If you are K-Drama fan living outside of South Korea, you may have heard about SKY Castle, especially now that it’s available on Netflix. JTBC’s SKY Castle broke records in South Korea for being the first drama on cable...
Film
Video changed the movie star and the films coming to screens big and small are changing—and we are cheering that change. We celebrate videos that headline or feature noteworthy Asian women characters. Whether a local YouTube phenomenon or an earth-shaking blockbuster, let’s see what’s happening.
Andrea Centeno
“What Will People Say:” Shattering Walls
What Will People Say (Hva Vi Folk Si) is a terrifying film based on and inspired by the horror of the life of Iram Haq, its director. The film follows main character Nisha (Maria Mozhdah), a 16-year-old Pakistani...
Marj Ostani
[review] Tidying Up With Marie Kondo: Does This Spark Joy?
Though the book came out in 2011, it was in 2014 with the english translation of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up that Marie Kondo’s stardom exploded with the most un-celebrity-like title: an organizing...
Mercy Mistress: life through a queer and kinky lens
Mercy Mistress, coming out in early 2019, is one of the most highly anticipated web series for the Asian Femme. Based on the memoirs of a queer Chinese-American dominatrix in New York City, this dramatic dark comedy is...
Drama Review: Woman of Dignity
Social status, adultery, betrayal and money ‘Woman of Dignity’ (or ‘The Lady in Dignity’ depending on the translation) takes these themes for a fascinating whirl, blending comedy...
Spirited Away enchantingly captures life’s imperfections
Life is simple. Humans make it complicated. Or at least that’s how I perceive things over time. Spirited Away, one of Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpieces, is one of the few anime features I’ve seen to accurately take a...
Asian TV Series to binge-watch this December
December can totally be a busy month for most of us. Nevertheless, we all love our ‘me time’ moments at home, watching shows that take us on a rollercoaster of emotions. Before 2018 ends, we thought of rounding-up some...
Shirkers: reclaiming Singapore’s first indie film
Shirkers is a monumental attempt to reclaim Singapore’s first indie film in a world that lost and kept it. “When I was 18, the thing I wanted more than anything was to make a movie. I had the idea that you found freedom...
‘The Apology’—stories of strength and hope after WW2 sexual slavery
In this age of women’s activism, it’s impossible to go a day without seeing articles, videos, tweets, shows, and memes about feminist movements. Enter The Apology, a film by Tiffany Hsiung that explores the lives of...
My ID is Gangnam Beauty—K Drama Review
“I’ll get some cosmetic procedures done, but I hope I don’t end up looking like a Gangnam girl.” I remember the first time I heard this from a Korean friend years ago. I was bewildered when she worried about being a...
Kim’s Convenience: the Kim family is perfectly flawed
Recently, I binge-watched Kim’s Convenience. I went through its two full seasons of 13 episodes each in just three days. Riveting. It’s a shame I kept delaying seeing this ‘till now—it’s been sitting on my what-to-watch...
Saimdang and The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci
As someone who enjoys historical fiction, I had the opportunity to watch Saimdang and read Belle Ami’s The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci within the last year. At first glance, the two works seemed unrelated. Saimdang is a...
Guest Writer