Commissioned by the Asian Film Archive (AFA), Monographs comprises a series of essays on Asian cinema—the first edition of which includes the ten video pieces presented here.
The videos were conceived during the uncertain times of the Covid-19 pandemic, and constitute a response to the subsequent curtailing of film production and the pause in the AFA’s own theatrical screenings. Drawing upon histories and archives both personal and regional, the essays reveal new lines of inquiry into the authors’ personal connections with cinema, made all the more poignant by the fact that they were conceived during various states of isolation and solitude.
The Asian Film Archive was founded in January 2005 as a non-profit organisation, tasked to preserve, explore and share the art of Asian cinema. Planned as an annual series, Monographs aspires to build upon the AFA’s collection and serve as repository for the continent’s most original critical thinking.