Category: 2025 Entries
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βLife Outside the Bubble in James Albonβs Love Languagesβ by Vanessa Winghei Yeung James Albon (author and illustrator), Love Languages, Top Shelf Productions, 2025. 176 pgs. The book begins…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βLife Outside the Bubble in James Albonβs πΏππ£π πΏππππ’ππππ β by Vanessa Winghei Yeung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lovelangs_jalbon-2.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Uno Chiyo (author), Rebecca Copeland (translator), The Story of a Single Woman, Pushkin Press, 2025. 106 pgs. Everything in Uno Chiyoβs The Story of a Single Woman, translated from…
![[REVIEW]Β βThe Trembling of Memory: Self and Society in Uno Chiyoβs πβπ ππ‘πππ¦ ππ π ππππππ πππππβ by Wani Nazir](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/uno-chiyo-author-rebecca-copeland-translator-the-story-of-a-single-woman-pushkin-press-1.jpg?w=977)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βAlternative Local and Translocal Hong Kong Histories in Larissa Laiβs The Lost Centuryβ by Yiwen Liu Larissa Lai, The Lost Century: A Novel, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2022. 374 pgs. Published…
![[REVIEW] βAlternative Local and Translocal Hong Kong Histories in Larissa Laiβs πβπ πΏππ π‘ πΆπππ‘π’ππ¦β by Yiwen Liu](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/larissa-lai-the-lost-century.png?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βThe Mountains Speak: The Himalayan Arc” by Abhinav Tulachan Namita Gokhale (editor), The Himalayan Arc: Journeys East of South-east, HarperCollins India, 2018. 352 pgs. Namche Bazaar has always been my…
![[REVIEW] βThe Mountains Speak: πβπ π»ππππππ¦ππ π΄ππβ by Abhinav Tulachan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/namche-bazaar-the-himalayan-arc-journeys-east-of-south-east-copy.jpg?w=695)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ 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 βem all. Squares on bothsides. I am the only completeman in the industry.βBurroughs, Naked Lunch…
![[REVIEW] β ‘________________________’: Rererecapitulating Kawika Guillermoβs Devastatingly Wondrous πππππππ : π΄ πΉπππ-ππ’ππ ππππ-π»π’ππ‘ π΄ππ‘π-ππππππ” 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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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Filial Piety and Farce: Negotiating Family and Queerness in Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet” by Jade GuΒ 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 πβπ πππππππ π΅ππππ’ππ‘” by Jade GuΒ](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ang-lee-director-the-wedding-banquet-.webp?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ 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] βThe Weight of Love: Sean Wangβs π·πππ and the Chinese American Familyβ 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 β 10. The Archivistβs Film: A Conversation on Kunsang Kyirongβs 100 Sunsetβ 9. She Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjunβs The Sun Rises On Us Allβ 8. You Don’t Belong to Anyone: A Conversation on…
![[TIFF 2025] βShe Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjunβs πβπ ππ’π π
ππ ππ ππ ππ π΄ππβ 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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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ 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] βπππππ: A Crime of Passionate Advocacy?β 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 LΓ‘szlΓ³ Krasznahorkai βfor his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.β 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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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βJohannes SchΓΆnherr’s North Korean Cinema: Rise (and Fall?) (and Rise again?) of the Propaganda Machineβ by Cyril Camus Johannes SchΓΆnherr, North Korean Cinema. A History, McFarland, 2012. 224 pgs. My experience…
![[REVIEW] βJohannes SchΓΆnherr’s ππππ‘β πΎπππππ πΆπππππ:Β Rise (and Fall?) (and Rise again?) of the Propaganda Machineβ 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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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ 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 Senguptaβs ππππππ‘ππ πππππ ” by Abhik Ganguly](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/selected-poems-final-1-scaled-e1754154149300.webp?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ 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] βWhen the Jar Spills Time: Reading Mallika Bhaumikβs πβππ ππππ ππ π πππππ π½ππβ by Wani Nazir](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/when-time-is-a-magic-jar.jpg?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Fantasy of Wholeness through Body Horror in Hon Lai-chuβs Mending Bodies and Michael Shanksβs Togetherβ by Charlie Ng ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Mending Bodies. β Hon Lai Chu (author),…
![[REVIEW] “The Fantasy of Wholeness through Body Horror in Hon Lai-chuβs πππππππ π΅πππππ and Michael Shanksβs πππππ‘βππβ 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 conversation with Sadie Kaye, 77-year-old Hong Kong artist George Tang Kwok-wing reflects on his seven decades in art in the lead-up to his participation in Fine Art Asia 2025, where he unveiled a monumental new large-scale…
![[CONVERSATION] “Painting a Legacy of Optimism & Beauty” by Sadie Kaye & George Tang Kwok-wing](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/george-tang-peonies.webp?w=600)
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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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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ThuαΊn (author), Nguyα» n An LΓ½ (translator), Elevator in SΓ i GΓ²n, New Directions, 2024. 192 pgs. Nobel laureate Patrick Modiano once wrote that βit is not the future which counts,…
![[REVIEW] “Truth, Lies, and the Mask We Choose: On ThuαΊnβs πΈπππ£ππ‘ππ ππ πππ πΊππ” 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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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ 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: πππ‘ πππ‘ πΎππππππβs Tender Confession” by Dawna Fung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/e3808ae4b880e4b880e9818ae6a882e5a0b4e3808b.jpg?w=1015)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βA Prism of Time: The Shifting Passions of Mani Raoβs Poetry in So That You Knowβ by Jennifer Eagleton Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on So That You Know. Mani Rao, So…
![[REVIEW] βA Prism of Time: The Shifting Passions of Mani Raoβs Poetry in ππ πβππ‘ πππ’ πΎπππ€β 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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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ 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] βA War, Many Cries, and a Long, Unkind Sleep: πΏππ‘π‘πππ ππππ πΊππ§πβ 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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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ 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] βThe Train Ride of Life: Hiro Arikawaβs πβπ πππ π ππππππ ππ π‘βπ π»ππππ¦π’ πΏπππβ by Koay Xinyi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/81pcgpwou4l._sl1500_.jpg?w=956)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βLav Diazβs Magellan: From Counter-Time to Counter-Historyβ by Ramzzi FariΓ±as ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Magellan. Lav Diaz (director), Magellan, 2025. 165 min. If the art of history is to be…
![[REVIEW] βLav Diazβs ππππππππ: From Counter-Time to Counter-Historyβ by Ramzzi FariΓ±as](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/images.jpeg?w=294)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βThings Fall Apart: Kong Shangrenβs The Peach Blossom Fanβ by Jeff Tompkins Kong Shangren (author), Wai-yee Li (translator). The Peach Blossom Fan, Oxford University Press, 2024. 816 pgs. Wai-yee Li…
![[ESSAY] βThings Fall Apart: Kong Shangrenβs πβπ ππππβ π΅πππ π ππ πΉππβ by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/the-peach-blossom-fan.png?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βHaunted by Words, Hunted by Silence: Mani Raoβs Radical Intimacy in So That You Knowβ by Wani Nazir ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ So That You Know. Mani Rao, So That…
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Editorβs note: This conversation between Shuang Xiao θη½ and T. L. Tsim θ©ΉεΎ·ι, former director of Chinese University Press, provides a wide-ranging reflection on Hong Kongβs cultural and literary landscape of the 1980s, highlighting Tsimβs collaboration with John Minford on Renditions…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “From Page to Print: In Conversation with T. L. Tsim aboutΒ π
πππππ‘ππππ , 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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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “A Glimpse of Filipino Gamersβ Lives in Mikhail Redβs 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 Gamersβ Lives in Mikhail Redβs πΉπππππππ¦ πΉπππ” by Bryan Elijah Trajano](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mikhail-red-director-friendly-fire.jpg?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βRe-evaluating ‘Womenβs Literature’ as a Category: Hayashi Fumiko as a Woman Writer in Modern Japanβ by Charlie Ng Click here to read all entries in Chaon Be a Woman Joan…
![[ESSAY] βRe-evaluating ‘Womenβs Literature’ as a Category: Hayashi Fumiko as a Woman Writer in Modern Japanβ 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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β Afterword: Living Between Languagesβ Three Poemsβ Anything but Human 倧ιε @ 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 interlingualβthat is, existing…
![[FEATURE] “π΄ππ¦π‘βπππ ππ’π‘ π»π’πππ: 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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β Afterword: Living Between Languagesβ Three Poemsβ Anything but Human 倧ιε @ 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 issuesβclass,…
![[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)
Cha 