The first issue of Cinemas of Asia features some of the early film magazines in Asia. Founded in 1919, Kinema Junpo is probably the longest surviving film magazine in the world. Cinemas of Asia speaks with its editor-in-chief, Keiko Akechi. An avid collector of film memorabilia, Wong Han Min reveals some of the pre-war film publications in Singapore. Veronica Kusumaryati highlights the emergence of specialised film magazines, such as Dunia Film and Film Varia, in the 50s after Indonesia gained her independence. Graiwoot Chulphongsathorn shares his thoughts on a copy of Pappayon Siam (15 September 1933), an old Thai film magazine that he stumbled upon. Timothy Barnard singles out Gelanggang Film (Film Arena), a publication that critically assessed Malay films made in Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s. Wen Tien-hsiang discusses the rise and fall of some of the significant film magazines in Taiwan. Darcy Paquet ranks 1955 and 1996 as the two most important milestones in the history of Korean film magazines. Rashmi Doraiswamy reminisces the days of putting together Cinemaya, one of the earliest English-language film magazines dedicated to Asian cinema.

Neel Chaudhuri reviews two recent NETPAC prize winners: Hospitalité by Koji Fukada and Boundary by Benito Bautista. Through the works of Hong Sang-soo, Daniel Hui wonders if images can go on without thought. Woo Ming Jin and I discuss some of the images in Woman On Fire Looks for Water. To round it up, Ho Yuhang shares his award-winning short film, As I Lay Dying. A fellow Malaysian Khoo Gaik Cheng introduces the film.

By courtesy of AsiaPacificFilms.com, we have two more films we would like to share with you.

Subscribe to the mailing list of Cinemas of Asia and get the password to watch

The Gaze by Mani Kaul
A Poet (Puisi Tak Terkuburkan) by Garin Nugroho. Winner of NETPAC award at the Singapore International Film Festival 1999.

Thank you.

Tan Bee Thiam
Editor, Cinemas of Asia
The NETPAC Journal