Research Spotlight: Film & Media
In my earlier work on film, I have focussed primarily on close, detailed analysis of the film text, exploring its aesthetics and its cultural and political significance within the context of the film’s historical and social milieu. My more recent work has been influenced by urban studies, screen studies, and production studies to include considerations of film festivals, production locations, and other forms of screen media.
Featured Articles
Hollywood North, Asiawood West: Vancouver as a Transpacific Film LocationIn this article, published in the book Contemporary Culture and Media in Asia, I trace Vancouver’s history as a successful “runaway location” industry for Hollywood productions and examine more recent efforts to attract East Asian film productions to similar services. I offer a case study of the production company Holiday Pictures, which straddles the provision of location service for Asian films with the production of local indie films set in Vancouver. I examine issues of place and identity in a thriving filmmaking city that almost never plays itself on screen.
New Queer Angles on Wong Kar-WaiIn this article, I explore unexpected queer angles in Wong Kar-wai’s eclectic and enticing oeuvre, from As Tears Go By to The Grandmaster.
Yellow Earth: Hesitant Apprenticeship and Bitter AgencyAdapted from a chapter of my PhD thesis, this article offers a nuanced reading of Chen Kaige’s seminal 1984 film Yellow Earth in the context of China’s post-Cultural Revolution generation. I consider the film’s visual aesthetics and ambivalent relation to both the radical potential and abject failure of the Maoist revolutionary project.
