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 Film VerdictEurope

Strange Neighbors

September 17

The 2026 Oldenburg Film Festival opened with Mi Steinbach’s Strange Neighbors . The first documentary to open the festival, currently in its 33rd edition, the film is a portrait of an island in the…

Festivals & awards

Read at The Film Verdict ↗

One letter a week, in your inbox.

Latest

Strange Neighbors

Related

EuropeBold Visions Abound at the 2026 Oldenburg Film Festival The Film Verdict

UKWas TIFF: The Market a success? - The Screen Podcast Screen Daily Reviews

IndiaIHC Theatre Festival 2026: Making space for diverse voices Mint Lounge

FranceLe Montmartre festival met le 7e art à l’honneur pour son ouverture Les Inrocks — Cinéma

TIFF Review: A Talent for Murder Doesn’t Live Up to Patricia Highsmith’s Legacy The Film Stage

TIFF Review: The Spiral Is Silly, Devilish Fun The Film Stage