In the last twenty years the cinemas of the East have developed an incredibly sophisticated and diverse body of work, and have been garnering increasing attention in the West, not just at Film Festivals but on the shelves of high street shops. From the charm of the 1980s Hong Kong action flick, through the artistry of China's Fifth Generation and the Tawainese new wave, to the dynamism of the New Korean Cinema; Asian cinema has reinvented film language as we know it, wresting an essentially western medium from its roots and inflecting it with specifically Oriental themes and forms. Often innovative and formally beautiful, Asian film has reinvigorated cinema and began to challenge the dominance of an increasingly stagnant Hollywood. Hollywood's only defence has been to remake Asian films badly. This Blog will provide a personal commentary on the Asian film renaissance.

Friday, 23 February 2007

Firecracker TV

Firecracker have recently relaunched their site with the addition of a new feature called Firecracker TV. With it they aim to broadcast hard to find Asian movies over the net on a pay-per-view basis. Their choices are hearteningly eclectic and very interesting. They include a documentary on the Beijing rock scene by Zhang Yang, and a focus on Malaysian and Filipino independent filmmaking, a little known area of cinema that they seem to be leading the way in promoting. Also forthcoming is the award winning Chinese film Nuan and a series of films dedicated to Filipino '70s grindhouse director Bobby A. Suarez. Check out the programme. What's more Firecracker's impeccable design and enthusiasm ensure that this is all presented in as hip a way as possible. We could be witnessing the future of distribution for obscure films, using the net to bypass the biased and conservative mainstream distribution channels. Imagine the next Edward Yang or Apichatpong Weerasethakul available at the click of a button? I encourage everyone to check it out and spread the word!

My review of the Mikio Naruse boxset and of Funeral Parade of Roses are also now online at the site.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)