Category: 2025 Films
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[ESSAY] “The Burden of Representation: 𝑃𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 and the BDSM Representation on Screen” by Hongwei Bao
茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “The Burden of Representation: Pillion and the BDSM Representation on Screen” by Hongwei Bao Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Pillion & Box Hill. Editor’s note: Hongwei Bao revisits the conversations prompted…
![[ESSAY] “The Burden of Representation: 𝑃𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 and the BDSM Representation on Screen” by Hongwei Bao](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/pillion-film-review-2025-cha-an-asian-literary-journal-hongwei-bao.png?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Consequences of Cosmopolitan Dreams in Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s Human Resource” by Lorence Lozano Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit (director), Human Resource, 2025. Three years after his last film, Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit returns with a new…
![[REVIEW] “Consequences of Cosmopolitan Dreams in Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s 𝐻𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒” by Lorence Lozano](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/nawapol-thamrongrattanarit-director-human-resource.png?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Impossible (Between) Girls: Lilly Hu’s One Girl Infinite” by Hongwei Bao Lilly Hu (director), One Girl Infinite 不可能女孩, 2025. 102 min. The Chinese title of Lilly Hu’s (also known in…
![[REVIEW] “Impossible (Between) Girls: Lilly Hu’s 𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝐺𝑖𝑟𝑙 𝐼𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑒” by Hongwei Bao](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/one-girl-infinite-e4b88de58fafe883bde5a5b3e5ada9-2025.jpeg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jerrold Tarog (director), Quezon, 2025. 135 min. “Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are…
![[REVIEW] “Tarog’s 𝑄𝑢𝑒𝑧𝑜𝑛: A Definition of Machiavellian Politics” by Gene Michael M. Atanacio](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/jerrold-tarog-director-quezon-2.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Chris Martinez (director), Kontrabida Academy, 2025. 107 min. Teleserye (drama), whether on television or in motion pictures, has long been a mainstay of afternoon and evening entertainment in…
![[REVIEW] “Chris Martinez’s 𝐾𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑑𝑎 𝐴𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑦 and the Anatomy of a Filipino Teleserye” by Bryan Elijah Trajano](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/chris-martinez-director-kontrabida-academy-2025.-107-min.jpg?w=1000)
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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 Pillion & Box Hill. Editor’s note: We are delighted to present Hongwei Bao’s essayistic film review, which blends cultural history, theory, and critique through the…
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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] “She Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjun’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑂𝑛 𝑈𝑠 𝐴𝑙𝑙” 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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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 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] “𝑊𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑎: A Crime of Passionate Advocacy?” by Matthew Ordonez](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/warla_kv.png?w=600)
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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 Mending Bodies. ▞ Hon Lai Chu (author), Jacqueline Leung (translator), Mending Bodies, Two Lines Press, 2025. 240 pgs.▞ Michael Shanks (director), Together, 2025. 102 min.…
![[REVIEW] “The Fantasy of Wholeness through Body Horror in Hon Lai-chu’s 𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐵𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 and Michael Shanks’s 𝑇𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟” 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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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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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…
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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 Sho Miyake (director), Two Seasons, Two Strangers (Tabi to Hibi), 2025. 89 min. A woman sits at her desk, a pencil poised above a blank page. She has been…
![[REVIEW] “Winter of The Soul: On Sho Miyake’s 𝑇𝑤𝑜 𝑆𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑇𝑤𝑜 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/still2_two-seasons-two-strangers_locarno.jpg?w=1024)
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Doua Moua and Nirris Nagendrarajah Editor’s note: In this interview, Nirris Nagendrarajah talks to screenwriter and actor Doua Moua; they discuss The Harvest, a tender exploration of a Hmong family navigating illness, identity, and intergenerational conflict. Inspired by his own experiences…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Love Is Time: A Conversation on 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡” by NIRRIS NAGENDRARAJAH and Doua Moua”](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/the-harvest_carley-soo.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mike Sakas (director), City of Shells: Our Forgotten Oyster Reefs, 2025. 66 min. As Robin Wall Kimmerer reminds us, we cannot restore our relationships with nature without also engaging…
![[REVIEW] “Re-story-ation of the Hong Kong Oyster: 𝐶𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑠” by Tim Pit Hok Yau](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/mike-sakas-director-city-of-shells-2025.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Bong Joon-ho (director), Mickey 17, 2025. 137 min. Header image © bartos. Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17 is at once an existential tragedy and a darkly comic spectacle—a sci-fi epic…
![[REVIEW] “Dying for a Living: Bong Joon-ho’s 𝑀𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑦 17 and the Horror of Being Replaceable” by Ananya Singh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/c2a9marclafon-mickey17-rectangle.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Katarina Zhu (director), Bunnylovr, 2025. 86 min. A webcam turns on: a white fishnet stocking appears up close, resembling a fence—one that invites the possibility of being climbed, crossed,…
![[REVIEW] “The Good Girl: On Katarina Zhu’s 𝐵𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑦𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑟” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/bunnylovr.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Rohan Parashuram Kanawade (director), Sabar Bonda, 2025. 112 min. A death has already occurred—one that, over the ten days in which Sabar Bonda unfolds, will be mourned by a…
![[REVIEW] “An Unmarried Man: On Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s 𝑆𝑎𝑏𝑎𝑟 𝐵𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑎” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/sabar-bonda.jpg?w=1024)
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There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
![Protected: [REVIEW] “Violence, Guilt and the Weight of Inaction in As You Stood in Lee Jung-rim’s 𝐴𝑠 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝐵𝑦” by Dorina Tataran](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/lee-jung-rim-director-as-you-stood-by-2025.-tv-mini-series.-60-min.jpg?w=1024)
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There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Cha 