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

The CurbAustralia

Ken Kwapis pays tribute to true originals with his delightful documentary We Are The Shaggs

September 12

Ken Kwapis opens his delightful and genuine documentary We are the Shaggs by having a group of people listen and react to a song by The Shaggs.

Documentary

Read at The Curb ↗

One letter a week, in your inbox.

Latest

Ken Kwapis pays tribute to true originals with his delightful documentary We Are The Shaggs

Related

KoreaKorean Documentary Opening Today 2026/09/11 in Korea (2026/09/11) HanCinema

Japanアニメとドキュメンタリーの融合作品「アマゾン、精霊が宿る川」11月公開 natalie

USAFive Radical Documentaries by Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi: Restlessness Refusing Resolution Criterion Current

Asia10 Must-see documentaries from the 23rd EBS International Documentary Festival 2026 Asian Film Festivals

Asia23rd EBS International Documentary Festival – Opening Film 2026 Asian Film Festivals

USAIn a New Documentary, Artists Get Candid About AI Hyperallergic Film