How the New American Repertory Boom Is Reinventing the Asian Film Canon

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Over the past few years, repertory exhibition has become one of the fastest-growing trends in American film distribution. Yet beyond the rising number of restorations back in theaters, another shift has quietly taken place: Asian cinema is now one of the movement’s protagonists.

This year alone, audiences across the United States discovered, or experienced on the big screen for the first time, films as varied as Stanley Kwan’s “Center Stage,” Katsuhito Ishii’s “The Taste of Tea,” Shunji Iwai’s “All About Lily Chou-Chou,” Ringo Lam´s “Full Contact,” Shunji Iwai’s “My Sassy Girl,” Tsai Ming-liang’s “The Hole,” Lino Brocka’s “Macho Dancer,” Patrick Tam’s “My Heart Is That Eternal Rose,” and John Woo‘s “Hard Boiled.”

Many of these titles had never received proper theatrical distribution in North America. Others had been absent from theaters for decades or remained inaccessible on streaming services.

More importantly, their return suggests something bigger than a simple repertory boom. A growing network of distributors, archives, programmers, and exhibitors is gradually expanding what “Asian cinema” means and represents within the American cinephile landscape and imagination.

For decades, the canon largely revolved around a familiar constellation of names like Akira Kurosawa, Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Wong Kar-wai, Edward Yang, Hou Hsiao-hsien. Today, repertory distribution is opening space for filmmakers who once remained at the margins: Tsai Ming-liang, Jia Zhangke, Lino Brocka, Patrick Tam, Toshio Matsumoto, Marva Nabili, Sohrab Shahid-Saless, Nobuhiro Suwa, and many others.

Jonathan Howell, founder of Big World Pictures, has witnessed that change firsthand. Since launching the company in 2013, Howell has become one of the principal distributors of masters of contemporary international cinema, distributing filmmakers such as Radu Jude and Nuri Bilge Ceylan while gradually bringing key works by Tsai Ming-liang and Jia Zhangke back into circulation.

His relationship with Tsai’s cinema began decades earlier.

“The first Tsai Ming-liang film I ever saw was ‘Vive L’amour,’ sometime in the ‘90s. It made quite an impression on me. The combination of physical humor in the vein of Tati or Keaton, and urban anomie among young adults. When the Film Society of Lincoln Center did a Tsai retro in the lead-up to the release of ‘What Time Is It There?,’ I saw all those that I had missed before,” Howell told IndieWire.

That personal fascination would eventually shape Big World Pictures’ identity.

“My general approach to acquisitions at Big World Pictures is that if I love something, there are others out there who will love it as well. That certainly applies to Tsai’s films that we’ve acquired and released. With Jia, when I first saw his films while working at New Yorker Films, it was instantly clear that he was the most important Chinese filmmaker of his generation—at least, that I had encountered—and that still holds true for me today. So, I wanted to see everything he made. I haven’t been disappointed,” Howell said.

The success of those releases has demonstrated that these films are no longer confined to cinephile circles. Rather than rediscovering forgotten works, audiences are finally getting theatrical access to films that never received proper distribution. For Howell, Tsai’s “Rebels of the Neon God” and “The Hole” illustrate this evolution.

“Rebels of the Neon God” had six runs at Landmark venues around the country, including the Nuart in L.A., following its release at Lincoln Center. But it only had about 25 engagements in total, and Big World Pictures has already overseen just as many for the 35mm prints of “The Hole.”

“Rebels of the Neon God” played 24 theaters, including five or six limited runs, and it grossed $30k. The Hole is currently booked on 25 screens around the U.S. and Canada and has to date (10 days in release) grossed $15k.

Likewise, Jia Zhangke’s “Still Life” has steadily found an audience long after its initial American release. “Still Life” was re-released in September 2020 via virtual cinemas. It has since done several one-off dates on both DCP and 35mm film. The Blu-ray has also been consistently in demand.

Yet the acceptance of Tsai Ming-liang’s cinema did not happen overnight.

“When I was preparing to release ‘Rebels of the Neon God,’ a colleague said something about it being ‘brave’ to release the film theatrically. I remember being a bit puzzled by that, as it hadn’t occurred to me that Tsai’s film would be anything but a success, with both audiences and critics. In hindsight, that was a sign of having lived in the bubble of NYC cinephile culture for 20 years by that time. As I mentioned previously, however, they were right — it wasn’t as readily accepted by audiences as I had thought it would be,” Howell said.

Bringing these works back, meanwhile, has often required years of distribution negotiations.

“I’ve always loved ‘The Hole’ and started talking to the sales agent at Berlin in 2020 but was disappointed to find that they had no high-quality materials, only a standard-definition ProRes file. I knew there were film elements, since I’d seen it on 35mm several times by that point. In the next few months, as the COVID pandemic ramped up and it was clear that virtual cinema was going to be our reality for at least a while, I decided to acquire the film with the available materials and seek out the film elements. It was a long slog, but through contacting producers Haut et Court and the rights holders at the time [Orange Studios], I was able to locate and gain access to the 35mm and other materials and create the new 35mm prints that director Tsai approved last year, and that are currently in theatrical release.”

If Big World Pictures illustrates how established auteurs like Tsai Ming-liang and Jia Zhangke have gradually entered the American repertory circuit, Kani Releasing represents a different impulse altogether: the passionate expansion of what Asian cinema means within North American distribution.

Founded in 2021 by Pearl Chan and Ariel Esteban Cayer, Kani emerged from years of working in international sales and festival programming. Both repeatedly encountered the same frustrating pattern: acclaimed Asian films would circulate through festivals, generate enthusiasm among critics and audiences, and then disappear without ever securing a meaningful North American distribution.

“We focused, for many years, on bringing East Asian and South-East Asian films to [North American] audiences but felt at times limited in what we could do in that unique capacity,” Cayer told IndieWire. “having programmed at the Fantasia International Film Festival for many years, it was not uncommon to see Asian films do very well on the genre or Asian film festival circuit, and then vanish without distribution. We wanted to create a distribution environment where our love for repertory and contemporary Asian cinema could co-exist, and where we could take matters into our own hands, so to speak. The company was born out of a desire to expand the availability of Asian cinema in North America, but also to broaden the horizon of what could be distributed on home video and in cinemas. We are walking in the footsteps of so many great distributors but also felt like there was space for us to explore new genres and approaches, or simply national cinemas such as the Philippines or Malaysia that tend to be a little bit more under-represented in the West.”

For Kani, repertory distribution became an opportunity to challenge decades of programming habits. That philosophy quickly became visible in the label’s catalog. Rather than relying on already canonized filmmakers, Kani has introduced audiences to titles such as Banmei Takahashi’s “A New Love in Tokyo,” Patrick Tam’s “My Heart Is That Eternal Rose,” Angie Chen’s “My Name Ain’t Suzie,” Jeong Jae-aeun’s “Take Care of My Cat,” and Lino Brocka’s “Macho Dancer.”

They began as a home video label, but it quickly became clear that several of the films they were working on had theatrical potential. They began distributing theatrically with Masashi Yamamoto’s “Robinson’s Garden” and “What’s Up Connection.” This grew into a two-fold strategy, where its model now is closer to that of a traditional repertory distributor, while keeping a robust home video line via their partnership with OCN/Vinegar Syndrome — which also allows them the flexibility to work on some titles for home video only, or home video first, depending on the film’s rights situation.

Audience response, according to Cayer, has demonstrated that curiosity for their films extends far beyond known classics. Releases are still modest, and they vary wildly, as do ticket sales. They try to hit between 15 and 30 venues or screens per film. Some films book well beyond their run, whereas others are more limited.

Premiere of 'My Name Ain't Suzie' at Il Cinema Ritrovato with director Angie Chen in attendance

“Our 2K restoration of the 1985 Shaw Brothers film ‘My Name Ain’t Suzie’ was very warmly welcomed on home video, and we were able to arrange some special screenings of the film with Celestial Pictures, recently at the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna, as well as New York and Vancouver with director Angie Chen present,” Cayer added.

Kani also handled the recent re-release of Lino Brocka’s “Macho Dancer” from 1998 and Jeong Jae-aeun’s 2001 “Take Care of My Cat,” having previously rolled Brock’s “Bona” back out in theaters. That was “our ‘biggest’ film — in terms of attention at least, which we worked on with Carlotta Films and went on to premiere in Cannes, NYFF, TIFF, and elsewhere on the festival circuit,” Cayer said.

Arbelos occupies another corner of this expanding distribution ecosystem.

Unlike most distributors, Kani abandoned contemporary acquisitions to dedicate itself entirely to repertory cinema. Rather than approaching films through festivals, streaming platforms, or theatrical circuits, Arbelos chose to think in decades rather than release windows.

That approach has allowed the company to unearth film titles that have remained inaccessible for generations. Its catalog now includes Toshio Matsumoto’s “Funeral Parade of Roses,” Nobuhiro Suwa’s “2/DUO,” Wayne Wang‘s “Life Is Cheap… But Toilet Paper Is Expensive,” Marva Nabili’s “The Sealed Soil,” and Sohrab Shahid-Saless’s “Far From Home.”

According to Arbelos’ David Marriott, “Funeral Parade of Roses” illustrates how restoration can fundamentally transform a film’s place within cinema history.

“Toshio Matsumoto’s ‘Funeral Parade of Roses’ already had a devoted cult following before we released it, but I think the new 4K restoration and theatrical re-release helped it grow and reach an entirely new audience. It’s become one of our most successful titles, and we’re incredibly grateful to all the theaters that have continued to champion the film. Without their willingness to take chances on such transgressive films, and without audiences showing up, we simply wouldn’t exist.”

Similarly, Wayne Wang’s experimental and impulsively spirited “Life Is Cheap… But Toilet Paper Is Expensive” revealed an entirely different filmmaker from the director American audiences knew through “The Joy Luck Club.”

“Wayne Wang is, of course, well known for films like ‘The Joy Luck Club,’ ‘Maid in Manhattan,’ and his breakthrough independent feature ‘Chan Is Missing.’ But when ‘Life Is Cheap… But Toilet Paper Is Expensive’ came to our attention, we´d never seen it before. We were completely blown away by its gonzo energy and inventive narrative structure, which is exactly the kind of filmmaking we look for,” Marriott said.

The work often extends beyond restoration itself. It involves changing the historical status of a film

Marriott recalled seeing Peter, the protagonist of “Funeral Parade of Roses,” hanging from a giant banner at Rotterdam, handing Nobuhiro Suwa a Blu-ray of “2/DUO” in person and seeing her genuine excitement, watching “The Sealed Soil” alongside Marva Nabili at the New York Film Festival, and finally experiencing “Far From Home” through a brand-new restoration after years of only having access to deteriorated version downloaded from Karagara.

For repertory distributors, restoration is only the first step. Circulation is what ultimately allows films to be rediscovered. Few organizations embody that role more clearly than the American Genre Film Archive. (AGFA)

For theatrical sales director Bret Berg, the most exciting aspect of the current cinema moment is discovery, not nostalgia.

Through partnerships with labels such as Shout! Studios, Vinegar Syndrome, Severin Films, Arrow Video, Radiance, GKIDS, and others, AGFA has become one of the principal theatrical distributors of repertory genre cinema in North America. Its recent Golden Princess restorations, comprising 11 titles, have introduced audiences to the works of John Woo, Ringo Lam, and Tsui Hark on a scale not seen in decades.

“All the bookers and all the programmers that are choosing the movies that are going to the movie theaters, a lot of them have not seen this so they are seeing them for the first time I think that´s the excitement. They are not like those movies that everybody knows like ‘Jaws’ or ‘Back to the Future.’ It’s more a bet to look at these discoveries, new to you and to everyone. I think that’s the interest,” Berg said.

That same process applies not only to audiences, but also to programmers themselves.

Many of today’s independent cinemas are being curated by a generation that grew up without theatrical access to Hong Kong action cinema, Filipino melodrama, or Taiwanese New Cinema. The repertory boom has therefore become as educational as it is nostalgic.

“And what a great education! For example, when my partner and I started dating, I took her to see ‘Blade Runner,’ she had never seen it before, and I have seen it many times. It was really fun to watch her watch the movie. I think that´s part of the fun with Hong Kong stuff now. Most people are seeing it for the first time,” Berg said.

Berg also pointed to another structural issue where action cinema has historically occupied a lower position than horror or science fiction within repertory programming. He hopes that repeated theatrical circulation will eventually reposition these filmmakers within the broader history of international cinema.

“I don’t know why. Those movies are very fun to see in the theater. I guess it’s about who the programmer is. Like, if they didn’t grow up with action movies, the theaters they are programming may not be showing them, or very few. Ringo Lam is like Paul Verhoeven; he is at that level. I hope that people find out about them through this, and five years from now enough people have seen the John Woo movies to put them at the same level as James Cameron or Sylvester Stallone and other action heroes. I think the action cinema will eventually rise because more movies like ‘Full Contact’ will be available and people can go to find out how fucking awesome they are,” said Berg.

Among the trends now shaping the American repertory landscape, Berg identifies a growing enthusiasm for J-horror, particularly films such as Takashi Miike’s “Audition,” Hideo Nakata’s “Ringu,” Masaki Kobayashi’s “Kwaidan,” and Kaneto Shindo’s “Onibaba,” as well as Italian giallos like Dario Argento’s “Profondo Rosso,” Lucio Fulci’s “Don’t Torture a Duckling,” and Mario Bava’s “Blood and Black Lace.” As interest in these films continues to grow, AGFA is preparing the theatrical re-release of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Pulse,” one of its most anticipated upcoming acquisitions.

At the same time, the company continues with exhibitions of all 11 Golden Princess restorations across North America and abroad, with recent bookings ranging from Sun Chung’s “City War” at the Fantasia International Film Festival to a double bill of John Woo’s “Hard Boiled” and Ringo Lam’s “City on Fire” at the Muestra de Cine Restaurado y de Archivo, in Mexico.

For Berg, however, these individual titles are only part of a much larger transformation for recovering the movie theaters.

“The big trend is just the fact that people are going back to the movie theaters, in general. That, to me, is a cool enough trend. I like that.”

If repertory cinema is experiencing a rebirth, Asian cinema occupies a central place within it. What once seemed like isolated restorations have become part of a broader movement driven by distributors, programmers, archives, and exhibitors committed to expanding what American audiences understand as the Asian cinema canon. In doing so, they are not simply preserving, programming, and exhibiting those films; they are actively reshaping the American audience’s imagination of Asian cinema and reclaiming these filmmakers’ role in international film history.

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