WST TV

1. The show goes on for Singapore Art Week despite tourist restrictions, with a focus on introducing art to the community

   Singapore Art Week (SAW) gets under way this week, even though the country has yet to relax quarantine requirements for most overseas visitors.Now in its ninth year, the annual festival was initially conceived by the Singapore Tourism Board as a way to position the city state as Southeast Asia’s visual arts hub, but must carry on without the tourists, explains Tay Tong, the director of visual arts development at the National Arts Council.The event will feature dozens of exhibitions and public…

2. Martial arts meets special effects in The Storm Riders, where Ekin Cheng battled an invisible Fire Dragon against a blue screen

   Hong Kong cinema is constantly evolving, and martial arts directors are continually bringing something new to the genre to keep it current. The novel approach of The Storm Riders, released in 1998, was to use digital effects and computer animation in a wuxia film. The resulting martial arts fantasy, based on a popular Hong Kong comic by Ma Wing-shing, was a big hit with audiences in the city. It was helped by the presence of stars Aaron Kwok Fu-shing and Ekin Cheng Yee-kin in the leading roles,…

3. In Chinese culture, food can bring people together – and it can drive them apart, as Uncle Roger controversy reminds us

   Food plays a pivotal role in Chinese culture because of its ability to serve as a conduit for developing relationships, cementing business partnerships and bringing families together.A meal is not merely a culinary event in our world. The occasion provides a platform for meaningful interaction, while the food serves as something of a sweetener to soothe the stomach – and sometimes difficult interactions with other dinner guests.The Chinese believe if you want to get things done, it’s best to…

4. Descendants of the Sun’s Song Hye-kyo, Kim Soo-hyun from It’s Okay to Not Be Okay cast in new K-dramas, and there’s a Korean Inside Out in the works

   As 2021 gets under way, the K-drama production pipelines are steadily filling up. Several major projects have been announced in the past few weeks, including reunions for the stars of Sweet Home and the star and writer of Descendants of the Sun, a Pixar-esque webtoon adaptation and a starry remake of a hit British legal drama. Black Sun Hot Stove League star Min Namkoong has signed on to appear in this new MBC drama. Min will play Han Ji-hyuk, a top agent of South Korea’s National…

5. Masked Life: exhibition explores how we have reacted to and adapted to life during a pandemic

   Face masks have become a part of daily life as one of the measures – along with frequent handwashing and social distancing – outlined in public health policy guidelines to help slow the spread of Covid-19.But around the world, masks are now more than just a weapon in the fight against the pandemic. They have become politicised, reflecting cultural attitudes and sparking debates over human rights and freedom of choice.Hong Kong photographer Birdy Chu is fascinated with masks and how they are…

6. The Mauritanian movie review: Tahar Rahim excels in exhilarating Guantanamo drama

   4.5/5 stars A compelling, provocative drama, The Mauritanian is a real gut-punch of a movie. Chronicling the life of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who spent years locked up in Guantanamo Bay, it’s a long, exhausting but ultimately exhilarating watch, fleshed out with excellent performances and a director who offers a measured and absorbing account of Slahi’s fate. Slahi was arrested and shipped out to Guantanamo, the controversial US detainee centre on Cuban soil, with American intelligence officials…

7. Hong Kong Arts Festival 2021 to go ahead – live and online highlights, from Alice in Wonderland to The Red Shoes

   Against all odds, the Hong Kong Arts Festival is going ahead this year and has even managed to come up with some compelling online programmes despite widespread, pandemic-induced Zoom exhaustion.After last year’s devastating and complete cancellation of the entire festival, the full line-up revealed on Thursday has a total of 33 shows in February and March. About half of them are scheduled for physical, in-venue performances in Hong Kong, while the rest will be delivered virtually, ensuring…

8. From Eat Drink Man Woman to The Lunchbox, get home cooking inspiration from these five movies

   As coronavirus lockdowns persist and restaurants have either closed or seen their opening hours limited, many people around the world have been forced to cook for themselves. If you are one of them we hope you find some culinary inspiration from these films about the healing power of home cooking. Babette’s Feast (1987) Babette (Stéphane Audran), once a celebrated chef, flees the violence of post-revolution Paris, seeking refuge in the modest Jutland home of elderly sisters Filippa (Bodil…

9. From Jun Ji-hyun’s star turn in Cliffhanger to Netflix’s star-studded sci-fi The Silent Sea, the 12 most anticipated K-dramas of 2021

   Given the riches that Korean TV offered the world last year, it’s hard to imagine the industry topping that in 2021. But with networks and streamers busy working on a range of exciting new stories, there’s reason to be very optimistic as we enter the new year.Expect high altitude adventure, a sci-fi drama set on the moon, a high-stakes survival game show, more zombies than you can shake a stick at and, of course, plenty of romance. Read on for our 12 most anticipated K-dramas of 2021 – which is…

10. New Jackson Yee movie A Little Red Flower is China’s first box office hit of 2021 – how the terminal romance story won over audiences

    With illness, death and other ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic dominating public consciousness over the past year, it is perhaps not surprising that the recent box office champion in China is a movie exploring the devastating toll severe illnesses take on the human psyche.A Little Red Flower tells the love story of a young couple stricken with cancer and the travails their families undergo. The movie stars Jackson Yee, whose performance in Better Days (2019) brought much critical acclaim, and…