My list for the 2025 Asian Cinema Challenge--my first time participating in this one! (Last year I did the Criterion Challenge only, but I did finish it.) Here is the master template for the challenge, hosted by revchu: boxd.it/zCtgO

Completed 40 of 52

To fit in some Asian movies I'm eager to watch, and considering I've never done the challenge, I need to replace a few weeks with prompts from previous years. Week 19 is now Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Week 29 is now J-Horror/Anime. Week 37 is now Kaiju. Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl works for Week 26 Directed by Chinese Women and Week 39 Chinese Dissident Cinema, so I'm turning Week 39 into Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Dragon Inn works for Week 34 Taiwan Top 100 and Week 36 Wuxia, so I'm turning Week 36 into Directed by Juzo Itami. Leila and the Wolves works for Week 9 Cinema of Palestine and Week 50 Directed by Arab Women, so Week 50 becomes Japanese ghost story. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia works for Week 8 Middle East Top 100 and Week 43 Made in Turkey, so Week 43 becomes Directed by Masahiro Shinoda.

UPDATE: Overextended myself with three 52-week challenges, so I had to cut my losses at 40 out of 52. Still, I watched (and wrote reviews for) 40 worthy films I'm glad I saw, including these 5-star masterpieces:

Ikiru
Sansho the Bailiff
The Handmaiden
A Brighter Summer Day
Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion
The Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven
Dragon Inn

Plus a lot more killer films. And I'm not giving up on those 12 films I have left. Cheers to @revchu for hosting!