Journals

Southeast Asian films have gained international attention despite the 1997 Asian regional financial crisis and the supposed demise of the commercial film industries (Philippines) andstudio systems (post-Suharto Indonesia). From Thailand, avant-garde and Western-trained filmmakers such as Apichatpong Weerasethakul have won accolades at Cannes in 2005 with Tropical Malady, while their more commercial counterparts have also made waves overseas with films such as Iron Ladies and Ong Bak. With the innovations in digital technology, independent filmmaking is on the rise in the region, especially in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines. Films such as James Lee’s Beautiful Washing Machine and Ho Yuhang’s Sanctuary have been circulating in international film festivals and gaining cultural and artistic currency and awards abroad. In recognition of the importance of cinema as a socio-cultural phenomenon and the revival of an alternative cinema in the region, this special issue of Inter-Asia Cultural Studies analyses the complexity and diversity of techniques, views, styles; as well as attitudestowards film as an aesthetic form, as a cultural document, as national representation, and as a tool for social change. It also looks at alternative modes of production and distributiontaken by independent filmmakers. While books on particular national cinemas and essays on individual films from Southeast Asia have been published in the past few years, hitherto there has not been a concerted effort to gather a collection of essays within one volume to provide a comparative perspective on the conditions on cinema production among these neighbouring countries and to address the inter-regional connections among filmmakers and film activists. Beyond reviews and coverage of films and film production in the general media of these countries, there has been a lack of academic film analyses and criticism that incorporates approaches from film studies, area studies and cultural studies. This thematic issue, which includes articlesby short filmmakers, film historians and film distributors, hopes to rectify the situation as a new generation of filmmakers and their works appear on the scene. This is but an initial step towards more critique, research and analysis by a new generation of scholars and film critics. The essays in this issue were first presented at a conference funded by and held atthe Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, in 2004. Their financial andlogistic support is gratefully acknowledged.

Please click here for the contents: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/riac20/8/2

From ARI workshop New Southeast Asian Cinemas: Where Big Budget Meets No Budget, 3-4 May 2004.