Criticine.

"While writing of western critics on eastern cinema is no doubt invaluable, to allow it to be in a monologue with itself in the dominant discourse is dangerous," asserts editor Alexis A Tioseco in the inaugural issue of Criticine, a new journal devoted to Asian film - with an emphasis on "expanding past Kurosawa and Ozu, Wuxia and Yimou" and on publishing translated texts from writers native to the countries' cinemas. Indonesia, Malaysia and the Phillipines - as Todd notes at Twitch, these are primary among the national cinemas that are too often overlooked by critics, programmers and distributors: "Until now."

"How do artifacts of popular culture become the filter to screen the anxiety of the people and the nation itself?" One of the many questions Rolando Tolentino raises in "Rethinking Cinemas of Asia: Preliminary Thoughts."

Hassan Muthalib offers a brief history of Malaysian cinema and then explains Anuar Nor Arai's concept of its "five voices." Vinita Ramani further probes the notion of "Malaysian cinema": "[T]he essential point of my essay: namely, that cultures are not static, that traditions can be re-interpreted and that the little exposure I have had to Malaysian cinema from the 1950s - 1960s has clearly demonstrated to me how acutely aware the filmmakers and actors of the time were of this." And Galk Cheng Khoo: "Malaysian indies are quickly gaining a reputation for remaining consistently active while independent of a state which does not have a systematic way of providing funds in the form of loans and grants."

In those pieces, you'll see indie filmmaker Amir Muhammad cited and quoted and referred to pretty frequently; Benjamin McKay interviews him. The second interview is Tioseco's with Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, who breaks into laughter easily and is evidently taken with Berlin.

"In the Philippines' only film school, there is not much to do," writes Raya Martin in an entry in the journal he's keeping as part of the Résidence du Festival de Cannes, an entry that describes how he forged ahead with his education regardless.

Reviews:

• Lisabona Rahman and Paul Agusta discuss Gie, Riri Riza's biopic of 1960s student activist Soe Hok Gie.

• Muthalib on the characters in Deepak Kumaran Menon's digital feature, Chemman Chaalai (The Gravel Road).

• Muthalib on Ho Yuhang's Sanctuary.

• So reads a short note prefacing Noel Vera's piece on Mario O'Hara's Bakit Bughaw ang Langit? (Why is the Sky Blue?): "[N]o print of this film is known to officially exist, even if it was made only twenty-four years ago, a sad commentary on the state of film preservation in the Philippines."

Posted by dwhudson at November 2, 2005 6:37 AM