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Asian cinema refers to the film industries and films produced in the continent of Asia. However, in countries like the United States, it is often used to refer only to the cinema of East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. West Asian cinema is sometimes classified as part of Middle Eastern cinema, along with the cinema of Egypt. The cinema of Central Asia is often grouped with the Middle East or, in the past, the cinema of the Soviet Union during the Soviet Central Asia era. North Asia is dominated by Siberian Russian cinema, and is thus considered part of European cinema.
East Asian cinema is typified by the cinema of Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, including the Japanese anime industry and action films of Hong Kong. [1] Southeast Asian cinema is typified by the cinema of the Philippines – one of the pioneers in Asian cinema, Thailand, Indonesia, and other Southeast Asian countries.
South Asian cinema is typified by the cinema of India, the cinema of Pakistan, the cinema of Bangladesh, and the cinema of Nepal.
The cinema of Central Asia and the southern Caucasus is typified by Iranian cinema and the cinema of Tajikistan. West Asian cinema is typified by Arab cinema, Iranian cinema, Israeli cinema (which may overlap with Jewish cinema), and Turkish cinema.
A 5,200-year-old earthen bowl found in Shahr-i Sokhta, Iran, has five images of a goat painted along the sides. This is believed to be an example of early animation. [2] [3] [4]
Mo-Ti, a Chinese philosopher circa 500 BC, pondered the phenomenon of inverted light from the outside world beaming through a small hole in the opposite wall in a darkened room. Shadow plays first appeared during the Han dynasty and later gain popularity across Asia. Around 180 AD, Ting Huan (丁緩) created an elementary zoetrope in China.
The first short films from Asia were produced during the 1890s. The first short films produced in Japan were Bake Jizo (Jizo the Spook) and Shinin no Sosei (Resurrection of a Corpse), both from 1898. [5] The first Indian short film was also produced in 1898, The Flower of Persia, directed by Hiralal Sen. [6]
In the early 1900s, Israeli silent movies were screened in sheds, cafes and other temporary structures. [7] In 1905, Cafe Lorenz opened on Jaffa Road in the Jewish neighborhood of Neve Tzedek. From 1909, the Lorenz family began screening movies at the cafe. In 1925, the Kessem Cinema was housed there for a short time. [8] The first East Asian feature film was Japan's The Life Story of Tasuke Shiobara (1912). It was followed by India's first feature-length silent film, the period piece drama Raja Harishchandra (1913), by Dadasaheb Phalke, considered the father of Indian cinema. By the next decade, the output of Indian cinema was an average of 27 films per year. [9]
In the 1920s, the newborn Soviet cinema was the most radically innovative. There, the craft of editing, especially, surged forward, going beyond its previous role in advancing a story. Sergei Eisenstein perfected the technique of so-called dialectical or intellectual montage, which strove to make non-linear, often violently clashing, images express ideas and provoke emotional and intellectual reactions in the viewer.
Sound films began being produced in Asia from the 1930s. Notable early talkies from the cinema of Japan included Kenji Mizoguchi's Sisters of the Gion (Gion no shimai, 1936), Osaka Elegy (1936) and The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (1939), along with Sadao Yamanaka's Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937) and Mikio Naruse's Wife, Be Like A Rose! (Tsuma Yo Bara No Yoni, 1935), which was one of the first Japanese films to gain a theatrical release in the U.S. However, with increasing censorship, the left-leaning tendency films of directors such as Daisuke Ito also began to come under attack. A few Japanese sound shorts were made in the 1920s and 1930s, but Japan's first feature-length talkie was Fujiwara Yoshie no furusato (1930), which used the 'Mina Talkie System'. In 1935, Yasujirō Ozu also directed An Inn in Tokyo, considered a precursor to the neorealism genre.
Ardeshir Irani released Alam Ara , the first Indian talking film, on March 14, 1931. Following the inception of 'talkies' in India some film stars were highly sought after and earned comfortable incomes through acting. As sound technology advanced the 1930s saw the rise of music in Indian cinema with musicals such as Indra Sabha and Devi Devyani marking the beginning of song-and-dance in India's films. [10] Studios emerged across major cities such as Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai as filmmaking became an established craft by 1935, exemplified by the success of Devdas , which had managed to enthrall audiences nationwide. [11]
Following the end of World War II by the mid-1940s, the period from the late 1940s to the 1960s is considered the 'Golden Age' of Asian cinema. [12] [13] [14] Many of the most critically acclaimed Asian films of all time were produced during this period, including Yasujirō Ozu's Late Spring (1949) and Tokyo Story (1953); Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950), Ikiru (1952), Seven Samurai (1954) and Throne of Blood (1957); Kenji Mizoguchi's The Life of Oharu (1952), Sansho the Bailiff (1954) and Ugetsu (1954); Satyajit Ray's The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959), The Music Room (1958) and Charulata (1964); Guru Dutt's Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959); and Fei Mu's Spring in a Small Town (1948), Raj Kapoor's Awaara (1951), Mikio Naruse's Floating Clouds (1955), Mehboob Khan's Mother India (1957), and Ritwik Ghatak's Subarnarekha (1962). [12] [13]
During Japanese cinema's 'Golden Age' of the 1950s and 1960s, successful films included Rashomon (1950), Seven Samurai (1954) and The Hidden Fortress (1958) by Akira Kurosawa, as well as Yasujirō Ozu's Tokyo Story (1953) and Ishirō Honda's Godzilla (1954). [15] These films have had a profound influence on world cinema. In particular, Kurosawa's Seven Samurai has been remade several times as Western films, such as The Magnificent Seven (1960) and Battle Beyond the Stars (1980), and has also inspired several Bollywood films, such as Sholay (1975) and China Gate (1998). Rashomon was also remade as The Outrage (1964), and inspired films with "Rashomon effect" storytelling methods, such as Andha Naal (1954), The Usual Suspects (1995) and Hero (2002). The Hidden Fortress was also the inspiration behind George Lucas' Star Wars (1977). The Japanese New Wave began in the late 1950s and continued into the 1960s. Other famous Japanese filmmakers from this period include Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Hiroshi Inagaki and Nagisa Oshima. [13] Japanese cinema later became one of the main inspirations behind the New Hollywood movement of the 1960s to 1980s.
During Indian cinema's 'Golden Age' of the 1950s and 1960s, it was producing 200 films annually, while Indian independent films gained greater recognition through international film festivals. One of the most famous was The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959) from critically acclaimed Bengali film director Satyajit Ray, whose films had a profound influence on world cinema, with directors such as Akira Kurosawa, [16] Martin Scorsese, [17] [18] James Ivory, [19] Abbas Kiarostami, Elia Kazan, François Truffaut, [20] Steven Spielberg, [21] [22] [23] Carlos Saura, [24] Jean-Luc Godard, [25] Isao Takahata, [26] Gregory Nava, Ira Sachs, Wes Anderson [27] and Danny Boyle [28] being influenced by his cinematic style. According to Michael Sragow of The Atlantic Monthly , the "youthful coming-of-age dramas that have flooded art houses since the mid-fifties owe a tremendous debt to the Apu trilogy". [29] Subrata Mitra's cinematographic technique of bounce lighting also originates from The Apu Trilogy. [30] Satyajit Ray's success led to the establishment of the Parallel Cinema movement, which was at its peak during the 1950s and 1960s. Other famous Indian filmmakers from this period include Guru Dutt, [13] Ritwik Ghatak, [12] Mrinal Sen, Bimal Roy, K. Asif and Mehboob Khan. [31]
The cinema of China experienced a 'Golden Age' in the late 1940s. In 1946, Cai Chusheng returned to Shanghai to revive the Lianhua name as the "Lianhua Film Society." [32] This in turn became Kunlun Studios which would go on to become one of the most important Chinese studios of the era, putting out the classics, Myriads of Lights (1948), The Spring River Flows East (1947), and Crows and Sparrows (1949). [33] Wenhua's romantic drama Spring in a Small Town (1948), a film by director Fei Mu shortly prior to the revolution, is often regarded by Chinese film critics as one of the most important films in the history of Chinese cinema, with it being named by the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2004 as the greatest Chinese-language film ever made. [34]
The cinema of Malaysia also had its 'Golden Age' in the post-war period of the 1950s and 1960s. The period saw the introduction of the studio system of filmmaking in Malaysia and influx of influences from Hollywood, the emerging cinema of Hong Kong, and particularly the Indian and Japanese film industries which were themselves experiencing a Golden Age. [35] [36]
The late 1950s and 1960s was also a 'Golden Age' for Philippine cinema, with the emergence of more artistic and mature films, and significant improvement in cinematic techniques among filmmakers. The studio system produced frenetic activity in the local film industry as many films were made annually and several local talents started to earn recognition abroad. The premiere Philippine directors of the era included Gerardo de Leon, Gregorio Fernandez, Eddie Romero, Lamberto Avellana, and Cirio Santiago. [37] [38]
The cinema of South Korea also experienced a 'Golden Age' in the late 1950s and 1960s, [39] beginning with director Lee Kyu-hwan's tremendously successful remake of Chunhyang-jon (1955). [40] That year also saw the release of Yangsan Province by the renowned director, Kim Ki-young, marking the beginning of his productive career. Both the quality and quantity of filmmaking had increased rapidly by the end of the 1950s. South Korean films, such as Lee Byeong-il's 1956 comedy Sijibganeun nal (The Wedding Day), had begun winning international awards. In contrast to the beginning of the 1950s, when only 5 movies were made per year, 111 films were produced in South Korea in 1959. [41] The year 1960 saw the production of Kim Ki-young's The Housemaid and Yu Hyun-mok's Aimless Bullet , both of which have been listed among the best Korean films ever made. [42]
The 1960s is often cited as being the 'golden age' of Pakistani cinema. Many A-stars were introduced in this period in time and became legends on the silver screen. As black-and-white became obsolete, Pakistan saw the introduction of its first colour films, the first being Munshi Dil's Azra in 1962, Zahir Rehan's Sangam (first full-length coloured film) in 1964, and Mala (first coloured cinemascope film). In 1961, the political film Bombay Wala was released, based on the city of Bombay in neighbouring India, in the wake of the growing tension between the nations. [43] In 1962, Shaheed (Martyr) pronounced the Palestine issue on the silver screen and became an instant hit, leading to a changing tide in the attitude of filmmakers.[ citation needed ]
The 1960s was the "golden age" of Cambodian cinema. Several production companies were started and more movie theaters were built throughout the country. More than 300 movies were made in Cambodia during the era. [44] A number of Khmer language films were well received in neighbouring countries at the time. [45] Among the classic films from Cambodia during this period were Lea Haey Duong Dara (Goodbye Duong Dara) and Pos Keng Kang (The Snake King's Wife) by Tea Lim Kun and Sabbseth, and An Euil Srey An (Khmer After Angkor) by Ly Bun Yim.
In 1966, 2.6 million Israelis went to the cinema over 50 million times. From 1968, when television broadcasting began, theaters began to close down, first in the periphery, then in major cities. 330 standalone theaters were torn down or redesigned as multiplex theaters. [7]
By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Japanese cinema had begun to become seriously affected by the collapse of the studio system. As Japanese cinema slipped into a period of relative low visibility, the cinema of Hong Kong entered a dramatic renaissance of its own, largely a side effect of the development of the wuxia blending of action, history, and spiritual concerns. Several major figures emerged in Hong Kong at this time, including King Hu, whose 1966 Come Drink With Me was a key influence upon many subsequent Hong Kong cinematic developments. Shortly thereafter, the American-born Bruce Lee became a global icon in the 1970s.
From 1969 onwards, the Iranian New Wave led to the growth of Iranian cinema, which would later go on to achieve international acclaim in the 1980s and 1990s. The most notable figures of the Iranian New Wave are Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi, Majid Majidi, Bahram Beizai, Darius Mehrjui, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Masoud Kimiay, Sohrab Shahid-Saless, Parviz Kimiavi, Samira Makhmalbaf, Amir Naderi, and Abolfazl Jalili. Features of New Wave Iranian film, in particular the works of Kiarostami, have been classified by some as postmodern. [46]
The 1970s also saw the establishment of Bangladeshi cinema following the country's independence in 1971. One of the first films produced in Bangladesh after independence was Titash Ekti Nadir Naam (A River Called Titas) in 1973 by acclaimed director Ritwik Ghatak, whose stature in Bengali cinema is comparable to that of Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen. Another great film of Bangladesh is Mita's 'Lathial' (The striker), were the best movies of the year of 1975. 'Lathial' got first National Award as the best film, and mita got first National Award as best director.
In the cinema of India, the 1970s saw a decline in 'Parallel Cinema' and the rise of commercial Hindi cinema in the form of enduring masala films, a genre largely pioneered by screenwriter duo Salim–Javed, with films such as the Mumbai underworld crime drama Deewaar (1975) and the "Curry Western" film Sholay (1975), which solidified Amitabh Bachchan's position as a lead actor. Commercial cinema further grew throughout the 1980s and the 1990s with the release of films such as Mr. India (1987), Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988), Tezaab (1988), Chandni (1989), Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), Baazigar (1993), Darr (1993), Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994) and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995). [47] By this time, the term "Bollywood" was coined to refer to the Hindi-language Bombay (now Mumbai) film industry. By the early 2020s, S. S. Rajamouli's epic duology Baahubali , and alternate history film RRR received the American Saturn Award nominations in various categories, the only Indian films to have garnered the honors. [48] [49] [50] Rajamouli's success played a role in the broader growth of the South Indian film industries, [51] which now are on par with Bollywood films in terms of box office revenue. [52]
During the 1980s, Japanese cinema – aided by the rise of independent filmmaking and the spectacular success of anime – began to make something of an international comeback. Simultaneously, a new post-Mao Zedong generation of Chinese filmmakers began to gain global attention. Another group of filmmakers, centered around Edward Yang and Hou Hsiao-hsien, launched what has become known as the "Taiwanese New Wave".[ citation needed ]
The 1980s is also considered the Golden Age of Hong Kong action cinema. Jackie Chan reinvented the martial arts film genre with a new emphasis on elaborate and dangerous stunts and slapstick humour, beginning with Project A (1983). John Woo began the "heroic bloodshed" genre based on triads, beginning with A Better Tomorrow (1986). The Hong Kong New Wave also occurred during this period, led by filmmakers such as Tsui Hark.
With the post-1980 rise in popularity of East Asian cinema in the West, Western audiences are again becoming familiar with many of the industry's filmmakers and stars. A number of these key players, such as Chow Yun-fat and Zhang Ziyi, have "crossed over", working in Western films. Others have gained exposure through the international success of their films, though many more retain more of a "cult" appeal, finding a degree of Western success through DVD sales rather than cinema releases. In the modern era, Israeli cinema has seen a wave of success in the 21st century, with several Israeli films winning awards in film festivals around the world. Prominent films of this period include Late Marriage (Dover Koshashvili), Broken Wings , Walk on Water and Yossi & Jagger (Eytan Fox), Nina's Tragedies , Campfire and Beaufort (Joseph Cedar), Or (My Treasure) (Keren Yedaya), Turn Left at the End of the World (Avi Nesher), The Band's Visit (Eran Kolirin) Waltz With Bashir (Ari Folman), and Ajami . In 2011, Strangers No More won the Oscar for best Short Documentary. [53]
In 2020, the South Korean film Parasite become the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 92nd Academy Awards. [54]
One of the most famous Asian film festivals in Europe is the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema, founded in 1995.
The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as David Bordwell suggested they were films that favor spectacle to storytelling, others such as Geoff King stated they allow the scenes of spectacle to be attuned to storytelling. Action films are often hybrid with other genres, mixing into various forms such as comedies, science fiction films, and horror films.
Abbas Kiarostami was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of over forty films, including shorts and documentaries. Kiarostami attained critical acclaim for directing the Koker trilogy (1987–1994), Close-Up (1990), The Wind Will Carry Us (1999), and Taste of Cherry (1997), which was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival that year. In later works, Certified Copy (2010) and Like Someone in Love (2012), he filmed for the first time outside Iran: in Italy and Japan, respectively. His films Where Is the Friend's Home? (1987), Close-Up, and The Wind Will Carry Us were ranked among the 100 best foreign films in a 2018 critics' poll by BBC Culture. Close-Up was also ranked one of the 50 greatest movies of all time in the famous decennial Sight & Sound poll conducted in 2012.
The Apu Trilogy comprises three Indian Bengali-language drama films directed by Satyajit Ray: Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and The World of Apu (1959). The original music for the films was composed by Ravi Shankar.
The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post-production, film festivals, distribution, and actors. Though the expense involved in making film almost immediately led film production to concentrate under the auspices of standing production companies, advances in affordable filmmaking equipment, as well as an expansion of opportunities to acquire investment capital from outside the film industry itself, have allowed independent film production to evolve.
Shyam Benegal is an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received several accolades, including eighteen National Film Awards, a Filmfare Award and a Nandi Award. In 2005, he was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in the field of cinema. In 1976, he was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour of the country, and in 1991, he was awarded Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour for his contributions in the field of arts.
The cinema of Iran, or of Persia, refers to the film industry in Iran. In particular, Iranian art films have garnered international recognition. Iranian films are usually written and spoken in the Persian language.
Ritwik Kumar Ghatak was an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor and playwright. Along with prominent contemporary Bengali filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha and Mrinal Sen, his cinema is primarily remembered for its meticulous depiction of social reality, partition and feminism. He won the National Film Award's Rajat Kamal Award for Best Story in 1974 for his Jukti Takko Aar Gappo and Best Director's Award from Bangladesh Cine Journalist's Association for Titash Ekti Nadir Naam. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for Arts in 1970.
Dev Benegal is an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter, most known for his debut film English, August (1994), which won the Best Feature Film in English at the 42nd National Film Awards.
The Cinema of East Asia is cinema produced in East Asia or by people from this region. It is part of cinema of Asia, which in turn is part of world cinema.
Parallel cinema, or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema.
The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) is a worldwide organization of 29 member countries. It was created as the result of a conference on Asian cinema organized by Cinemaya, the Asian Film Quarterly, in New Delhi in 1990 at the instance and with the support of UNESCO, Paris.
Iranian New Wave refers to a movement in Iranian cinema. It started in 1964 with Hajir Darioush's second film Serpent's Skin, which was based on D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover featuring Fakhri Khorvash and Jamshid Mashayekhi. Darioush's two important early social documentaries But Problems Arose in 1965, dealing with the cultural alienation of the Iranian youth, and Face 75, a critical look at the westernization of the rural culture, which was a prizewinner at the 1965 Berlin Film Festival, also contributed significantly to the establishment of the New Wave. In 1968, after the release of Shohare Ahoo Khanoom directed by Davoud Mollapour, The Cow directed by Dariush Mehrjui followed by Masoud Kimiai's Qeysar in 1969, Nasser Taqvai's Tranquility in the Presence of Others, and immediately followed by Bahram Beyzai's Downpour, the New Wave became well established as a prominent cultural, dynamic and intellectual trend. The Iranian viewer became discriminating, encouraging the new trend to prosper and develop.
The 1st Asian Film Awards were given on 20 March 2007 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, on the opening night of the 31st Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Satyajit Ray was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and composer. Ray is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors in the history of cinema. He is celebrated for works including The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959), The Music Room (1958), The Big City (1963), Charulata (1964), and the Goopy–Bagha trilogy (1969–1992).[a]
Cinema of West Bengal, also known as Tollywood or Bengali cinema, is the segment of Indian cinema, dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Bengali language widely spoken in the state of West Bengal. It is based in the Tollygunge region of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The origins of the nickname Tollywood, a portmanteau of the words Tollygunge and Hollywood, dates back to 1932. It was a historically important film industry, at one time the centre of Indian film production. The Bengali film industry is known for producing many of Indian cinema's most critically acclaimed global Parallel Cinema and art films, with several of its filmmakers gaining prominence at the Indian National Film Awards as well as international acclaim.
The 20th Busan International Film Festival was held from October 1 to October 10, 2015 at South Korea's Busan Cinema Center and was hosted by Song Kang-ho and Marina Golbahari.
The 21st Busan International Film Festival was held from October 6 to October 15, 2016 at the Busan Cinema Center and was hosted by Sol Kyung-gu and Han Hyo-joo. A total of 301 films from 69 countries were screened at the festival, including 96 world premieres and 27 international premieres.
The 51st International Film Festival of India was held from 16 to 24 January 2021 in Goa. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the festival went hybrid, there was physical and virtual screening of 50 films out of 224 films across various categories. Bangladesh was country of focus in the festival with four films of the country included in 'country of focus' section.
The 52nd International Film Festival of India opened on 20 November 2021 with The King of All the World by Carlos Saura in Goa. Like the 51st edition, this edition was held in a hybrid format which combined online and face-to-face participation. The BRICS Film Festival was held alongside main festival, in which films from BRICS nations, namely Brazil, Russia, South Africa, China and India were showcased. These five countries were 'the 'countries of focus' in the 52nd edition of the festival.
Horror films in Asia have been noted as being inspired by national, cultural or religious folklore, particularly beliefs in ghosts or spirits. In Asian Horror, Andy Richards writes that there is a "widespread and engrained acceptance of supernatural forces" in many Asian cultures, and suggests this is related to animist, pantheist and karmic religious traditions, as in Buddhism and Shintoism. Although Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Korean horror has arguably received the most international attention,