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

IONCINEMA

I Plant My Hand in the Garden | 2026 Venice Film Festival Review

10.27Work

Root Work: Taheri and Hadzija Disrupt the Symmetry There’s an exceptional element of fluidity and ambiguity slyly operating within and then aggressively overwhelming I Plant My Hand in the Garden…

Festivals & awards

Read at IONCINEMA ↗

One letter a week, starting soon.

Latest

I Plant My Hand in the Garden | 2026 Venice Film Festival Review

Related

Prince | 2026 London BFI Film Festival Review IONCINEMA

Interview: Hédi Zardi Atlas Workshop – 2026 Marrakech Film Festival IONCINEMA

All of a Sudden, Clarissa, La Gradiva, The Invite, and Tender Loving Care Lead 2026 Gotham Awards Nominations The Film Stage

‘I Play Rocky’ Wins Virginia Film Fest Audience Award as Peter Farrelly’s Stallone Drama Readies for Theaters IndieWire

TürkiyeÇağdaş Alman Sinemasının Usta İsmi Doris Dörrie, 37. Ankara Film Festivali'ne Geliyor! Beyazperde

USA‘All of a Sudden,’ ‘Clarissa,’ and ‘The Invite’ Lead 2026 Gotham Film Awards Nominations Slant Magazine