matteoB
@matteob.bsky.social
By day: lumpenproletariat.
By night: Japan-based film critic and writer for Il Manifesto and other publications.
Independently writing and researching about Asian documentary here: https://asian-docs.com/
By night: Japan-based film critic and writer for Il Manifesto and other publications.
Independently writing and researching about Asian documentary here: https://asian-docs.com/
Pinned
matteoB
@matteob.bsky.social
· 19d
"The Documentary Cinema of Haneda Sumiko
Japan in Transition through Gender, Arts, Nature and Society"
is finally out next March.
I've contributed with a chapter on Ode to Mt. Hayachine (a.k.a. The Poem of Hayachine Valley, 1982)
www.routledge.com/The-Document...
Japan in Transition through Gender, Arts, Nature and Society"
is finally out next March.
I've contributed with a chapter on Ode to Mt. Hayachine (a.k.a. The Poem of Hayachine Valley, 1982)
www.routledge.com/The-Document...
Reposted by matteoB
＜2026＞ STOP THE GENOCIDE, NO WAR, No Hate Speech
December 31, 2025 at 3:02 PM
＜2026＞ STOP THE GENOCIDE, NO WAR, No Hate Speech
one more to go:
The Incredible Hulk: Death in the Family (The Return of the Incredible Hulk) (Alan J. Levi, 1977)
this one and the pilot film were distributed theatrically in some places in Europe...
The Incredible Hulk: Death in the Family (The Return of the Incredible Hulk) (Alan J. Levi, 1977)
this one and the pilot film were distributed theatrically in some places in Europe...
December 31, 2025 at 2:02 PM
one more to go:
The Incredible Hulk: Death in the Family (The Return of the Incredible Hulk) (Alan J. Levi, 1977)
this one and the pilot film were distributed theatrically in some places in Europe...
The Incredible Hulk: Death in the Family (The Return of the Incredible Hulk) (Alan J. Levi, 1977)
this one and the pilot film were distributed theatrically in some places in Europe...
Reposted by matteoB
Favourite Japanese films of 2025, unranked
A Unique Country in Asia (アジアのユニークな国)
1st Kiss (ファースト・キッス)
Escape (逃走)
How Dare You? (ふつうの子ども)
Jinsei (無名の人生)
Renoir (ルノワール)
Teki Cometh (敵)
Tokyo Taxi (TOKYO タクシー)
Transcending Dimensions (次元を越える)
Two Seasons, Two Strangers (旅と日々)
A Unique Country in Asia (アジアのユニークな国)
1st Kiss (ファースト・キッス)
Escape (逃走)
How Dare You? (ふつうの子ども)
Jinsei (無名の人生)
Renoir (ルノワール)
Teki Cometh (敵)
Tokyo Taxi (TOKYO タクシー)
Transcending Dimensions (次元を越える)
Two Seasons, Two Strangers (旅と日々)
December 31, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Favourite Japanese films of 2025, unranked
A Unique Country in Asia (アジアのユニークな国)
1st Kiss (ファースト・キッス)
Escape (逃走)
How Dare You? (ふつうの子ども)
Jinsei (無名の人生)
Renoir (ルノワール)
Teki Cometh (敵)
Tokyo Taxi (TOKYO タクシー)
Transcending Dimensions (次元を越える)
Two Seasons, Two Strangers (旅と日々)
A Unique Country in Asia (アジアのユニークな国)
1st Kiss (ファースト・キッス)
Escape (逃走)
How Dare You? (ふつうの子ども)
Jinsei (無名の人生)
Renoir (ルノワール)
Teki Cometh (敵)
Tokyo Taxi (TOKYO タクシー)
Transcending Dimensions (次元を越える)
Two Seasons, Two Strangers (旅と日々)
best way (?!) to end the year...
The Incredible Hulk/pilot movie (Kenneth Johnson, 1977)
The Incredible Hulk/pilot movie (Kenneth Johnson, 1977)
December 31, 2025 at 7:36 AM
best way (?!) to end the year...
The Incredible Hulk/pilot movie (Kenneth Johnson, 1977)
The Incredible Hulk/pilot movie (Kenneth Johnson, 1977)
Reposted by matteoB
I watched 543 films this year, of these, 111 were on the big screen (thanks mainly to festivals).
Of the 27 listed as my favourites (animation, documentary, and general), I've seen 21 on the big screen...
Of the 27 listed as my favourites (animation, documentary, and general), I've seen 21 on the big screen...
Best (favourite) documentaries of 2025, and discoveries
asian-docs.com/2025/12/30/b...
asian-docs.com/2025/12/30/b...
December 30, 2025 at 12:40 PM
I watched 543 films this year, of these, 111 were on the big screen (thanks mainly to festivals).
Of the 27 listed as my favourites (animation, documentary, and general), I've seen 21 on the big screen...
Of the 27 listed as my favourites (animation, documentary, and general), I've seen 21 on the big screen...
I watched 543 films this year, of these, 111 were on the big screen (thanks mainly to festivals).
Of the 27 listed as my favourites (animation, documentary, and general), I've seen 21 on the big screen...
Of the 27 listed as my favourites (animation, documentary, and general), I've seen 21 on the big screen...
Best (favourite) documentaries of 2025, and discoveries
asian-docs.com/2025/12/30/b...
asian-docs.com/2025/12/30/b...
December 30, 2025 at 12:40 PM
I watched 543 films this year, of these, 111 were on the big screen (thanks mainly to festivals).
Of the 27 listed as my favourites (animation, documentary, and general), I've seen 21 on the big screen...
Of the 27 listed as my favourites (animation, documentary, and general), I've seen 21 on the big screen...
Reposted by matteoB
Best (favourite) documentaries of 2025, and discoveries
asian-docs.com/2025/12/30/b...
asian-docs.com/2025/12/30/b...
December 30, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Best (favourite) documentaries of 2025, and discoveries
asian-docs.com/2025/12/30/b...
asian-docs.com/2025/12/30/b...
Best (favourite) documentaries of 2025, and discoveries
asian-docs.com/2025/12/30/b...
asian-docs.com/2025/12/30/b...
December 30, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Best (favourite) documentaries of 2025, and discoveries
asian-docs.com/2025/12/30/b...
asian-docs.com/2025/12/30/b...
Feminist Observation: The Case of Un processo per stupro (A Trial for Rape, 1979)
by Erika Balsom
read.dukeupress.edu/camera-obscu...
by Erika Balsom
read.dukeupress.edu/camera-obscu...
Feminist Observation: The Case of Un processo per stupro (A Trial for Rape, 1979)
Abstract. This article offers an account of the landmark work Un processo per stupro (A Trial for Rape, Italy, 1979), an observational documentary of a trial for gang rape made collectively by Maria G...
read.dukeupress.edu
December 29, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Feminist Observation: The Case of Un processo per stupro (A Trial for Rape, 1979)
by Erika Balsom
read.dukeupress.edu/camera-obscu...
by Erika Balsom
read.dukeupress.edu/camera-obscu...
discoveries of 2025:
My Father, burned (Doi)
The North Calotte (Nestler)
Youshi Kei (Tanaami)
The Laughing Woman (Schivazappa)
Sachiko no sachi (Takeda)
The Heart & the Money (Feuillade)
Shichinin no keiji shūchakueki no onna (Wakasugi)
Harlan County U.S.A. (Kopple)
Vertigo Sea (Akomfrah)
My Father, burned (Doi)
The North Calotte (Nestler)
Youshi Kei (Tanaami)
The Laughing Woman (Schivazappa)
Sachiko no sachi (Takeda)
The Heart & the Money (Feuillade)
Shichinin no keiji shūchakueki no onna (Wakasugi)
Harlan County U.S.A. (Kopple)
Vertigo Sea (Akomfrah)
my favourite films of 2025 (in no order):
A Stone's Throw (AlSalah)
Two Seasons, Two Strangers (Miyake)
Dry Leaf (Koberidze)
Guardians of the Harvest (Hiro)
Death Does Not Exists (D. Laperrière)
With Hasan in Gaza (Aljafari)
Asura (Kore'eda)
Hostile Landscapes (Zhang)
Jinsei (Suzuki)
Escape (Adachi)
A Stone's Throw (AlSalah)
Two Seasons, Two Strangers (Miyake)
Dry Leaf (Koberidze)
Guardians of the Harvest (Hiro)
Death Does Not Exists (D. Laperrière)
With Hasan in Gaza (Aljafari)
Asura (Kore'eda)
Hostile Landscapes (Zhang)
Jinsei (Suzuki)
Escape (Adachi)
my favourite animated films of 2025 (in no order):
Death Does Not Exists (Dufour-Laperrière)
Jinsei (Suzuki)
100 Meters (Iwaisawa)
Dandelion’s Odyssey (Seto)
Zashikiro (Harada)
Chainsaw Man Reze Arc (Yoshihara)
The Last Blossom (Kinoshita)
Cocoon (Ina)
Predator: Killer of Killers (Trachtenberg)
Death Does Not Exists (Dufour-Laperrière)
Jinsei (Suzuki)
100 Meters (Iwaisawa)
Dandelion’s Odyssey (Seto)
Zashikiro (Harada)
Chainsaw Man Reze Arc (Yoshihara)
The Last Blossom (Kinoshita)
Cocoon (Ina)
Predator: Killer of Killers (Trachtenberg)
December 29, 2025 at 1:21 AM
discoveries of 2025:
My Father, burned (Doi)
The North Calotte (Nestler)
Youshi Kei (Tanaami)
The Laughing Woman (Schivazappa)
Sachiko no sachi (Takeda)
The Heart & the Money (Feuillade)
Shichinin no keiji shūchakueki no onna (Wakasugi)
Harlan County U.S.A. (Kopple)
Vertigo Sea (Akomfrah)
My Father, burned (Doi)
The North Calotte (Nestler)
Youshi Kei (Tanaami)
The Laughing Woman (Schivazappa)
Sachiko no sachi (Takeda)
The Heart & the Money (Feuillade)
Shichinin no keiji shūchakueki no onna (Wakasugi)
Harlan County U.S.A. (Kopple)
Vertigo Sea (Akomfrah)
my favourite films of 2025 (in no order):
A Stone's Throw (AlSalah)
Two Seasons, Two Strangers (Miyake)
Dry Leaf (Koberidze)
Guardians of the Harvest (Hiro)
Death Does Not Exists (D. Laperrière)
With Hasan in Gaza (Aljafari)
Asura (Kore'eda)
Hostile Landscapes (Zhang)
Jinsei (Suzuki)
Escape (Adachi)
A Stone's Throw (AlSalah)
Two Seasons, Two Strangers (Miyake)
Dry Leaf (Koberidze)
Guardians of the Harvest (Hiro)
Death Does Not Exists (D. Laperrière)
With Hasan in Gaza (Aljafari)
Asura (Kore'eda)
Hostile Landscapes (Zhang)
Jinsei (Suzuki)
Escape (Adachi)
my favourite animated films of 2025 (in no order):
Death Does Not Exists (Dufour-Laperrière)
Jinsei (Suzuki)
100 Meters (Iwaisawa)
Dandelion’s Odyssey (Seto)
Zashikiro (Harada)
Chainsaw Man Reze Arc (Yoshihara)
The Last Blossom (Kinoshita)
Cocoon (Ina)
Predator: Killer of Killers (Trachtenberg)
Death Does Not Exists (Dufour-Laperrière)
Jinsei (Suzuki)
100 Meters (Iwaisawa)
Dandelion’s Odyssey (Seto)
Zashikiro (Harada)
Chainsaw Man Reze Arc (Yoshihara)
The Last Blossom (Kinoshita)
Cocoon (Ina)
Predator: Killer of Killers (Trachtenberg)
December 29, 2025 at 1:09 AM
my favourite films of 2025 (in no order):
A Stone's Throw (AlSalah)
Two Seasons, Two Strangers (Miyake)
Dry Leaf (Koberidze)
Guardians of the Harvest (Hiro)
Death Does Not Exists (D. Laperrière)
With Hasan in Gaza (Aljafari)
Asura (Kore'eda)
Hostile Landscapes (Zhang)
Jinsei (Suzuki)
Escape (Adachi)
A Stone's Throw (AlSalah)
Two Seasons, Two Strangers (Miyake)
Dry Leaf (Koberidze)
Guardians of the Harvest (Hiro)
Death Does Not Exists (D. Laperrière)
With Hasan in Gaza (Aljafari)
Asura (Kore'eda)
Hostile Landscapes (Zhang)
Jinsei (Suzuki)
Escape (Adachi)
my favourite animated films of 2025 (in no order):
Death Does Not Exists (Dufour-Laperrière)
Jinsei (Suzuki)
100 Meters (Iwaisawa)
Dandelion’s Odyssey (Seto)
Zashikiro (Harada)
Chainsaw Man Reze Arc (Yoshihara)
The Last Blossom (Kinoshita)
Cocoon (Ina)
Predator: Killer of Killers (Trachtenberg)
Death Does Not Exists (Dufour-Laperrière)
Jinsei (Suzuki)
100 Meters (Iwaisawa)
Dandelion’s Odyssey (Seto)
Zashikiro (Harada)
Chainsaw Man Reze Arc (Yoshihara)
The Last Blossom (Kinoshita)
Cocoon (Ina)
Predator: Killer of Killers (Trachtenberg)
December 28, 2025 at 11:02 AM
my favourite animated films of 2025 (in no order):
Death Does Not Exists (Dufour-Laperrière)
Jinsei (Suzuki)
100 Meters (Iwaisawa)
Dandelion’s Odyssey (Seto)
Zashikiro (Harada)
Chainsaw Man Reze Arc (Yoshihara)
The Last Blossom (Kinoshita)
Cocoon (Ina)
Predator: Killer of Killers (Trachtenberg)
Death Does Not Exists (Dufour-Laperrière)
Jinsei (Suzuki)
100 Meters (Iwaisawa)
Dandelion’s Odyssey (Seto)
Zashikiro (Harada)
Chainsaw Man Reze Arc (Yoshihara)
The Last Blossom (Kinoshita)
Cocoon (Ina)
Predator: Killer of Killers (Trachtenberg)
Fujimoto Akio's Passage of Life (2017) is available on Sakka Films: www.sakkafilms.com/film/passage...
SAKKA | Passage of Life
Living with fear and uncertainty takes a toll on a young refugee family in Japan. An emotional tale of a family who struggles to find home.
www.sakkafilms.com
December 28, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Fujimoto Akio's Passage of Life (2017) is available on Sakka Films: www.sakkafilms.com/film/passage...
Dry Leaf (Alexandre Koberidze, 2025)
December 28, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Dry Leaf (Alexandre Koberidze, 2025)
Reposted by matteoB
Looks like a splendid book! I love that quote by the way! There is a lot to be learned from rural regeneration in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.
“I Refuse to Live in a Town Without a Cinema!”: Rebuilding a Cultural Space and Social Infrastructure in Toyooka, Japan by Hidehiko Ishibashi
Spaces of Creative Resistance
Social Change Projects in Twenty-First-Century East Asia
Edited by Andrea Gevurtz Arai
www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/templeton-pr...
Social Change Projects in Twenty-First-Century East Asia
Edited by Andrea Gevurtz Arai
www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/templeton-pr...
December 28, 2025 at 5:04 AM
Looks like a splendid book! I love that quote by the way! There is a lot to be learned from rural regeneration in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.
“I Refuse to Live in a Town Without a Cinema!”: Rebuilding a Cultural Space and Social Infrastructure in Toyooka, Japan by Hidehiko Ishibashi
Spaces of Creative Resistance
Social Change Projects in Twenty-First-Century East Asia
Edited by Andrea Gevurtz Arai
www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/templeton-pr...
Social Change Projects in Twenty-First-Century East Asia
Edited by Andrea Gevurtz Arai
www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/templeton-pr...
Spaces of Creative Resistance
This edited volume brings together an exciting cross-regional inter-disciplinary group of scholars, scholar activists, artists and others. Each chapter focuses on a different form of “creative resista...
www.rutgersuniversitypress.org
December 28, 2025 at 12:47 AM
“I Refuse to Live in a Town Without a Cinema!”: Rebuilding a Cultural Space and Social Infrastructure in Toyooka, Japan by Hidehiko Ishibashi
Spaces of Creative Resistance
Social Change Projects in Twenty-First-Century East Asia
Edited by Andrea Gevurtz Arai
www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/templeton-pr...
Social Change Projects in Twenty-First-Century East Asia
Edited by Andrea Gevurtz Arai
www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/templeton-pr...
Spaces of Creative Resistance
This edited volume brings together an exciting cross-regional inter-disciplinary group of scholars, scholar activists, artists and others. Each chapter focuses on a different form of “creative resista...
www.rutgersuniversitypress.org
December 28, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Spaces of Creative Resistance
Social Change Projects in Twenty-First-Century East Asia
Edited by Andrea Gevurtz Arai
www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/templeton-pr...
Social Change Projects in Twenty-First-Century East Asia
Edited by Andrea Gevurtz Arai
www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/templeton-pr...
the explosion of the trading cards market in the last 5-10 years (at least in Japan) has brought:
- many bookstores now have a place dedicated to playing/exchanging cards
- trading cards shops/second hand shops have sprang up like mushrooms in malls and cities arcades
- many bookstores now have a place dedicated to playing/exchanging cards
- trading cards shops/second hand shops have sprang up like mushrooms in malls and cities arcades
December 27, 2025 at 10:22 PM
the explosion of the trading cards market in the last 5-10 years (at least in Japan) has brought:
- many bookstores now have a place dedicated to playing/exchanging cards
- trading cards shops/second hand shops have sprang up like mushrooms in malls and cities arcades
- many bookstores now have a place dedicated to playing/exchanging cards
- trading cards shops/second hand shops have sprang up like mushrooms in malls and cities arcades
and of course now Look Back (Oshiyama Kiyotaka, 2024)
will be again in some Japanese theaters (23) from January 16:
lookback-anime.com/news/detail/...
will be again in some Japanese theaters (23) from January 16:
lookback-anime.com/news/detail/...
劇場アニメ「ルックバック」
6月28日公開 劇場アニメ「ルックバック」藤本タツキ（「チェンソーマン」）が放つ青春物語が劇場アニメ化！ 原作：藤本タツキ「ルックバック」（集英社ジャンプコミックス刊）監督・脚本・キャラクターデザイン:押山清高
lookback-anime.com
December 27, 2025 at 7:47 AM
and of course now Look Back (Oshiyama Kiyotaka, 2024)
will be again in some Japanese theaters (23) from January 16:
lookback-anime.com/news/detail/...
will be again in some Japanese theaters (23) from January 16:
lookback-anime.com/news/detail/...
Reposted by matteoB
My look back at the year in anime.
This year, anime’s global boom brought record profits and more Hollywood interest but also renewed anxiety over AI and creative labor.
In 2025, anime tightened its grip abroad — and played it safe at home
As anime conquered overseas markets, the industry doubled down on known IP and left innovation on shakier ground.
ebx.sh
December 26, 2025 at 3:24 AM
My look back at the year in anime.
Reposted by matteoB
Mort du réalisateur palestinien Mohammad Bakri, auteur du documentaire «Jénine, Jénine»
Ce film sur le sort des Cisjordaniens lui avait valu une interdiction de diffusion en Israël et des critiques élogieuses à l’international. Mohammed Bakri avait 72 ans.
Ce film sur le sort des Cisjordaniens lui avait valu une interdiction de diffusion en Israël et des critiques élogieuses à l’international. Mohammed Bakri avait 72 ans.
Mort du réalisateur palestinien Mohammad Bakri, auteur du documentaire «Jénine, Jénine»
Agé de 72 ans, il avait accédé à la notoriété en réalisant en 2002 ce film sur le sort des Cisjordaniens, qui lui avait valu une interdiction de diffusion en Israël et des critiques élogieuses à l’international.
www.liberation.fr
December 25, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Mort du réalisateur palestinien Mohammad Bakri, auteur du documentaire «Jénine, Jénine»
Ce film sur le sort des Cisjordaniens lui avait valu une interdiction de diffusion en Israël et des critiques élogieuses à l’international. Mohammed Bakri avait 72 ans.
Ce film sur le sort des Cisjordaniens lui avait valu une interdiction de diffusion en Israël et des critiques élogieuses à l’international. Mohammed Bakri avait 72 ans.
どうすればよかったか？What Should We Have Done? (Fujino Tomoaki, 2024) will be back in some Japanese theaters from January...
while it originally opened in cinemas at the end of 2024, the film has been one of the standout success stories of 2025 in Japanese cinema....see the thread below
while it originally opened in cinemas at the end of 2024, the film has been one of the standout success stories of 2025 in Japanese cinema....see the thread below
this is becoming a case, a positive one:
as of March 18,
どうすればよかったか What Should We Have Done? attracted almost 150,000 viewers, making more than 200 million yen...and the mini theater I went to today was showing the film in the morning and was packed.
The doc went from 4 cinemas to 150 in 3 months!
as of March 18,
どうすればよかったか What Should We Have Done? attracted almost 150,000 viewers, making more than 200 million yen...and the mini theater I went to today was showing the film in the morning and was packed.
The doc went from 4 cinemas to 150 in 3 months!
どうすればよかったか？What Should We Have Done? (Fujino Tomoaki, 2024)
is still a hit, relatively speaking, in the mini-theatre circuit almost 4 months after its debut...
As of March 2, the film had been shown in 100 cinemas nationwide, earning more than 180 million yen...
is still a hit, relatively speaking, in the mini-theatre circuit almost 4 months after its debut...
As of March 2, the film had been shown in 100 cinemas nationwide, earning more than 180 million yen...
December 26, 2025 at 12:22 AM
どうすればよかったか？What Should We Have Done? (Fujino Tomoaki, 2024) will be back in some Japanese theaters from January...
while it originally opened in cinemas at the end of 2024, the film has been one of the standout success stories of 2025 in Japanese cinema....see the thread below
while it originally opened in cinemas at the end of 2024, the film has been one of the standout success stories of 2025 in Japanese cinema....see the thread below
Reposted by matteoB
魚喃キリコが52歳で死去、本人と遺族の意向により1年後の本日発表
https://natalie.mu/comic/news/653978?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social
https://natalie.mu/comic/news/653978?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social
December 25, 2025 at 9:18 AM
魚喃キリコが52歳で死去、本人と遺族の意向により1年後の本日発表
https://natalie.mu/comic/news/653978?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social
https://natalie.mu/comic/news/653978?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social
Reposted by matteoB
My Father, burned (Doi Haruka, 1994)
asian-docs.com/2025/12/20/m...
asian-docs.com/2025/12/20/m...
My Father, burned (Doi Haruka, 1994)
This short article could be considered an addendum to the piece I wrote several months ago about found footage films, compilation documentary and recycled cinema in Japan. When Collaborative Catalo…
asian-docs.com
December 25, 2025 at 6:12 AM
My Father, burned (Doi Haruka, 1994)
asian-docs.com/2025/12/20/m...
asian-docs.com/2025/12/20/m...