Our mark is 銀幕, ginmaku — the silver screen, and the same two characters in Japanese, Chinese and Korean.

I came to Tokyo at twenty-three for a summer job at a Shibuya mini-theatre and the job never quite ended. Fifteen years of festivals later I still think the only review that counts is the one the room gives you: where the laugh lands, the moment three hundred people stop moving at once, whether anybody stays for the credits.

Cinepuuulse follows Asian cinema — Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand — across about a hundred and twenty sources. A good number of them are Spanish, French and Portuguese, because those countries programme this work seriously and write about it better than most of the English-language trade. Genre and art-house get the same seat here. I am not ranking them, and nothing is scored out of ten.

Each story is a headline, a short excerpt, one still and a link to the outlet that did the reporting. We never republish the piece, and the still belongs to its studio or its photographer. A Korean trade paper appears in Korean, a French review in French. We point at the work; we do not put words in anyone's mouth.

— Daren Wise, Tokyo

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Tokyo WeekenderJapan

8 Standout Japanese Stories From the 2026 Venice Film Festival

September 11

Japanese cinema is making a strong showing on the Lido this year, with stories from and about Japan appearing across nearly every section of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.

Festivals & awards

Read at Tokyo Weekender ↗

EuropeInterview: Manuel Wetscher • Director of Eklipse - “It’s about engaging with my own material and exploring how it can be used artistically” - Venice 2026 – Orizzonti Cineuropa

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8 Standout Japanese Stories From the 2026 Venice Film Festival

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