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

← Cinepuuulse Archive

Directors NotesUK

Craig Bingham Demonstrates How “Restraint Breeds Creativity” with His Mythic Fantasy Sci-Fi Short ‘FARANOOKA’

October 14

When we think about low-budget independent filmmaking, our first instinct might be to imagine grounded, realistic narratives set within recognisable worlds.

Indie & debut

Read at Directors Notes ↗

One letter a week, starting soon.

Latest

Craig Bingham Demonstrates How “Restraint Breeds Creativity” with His Mythic Fantasy Sci-Fi Short ‘FARANOOKA’

Related

UKFive Shoots, One Year and Zero Fundraising Shape Bertil Nilsson’s Intimate Identity-Shifting Feature Debut ‘Masc’ Directors Notes

UKFrom Cosmic Head Explosions to Awkward Third Wheels: 11 Short Films to Discover at Encounters Film Festival 2026 Directors Notes

UK10 Unforgettable Short Films DN Spotted at Sarajevo Film Festival 2026 Directors Notes

AsiaPhilippine-Italian Sales Alliance Targets Indie Film Buyers in Asia, Europe and North America (EXCLUSIVE) Variety Asia

Asia20 Must-see short films from the 30th ifva Festival (Part 2) Asian Film Festivals

Asia20 Must-see short films from the 30th ifva Festival (Part 1) Asian Film Festivals