Category: Oliver Farry
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Circumnavigation Without Glory: Lav Diaz’s Magellan and the Violence of Discovery” by Oliver Farry Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Magellan. Lav Diaz (director), Magellan, 2025. 165 min. Lav Diaz’s Magellan…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Circumnavigation Without Glory: Lav Diaz’s 𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑛 and the Violence of Discovery” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/review-22history-as-painting-lav-diazs-magellan22-by-alicia-izharuddin.png?w=795)
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Guan Hu’s 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝐷𝑜𝑔: Olympic Ambition Meets Provincial Reality” by Oliver Farry
茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Guan Hu’s Black Dog: Olympic Ambition Meets Provincial Reality” by Oliver Farry Guan Hu (director), Black Dog 狗阵, 2024. 110 min. Guan Hu’s canine drama delineates a quixotic episode…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Guan Hu’s 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝐷𝑜𝑔: Olympic Ambition Meets Provincial Reality” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/black-dog-e78b97e998b5.jpg?w=945)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Dreams Without Dreamers: Bi Gan’s Beautifully Perverse Resurrection” by Oliver Farry Bi Gan (director), Resurrection 狂野时代, 2025. 156 mins. Bi Gan’s third film is a splendid-looking enigma in the…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Dreams Without Dreamers: Bi Gan’s Beautifully Perverse 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/resurrection.png?w=960)
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Editor’s note: Lydia Wong’s evocative essay explores salt as both a material and metaphorical force in Hong Kong’s cultural, political, and sensual identity. From ancient salt fields to contemporary political repression, she traces how salt symbolises preservation, resistance, and longing.…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “SALTY WET 鹹濕” by Lydia Wong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/salted-fish_peng-chau_december-2019_oliver-farry.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 All We Imagine as Light. Payal Kapadia (director), All We Imagine as Light, 2024. 118 min. Payal Kapadia’s debut feature All We Imagine as Light is…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Poetic, Nocturnal Film: Payal Kapadia’s 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑊𝑒 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝐿𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/all-we-imagine-as-light.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Wei Shujun (director), Only the River Flows, 2023. 101 mins. Wei Shujun’s Only the River Flows, an adaptation of Yu Hua’s novella Mistakes by the River set in 1995,…
![[REVIEW] “Such an Indelible Period Texture: Wei Shujun’s 𝑂𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑠” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/only-the-river-flows-banner.jpg?w=512)
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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 Hong Sang-soo. Hong Sang-soo (director), In Water, 2023. 61 min. Of the 31 features Hong Sang-soo has directed, you’d be hard pressed to find a…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Just that Little Bit Different: Hong Sang-soo’s 𝐼𝑛 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/in-water_hong-sang-soo.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Lee Sol-hui (director), Greenhouse, 2022. 100 min. Lee Sol-hui’s film Greenhouse is a domain of sickness. There is illness everywhere, physical, mental, social, degenerative. The only character…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Domain of Sickness: Lee Sol-hui’s 𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/greenhouse-2022-film-still.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ryo Takebayashi (director), Mondays: See You “This” Week!, 2022. 102 min. Ryo Takebayashi’s time-loop film Mondays: See You “This” Week!’s most obvious film of comparison is Groundhog…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Over and Over—Ryo Takebayashi’s 𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠: 𝑆𝑒𝑒 𝑌𝑜𝑢 ‘𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠’ 𝑊𝑒𝑒𝑘” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/the-pigeon.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (director), City of Wind, 2023. 103 min. Films about Mongolia don’t make their way to Europe too often and in the past when they have,…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Beginning (or Continuation) of a Mongolian New Wave?—Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir’s 𝐶𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑑” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/city-of-wind.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (director), Evil Does Not Exist, 2023. 106 min. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s follow-up to his Oscar-nominated hit Drive My Car starts off as a seemingly much more…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Enigmatic Pronouncement: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s 𝐸𝑣𝑖𝑙 𝐷𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝐸𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/evil-does-not-exist-new.jpg?w=1000)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Babak Jalali (director), Fremont, 2023. 88 min. “Fortune messages are a responsibility. Consciously, or unconsciously, they are going to act on the flux of things. They shouldn’t…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Inside the Fortune Cookie: Babak Jalali’s 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/fremont.jpg?w=799)
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Paul Bevan’s Introduction: This story comes from a series entitled Ways and Pathways. Each story in the series follows an individual, a man or woman, as they walk from point A to point B, and sometimes back again, and focuses…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “A Walk Around the Square” by Paul Bevan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/partial-eclipse.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Élise Girard (director), Sidonie in Japan, 2024. 95 min. Sidonie Perceval (Isabelle Huppert) is a writer, or at least she once was. She has now decided to…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Spectral Valency: Élise Girard’s 𝑆𝑖𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐽𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑛” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/elise-girard-director-sidonie-in-japan-2024.-95-min.jpg?w=559)
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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 Perfect Days. Wim Wenders (director), Perfect Days, 2023. 123 min. Wim Wenders is not alone among Western filmmakers in having a fascination with…
![[REVIEW] “Clean Work: Wim Wenders’s 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝐷𝑎𝑦𝑠” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/74409c07-88f6-44de-94a4-98f879833225.jpeg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kim Jee-woon (director), Cobweb, 2023. 135 min. Song Kang-ho (best known for Parasite and A Taxi Driver) in Cobweb Kim Ki-yeol (Song Kang-ho, best known for Parasite and A Taxi…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “In the Tradition of Film-set Comedy Dramas: Kim Jee-woon’s 𝐶𝑜𝑏𝑤𝑒𝑏” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/first-poster-for-cobweb-starring-song-kang-ho-centers-v0-nlwknv9ea1za1.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Davy Chou (director), Return to Seoul, 2022. 119 min. There’s an ambiguity inherent in the title of Davy Chou’s film Return to Seoul. At first sight, it seems to…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Cultural Orphanage: Davy Chou’s 𝑅𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑆𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑙” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/return-to-seoul3.webp?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Soetsu Yanagi, The Beauty of Everyday Things, Penguin, 2018. 352 pgs. The best book purchases are those of volumes discovered serendipitously on a shop shelf, just as the best…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Craft Work: Soetsu Yanagi’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/onta-ware-collected-by-yanagi-soetsu.jpg?w=1024)
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[Return to Table of Contents.] LOVE: A Readingjointly organised byCha and Bleak House BooksDate: Friday 17 September 2021Time: 7:30 pmVenue: Bleak House BooksModerator: Tammy Lai-Ming Ho Oliver Farry read from Robert Fagles’s translation of Homer’s Iliad, a passage relating the funeral of Patroclus…
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[Chris Song’s Mobile Diary] Mild Trypophobia by Chris Song, translated from the Chinese by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho {{{ Hong Kong—Saturday 8 August 2020 }}} The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases today: 69. This afternoon in Central, walking past H Queen’s, the eye-catching tower…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Mild Trypophobia” (Saturday 8 August 2020) by Chris Song, translated by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/shek-kip-mei_by-oliver-farry.jpg?w=1024)
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[Chris Song’s Mobile Diary] Focused On Their Own Steps by Chris Song, translated from the Chinese by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho {{{ Hong Kong—Friday 7 August 2020 }}} Eighty-nine new confirmed COVID-19 cases today. Since working from home, my activities have…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Focused On Their Own Steps” (Friday 7 August 2020) by Chris Song, translated by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/buildings-in-hong-kong_oliver-farry.jpg?w=1024)
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[Chris Song’s Mobile Diary] Beckoning Her Children by Chris Song, translated from the Chinese by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho {{{ Hong Kong—Thursday 6 August 2020 }}} The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is 95 today. It was raining for days on end and…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Beckoning Her Children” (Thursday 6 August 2020) by Chris Song, translated by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/cat.jpg?w=1024)
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[Chris Song’s Mobile Diary] A Bridge Builder by Chris Song, translated from the Chinese by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho {{{ Hong Kong—Wednesday 5 August 2020 }}} The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases today in Hong Kong is 83. It rained from…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “A Bridge Builder” (Wednesday 5 August 2020) by Chris Song, translated by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hung-hom-by-oliver-farry.jpg?w=1024)
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[Chris Song’s Mobile Diary] The Year Made Famous by Chris Song, translated from the Chinese by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho {{{ Hong Kong—Tuesday 4 August 2020 }}} The number of COVID-19 cases today is 80, the same as yesterday’s. The security…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “The Year Made Famous” (Tuesday 4 August 2020) by Chris Song, translated by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/coffee-by-oliver-farry.jpg?w=1024)
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[Chris Song’s Mobile Diary] A Triumphant Knight by Chris Song, translated from the Chinese by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho {{{ Hong Kong—Monday 3 August 2020 }}} The number of COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong is 80, about two-thirds of yesterday’s. At the…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “A Triumphant Knight” (Monday 3 August 2020) by Chris Song, translated by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/japnaese-restaurant_sham-shui-po_oliver-farry.jpg?w=1024)
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[Chris Song’s Mobile Diary] Untraceable by Chris Song, translated from the Chinese by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho {{{ Hong Kong—Sunday 2 August 2020 }}} Confirmed COVID-19 cases today: 115. This is the 12th consecutive day the number has been more than…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Untraceable” (Sunday 2 August 2020) by Chris Song, translated by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/wanchai.jpeg?w=959)
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[Chris Song’s Mobile Diary] The Human Touch Relies Firmly on the Human Factor by Chris Song, translated from the Chinese by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho {{{ Hong Kong—Saturday 1 August 2020 }}} 124 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The No. 3 Typhoon Signal remained…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “The Human Touch Relies Firmly on the Human Factor” (Saturday 1 August 2020) by Chris Song, translated by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/picture-by-oliver-farry.jpg?w=1024)
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[Chris Song’s Mobile Diary] Disappearing into the Vast Main by Chris Song, translated from the Chinese by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho {{{ Hong Kong—Friday 31 July 2020 }}} The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is 121. Consecutive days of intense heat;…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Disappearing into the Vast Main” (Friday 31 July 2020) by Chris Song, translated by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/disappearing-into-the-vast-main.jpg?w=960)
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[Chris Song’s Mobile Diary] Moved to Tears by Chris Song, translated from the Chinese by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho {{{ Hong Kong—Thursday 30 July 2020 }}} 149 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Hong Kong; another record-breaking day… Yesterday, the government enforced…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Moved to Tears” (Thursday 30 July 2020) by Chris Song, translated by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/cha-an-asian-literary-journal.jpg?w=1024)
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Editors’ note: Oliver Farry was one of the speakers at Cha‘s “Writing COVID-19” (Thursday 30 July 2020). He read this piece written specifically for the event. On the face of it, COVID-19 was a boon of sorts for the writer.…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Writing COVID-19” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/oliver-farry-1.jpg?w=1024)
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