New UTM course turns lens on East Asian cinema

Elizabeth Wijaya is one of the rare scholars who can claim a listing on IMDB—the  Internet Movie Data Base.

The new assistant professor of East Asian cinema at U of T Mississauga studies the transnationality of cinema—how stories and people cross borders throughout Asia. She also has credits as a writer, director and producer with E&W Films, the film production company she runs with partner and UTM sessional lecturer Lai Weijie.

Since joining UTM’s Department of Visual Studies in January, Wijaya has introduced virtual reality technology, a filmmaker in residence program and established a new archive of short Asian films at the UTM Library.

Visual studies chair and professor Alison Syme is enthusiastic about the new developments with UTM’s cinema studies program. “We have high demand for cinema production courses from students who want to produce their own films,” Syme says. “Because Elizabeth is a practitioner and is involved in a production company, she brings hands-on knowledge to the classroom that our students love.”

Wijaya’s second-year undergraduate course introduces students to different ways of thinking about East and Southeast Asian cinema with a syllabus that includes movies from Hong Kong’s new wave and second wave periods, and films set or produced in China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Cambodia.

“The course offers a mix of independent films and canonical films that I think students should know, but might not be on their radar today,” Wijaya says. “I want students to have a historical awareness of Asian film, but I also want them to have curiosity and excitement about what is happening now.”

Virtual reality in film

Not all cinema takes place on the big screen. Wijaya is also interested in how emerging technologies, like virtual reality, can push storytelling into new territories.

Working with UTM’s new Collaborative Digital Research Space, Wijaya has introduced four Oculus Quest headsets for cinema students to watch Only the Mountain Remains, a dramatic virtual reality film that debuted at La Biennale di Venezia film festival in 2019. The film, produced by E&W Films, follows migrant Thai workers as they attempt to flee Taiwan in a harrowing 30-minute drive along a twisting mountain road.

The Oculus headsets put the viewer in the centre of the car with a 360-degree view of the action. “I want students to consider how this technology affects their analysis of the film, and what is the impact of watching this with a 360 point of view instead of a conventional view,” Wijaya says

Filmmaker in residence program

In February, Wijaya will welcome French-Cambodian filmmaker Davy Chou for a weeklong filmmaker in residence program. Chou will host public screenings of his documentary Golden Slumbers at UTM, and his feature film Diamond Island at a second event on the St. George campus. He will also lead a graduate studies workshop to discuss the practicalities of film production and financing.

“There is not a lot of understanding of recent changes in Cambodian cinema,” Wijaya says “I wanted to really open up discussion about independent filmmaking in southeast Asia today.”

New film archive

Wijaya is also working with the UTM Library team to establish a new archive of Asian short films that will be available to stream for U of T library users.

“I'm tremendously excited about working with the library to start and grow this collection,” Wijaya says. “Short cinema is often neglected in academic study, but it’s important for independent filmmakers who make a lot of short films before they can make feature films. This collection will be a valuable resource for research and teaching.”

Read more:

• Watch the trailer for Only the Mountain Remains
• Catch the UTM Film Fest 2020 on Feb 28, 2020
• Attend a free public screening of Davy Chou's documentary Golden Slumbers on Friday, Feb. 28, 2020, IB140 at 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Attend a public screening of Davy Chou's film Diamond Island on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, Innis Town Hall, at 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
• To access UTM’s new film archive: Log into FADIS and click the magnifying glass "search" image. Select “advanced search” and select “Asian Short Film Collection - U of T Mississauga” from the "collection" drop-down.