Similar to Im Luxuszug durch das Herz Asiens
Serene Siam (1937)
This travelogue begins at Bangkok's rail depot, a center of Indo-Chinese commerce. Next the narrator talks about Buddhism as the camera shows us some of Bangkok's many temples. Then, the narrator introduces us to the importance of traditional dance, with emphasis on the way that delicate wrist movements tell stories. It's on to the system of waterways in Bangkok, where more than 1,000,000 people live or conduct commerce. We take a ride down the Menam River, the country's most important commercial and social road. From our boat, we pass Wat Arun and other colorful signs of life typical in serene Siam.
Singapore and Jahore (1938)
A visit to Singapore, an essential port city in Britain's empire, established in 1813 when Raffles negotiated its separation from the independent Malay state of Jahor. The camera observes Singapore's traditional neighborhoods, trade, and small craft, which are dominated by people of Chinese ancestry. Then, we drive the modern causeway to Jahor's small capital, Johor Bahru, for a look at imposing buildings and a visit to the grounds of the sultan. The sultan's son invites the crew in, and we meet the sultan, "H.H." himself. The narrator relates the sultan's commitment to commerce, economic well-being, and tolerance, stemming in part from his European education.
Rudy Maxa's World: Hong Kong & Bangkok (2018)
Beginning with a private, rolling party on board one of Hong Kong's iconic streetcars, travel journalist Rudy Maxa and former chef and now Washington, D.C. restaurateur Daisuke Utagawa lead viewers through on of the worlds most exciting cities. Hong Kong takes cuisine from around the world and makes it its own. Explore the cuisine as well as the mostly unknown, lush side of Hong Kong where hiking trails and beaches rule. Bangkok - In a city where the weather is always hot, it is natural that residents spend so much time eating outside. Street food rules the capital of Thailand, and no visitor should miss the opportunity to follow local custom. Utagawa and Maxa taste their way through the city while exploring the Klongs (canals) and temples that make Bangkok a visitors paradise.
Being and Becoming Chua Ek Kay (2012)
The film offers exclusive and intimate insights into how and why the classically trained artist risked rejection to revolutionize the traditional Chinese ink art form in Singapore.
The Orient Express (1986)
The next best thing to being there is to experience The Chronicle Travel Library with its most comprehensive collection. Chronicle Videocassettes brings the Orient Express to you.
The Importance of Being Mlabri (2007)
There are only 320 Mlabri people left on this planet. They came out of the jungle in Northern Thailand on the border to Laos one generation ago. The Mlabri people used to be hunters and gatherers. Today they scrape out a meagre existence at the bottom of society working as day labourers for the Hmong farmers, and living in shacks on the outskirts of larger Hmong villages. The Mlabri people are currently going through a transformation process, which has taken many other people thousands of years. Now the young people are faced with the choice of staying with their families in the village or adapting to the Thai society. How do they experience the meeting between their own culture and the local, regional and national majority cultures? In this film young Mlabri tell about their past, present and future as they see it; all expressed in their unique and expressive Mlabri language.
My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn (2015)
A documentary directed by Winding Refn's wife, Liv Corfixen, and it follows the Danish-born filmmaker during the making of his 2013 film Only God Forgives.
The Virgin Trade (2006)
An investigation into the nature of the sex trade in Thailand.
No Voice (2021)
She now lives many miles away from her mother, who is waiting to hear from her. It is a bittersweet, restless, nostalgic moment, and she remembers those vanished years.
Shirkers (2018)
In 1992, teenager Sandi Tan shot Singapore's first indie road movie with her enigmatic American mentor Georges – who then vanished with all the footage. Twenty years later, the 16mm film is recovered, sending Tan, now a novelist in Los Angeles, on a personal odyssey in search of Georges' vanishing footprints.
Laya Project (2007)
A musical, visual journey. Recorded and filmed on location, it resurrects ancient and forgotten folk music from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives, India and Myanmar. The experience is brought to life for a contemporary audience through a minimalist orchestration of modern electronic waves and flows, thereby preserving the integrity of the music. The musicians come primarily from the coastal communities, towns and villages practically wiped of the world map by the Tsunami of December 26, 2004. It's beauty lies in it's purity and simplicity, a non-judgmental point of view. For the international team who came together, Laya Project is a personal and collective tribute to the resilience of the human spirit.
Class Acts (2023)
Class Acts is a feature-length documentary tracing the genesis of Singapore's creative scene in the '90s through intimate conversations with its pioneering personalities. These are the stories of individuals who started creating with nothing, who push Singapore’s creative standards even today. The ones who went on to inspire a new generation of musicians, designers, and street artists.
David Suchet on the Orient Express (2010)
In this travelogue, actor David Suchet journeys across Europe aboard the world famous Orient Express train, as he prepares to play Poirot in an adaptation of Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express".
Dearest Viet (2025)
Born a conjoined twin due to the effects of Agent Orange used during the Vietnam War, Duc Nguyen, now a father and husband, seeks the truth about his past and contemplates the future.
Bomb Hunters (2006)
Bomb Hunters is an engrossing examination of the micro-economy that has emerged in Cambodia from untrained civilians harvesting unexploded bombs as scrap metal. The film explores the long-term consequences of war and genocide in an attempt to understand the social, cultural, and historical context and experiences of rural villagers who seek out and dismantle UXO (unexploded ordnance) for profit. Part of a global economy, these individuals clear UXO from their land in order to protect their families from harm and to earn enough money to survive. Bomb Hunters is an eye-opening account investigating the on-going residual, persistent effects of war experienced by post-conflict nations around the globe, and the complex realities of achieving "peace".
FIND MY BANGKOK (2014)
Short film by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, a closer look at Bangkok, made for Beat Hotel
The Fall of Singapore: The Great Betrayal (2012)
This landmark documentary film by Paul Elston tells the incredible story of how it was the British who gave the Japanese the knowhow to take out Pearl Harbor and capture Singapore in the World War 2. For 19 years before the fall of Singapore in 1942 to the Japanese, British officers were spying for Japan. Worse still, the Japanese had infiltrated the very heart of the British establishment - through a mole who was a peer of the realm known to Churchill himself.
Art Through Our Eyes (2016)
As an omnibus of short films, Art Through Our Eyes is inspired by the art collection found at the National Gallery Singapore. Each of the five directors – Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Brillante Mendoza, Eric Khoo, Ho Yuhang and Joko Anwar – handpicked a masterpiece from the 19th and 20th century as inspiration for their short films.
Singapore GaGa (2005)
Singapore GaGa is a 55-minute paean to the quirkiness of the Singaporean aural landscape. It reveals Singapore's past and present with a delight and humour that makes it a necessary film for all Singaporeans. We hear buskers, street vendors, school cheerleaders sing hymns to themselves and to their communities. From these vocabularies (including Arabic, Latin, Hainanese), a sense of what it might mean to be a modern Singaporean emerges. This is Singapore's first documentary to have a cinema release. With English and Chinese subtitles.