MINAMATA Mandala, the latest documentary by veteran filmmaker Kazuo Hara, captures the resilience of people left behind by their government.
Author Archives: Ren Scateni
Ren Scateni is a writer, curator, and programmer. They mostly write about the cinema of Japan and other East Asian countries for various publications, including MUBI Notebook, Art Review, and Sight & Sound.
Posted inFilm
A First-Person Interrogation of a Family’s Guilt-Ridden Past
A combination video essay and road movie, Angelo Madsen Minax’s documentary North By Current understands life upheavals as rites of passage.
Posted inBooks
A Female Vision of Sci-Fi
Izumi Suzuki introduced a different vision of femininity, one that departed from the stereotypes so abundant in the work of male writers.
Posted inFilm
Observing a Changing Wuhan Along the Banks of the Yangtze
Hyperallergic talks to Wuhan native Shengze Zhu about her new documentary A River Runs, Turns, Erases, Replaces, which recently premiered at Berlinale.
Posted inFilm
The Women Directors Reshaping Japan’s Film Industry
Beyond showcasing a wide range of styles and genres, 21st Century Japan also includes some of the country’s most remarkable contemporary women filmmakers.
Posted inFilm
Celebrating the Creativity, Comradery, and Activism of Japan’s Queer Community
The documentary Queer Japan talks to LGBTQ+ people all over the country.
Posted inFilm
Our Favorite Experimental Films From the Toronto International Film Festival
Highlights included Ephraim Asili’s striking debut feature The Inheritance and Nicolás Pereda’s Fauna, an inventive story within a story.
Posted inFilm
Our Top Picks for the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival
Highlights to catch at its first virtual edition include Spike Lee’s David Byrne documentary, a strong slate of Indigenous-led films, and a look at the FBI’s efforts to defame Martin Luther King Jr.
Posted inBooks
Celebrating the “Wild Ladies” of Japanese Folklore
Aoko Matsuda’s Where the Wild Ladies Are offers a fresh critique of Japan’s stance towards women.
Posted inFilm
A Dynamic Portrait of Sex Workers Channels Suppressed Rage to Cathartic Ends
Now streaming as part of JAPAN CUTS, Kana Yamada’s Life: Untitled features a wealth of skillfully written characters attuned to Japan’s contemporary social dysfunctions.
Posted inFilm
How Lynne Sachs Turns Spoken Language Into Cinematic Language
A long-overdue retrospective of the feminist artist and filmmaker demonstrates how she explores communication in her work.
Posted inFilm
Me and the Cult Leader, an Unlikely Story of Forgiveness
Atsushi Sakahara, the survivor of a terrorist incident, films his journey with the spokesman for the group that committed the attack.