollins India, 2025. 312 pgs. Referring to notes I made on Mani Rao’s newest poetry…
![[REVIEW] “A Prism of Time: The Shifting Passions of Mani Rao’s Poetry in 𝑆𝑜 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝐾𝑛𝑜𝑤” 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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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 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] “A War, Many Cries, and a Long, Unkind Sleep: 𝐿𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐺𝑎𝑧𝑎” 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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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 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] “The Train Ride of Life: Hiro Arikawa’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑦𝑢 𝐿𝑖𝑛𝑒” by Koay Xinyi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/81pcgpwou4l._sl1500_.jpg?w=956)
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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 Magellan. Lav Diaz (director), Magellan, 2025. 165 min. If the art of history is to be excavated, the records to be dug up will definitely…
![[REVIEW] “Lav Diaz’s 𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑛: From Counter-Time to Counter-History” by Ramzzi Fariñas](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/images.jpeg?w=294)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN 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] “Things Fall Apart: Kong Shangren’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝐵𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑚 𝐹𝑎𝑛” by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/the-peach-blossom-fan.png?w=1024)
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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 So That You Know. Mani Rao, So That You Know, HarperCollins India, 2025. 312 pgs. “Isn’t it better to write poems about topics? On the…
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Editor’s note: This conversation between Shuang Xiao 肖爽 and T. L. Tsim 詹德隆, former director of Chinese University Press, provides a wide-ranging reflection on Hong Kong’s cultural and literary landscape of the 1980s, highlighting Tsim’s collaboration with John Minford on Renditions…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “From Page to Print: In Conversation with T. L. Tsim about 𝑅𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 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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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mikhail Red (director), Friendly Fire, 2024. 112 min. As esports continue to gain traction in the Philippines, Filipino players such as Ohmyv33nus, Wise, Kuku, Biancake, and Alodia Gosiengfiao…
![[REVIEW] “A Glimpse of Filipino Gamers’ Lives in Mikhail Red’s 𝐹𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑙𝑦 𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑒” by Bryan Elijah Trajano](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mikhail-red-director-friendly-fire.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Joan E. Ericson, Be a Woman: Hayashi Fumiko and Modern Japanese Women’s Literature, University of Hawai’i Press, 1997. 292 pgs. The vicissitudes of women’s literature in Japan have undergone…
![[REVIEW] “Re-evaluating ‘Women’s Literature’ as a Category: Hayashi Fumiko as a Woman Writer in Modern Japan” 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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◉ Afterword: Living Between Languages◉ Three Poems◉ Anything but Human 大重啟 @ 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 interlingual—that is, existing…
![[FEATURE] “𝐴𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐻𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛: 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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◉ Afterword: Living Between Languages◉ Three Poems◉ Anything but Human 大重啟 @ 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 issues—class,…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “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 ▞ 10. The Archivist’s Film: A Conversation on Kunsang Kyirong’s 100 Sunset▞ 9. She Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjun’s The Sun Rises On Us All▞ 8. You Don’t Belong to Anyone: A Conversation on…
![[TIFF 2025] “The Need for Change: On Kei Ishikawa’s 𝐴 𝑃𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑉𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑠” 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 ▞ 10. The Archivist’s Film: A Conversation on Kunsang Kyirong’s 100 Sunset▞ 9. She Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjun’s The Sun Rises On Us All▞ 8. You Don’t Belong to Anyone: A Conversation on…
![[TIFF 2025] “The Angel of Death: On Jafar Panahi’s 𝐼𝑡 𝑊𝑎𝑠 𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝐴𝑛 𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡” 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 ▞ 10. The Archivist’s Film: A Conversation on Kunsang Kyirong’s 100 Sunset▞ 9. She Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjun’s The Sun Rises On Us All▞ 8. You Don’t Belong to Anyone: A Conversation on…
![[TIFF 2025] “Of Eros & Of Dust: On Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s 𝐴 𝑈𝑠𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝐺ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑡” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/a-useful-ghost-film-poster--1.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN 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] “Forget the Remake, Masayuki Suo’s 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑊𝑒 𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒? is in Perfect Step with Japan” 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 ▞ 10. The Archivist’s Film: A Conversation on Kunsang Kyirong’s 100 Sunset▞ 9. She Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjun’s The Sun Rises On Us All▞ 8. You Don’t Belong to Anyone: A Conversation on…
![[TIFF 2025] “Light At The End of the Labyrinth: On Genki Kawamura’s 𝐸𝑥𝑖𝑡 8” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/exit-8.jpg?w=1024)
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TIFF 2025 ▞ 10. The Archivist’s Film: A Conversation on Kunsang Kyirong’s 100 Sunset▞ 9. She Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjun’s The Sun Rises On Us All▞ 8. You Don’t Belong to Anyone: A Conversation on…
![[TIFF 2025] “Affairs of the Heart: On Cai Shangjun’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑂𝑛 𝑈𝑠 𝐴𝑙𝑙” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](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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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Edward Yang (director), Yi Yi, 2000. 173 min. Edward Yang’s Yi Yi opens in a register of melodrama. A frantic woman bursts into her ex-boyfriend’s wedding venue, collapses…
![[REVIEW] “Everything, Nothing, All at Once: Edward Yang’s 𝑌𝑖 𝑌𝑖” by Keziah Cho](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/edward-yang-director-yi-yi-2.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Akiko Ohku (director), Hold Me Back, 2020. 133 min. Akiko Ohku is best known for directing and co-writing Tremble All You Want and Hold Me Back, two films…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Feeling Seen: Akiko Ohku’s 𝐻𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑀𝑒 𝐵𝑎𝑐𝑘 and the Solitude of Modern Women” by Danica QP](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/hold-me-back-film-cha.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Arun Budhathoki, And I Blamed Canadian Winter Again: Poems East & West, Nirala Publications, 2025. 98pgs. Nepali poet Arun Budhathoki, who has been living in Canada, has recently…
![[REVIEW] “Diaspora and Duality: The Emotional Cartography of Arun Budhathoki’s 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝐶𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐴𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛” by Subash Singh Parajuli](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/arun-budhathoki-and-i-blamed-canadian-winter-again-poems-east-west-nirala-publications-2025.-98pgs.-.jpg?w=923)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Lê Minh Hoàng (director), Saigon in the Rain, 2020. —Written on a rainless Saigon day Urban life has long provided cinema with a stage upon which to capture…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Lê Minh Hoàng’s 𝑆𝑎𝑖𝑔𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑎𝑖𝑛: A Resonance of Youth, Migration, and Urban Dreams” by Red Po](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/maxresdefault.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Marla Ancheta (director), One Hit Wonder, 2025. 112 min. Before music was only a click away, One Hit Wonder transports us to a time when dreams of stardom…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Reliving the Filipino 90s Nostalgia in Marla Ancheta’s 𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝐻𝑖𝑡 𝑊𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟” by Bryan Elijah Trajano](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/marla-ancheta-director-one-hit-wonder.jpg?w=1024)
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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 Untold. Bae Suah (author), Deborah Smith (translator), Untold Night and Day, Jonathan Cape, 2020. 155 pgs. It has been some…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Between Dream and Wakefulness: Reading Bae Suah’s 𝑈𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑁𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐷𝑎𝑦” by Dorina Tataran](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/untold-night-and-day-1.jpg?w=977)
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Chris Song’s Note: Selected from Hong Kong author Lok Fung’s acclaimed short story collection The Charred City, “A Wayward Wisdom Tooth” recounts the tale of Shevon Kam, a driven beauty executive who endures a decade-long struggle with a decaying wisdom tooth—a…
![[TRANSLATION] “A Wayward Wisdom Tooth” by Lok Fung, Translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/alireza-heidarpour-46cfxprdjni-unsplash.jpg?w=1024)
Cha 