Early Cinema in Asia explores how cinema became a popular medium in the world's largest and most diverse continent. Beginning with the end of Asia's colonial period in the 19th century, contributors to this volume document the struggle by pioneering figures to introduce the medium of film to the vast continent, overcoming geographic, technological, and cultural difficulties. As an early form of globalization, film's arrival and phenomenal growth throughout various Asian countries penetrated not only colonial territories but also captivated collective states of imagination. With the coming of the 20th century, the medium that began as mere entertainment became a means for communicating many of the cultural identities of the region's ethnic nationalities, as they turned their favorite pastime into an expression of their cherished national cultures. Covering diverse locations, including China, India, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Iran, and the countries of the Pacific Islands, contributors to this volume reveal the story of early cinema in Asia, helping us to understand the first seeds of a medium that has since grown deep roots in the region.

AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: The Beginnings of Cinema in Asia / Nick Deocampo1. Early Asian Cinema and the Public Sphere / Wimal Dissanayake2. Nationalism, Contradiction, and Identity: or, A Reconsideration of Early Cinema in the Philippines / Charles Musser3. Film's Initial Reception in China during Its Period of Infancy / Ritsu Yamamoto4. Hong Kong's Cinematic Beginnings, 1896-1908 / Wai-ming Law5. How Cinema Came and Stayed in Taiwan / Daw-ming Lee6. One Print in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction: Film Industry and Culture in 1910s Japan / Aaron Gerow7. Distributing Scandinavia: Nordisk Film in Asia / Nadi Tofighian8. The Civilizing Cinema Mission: Colonial Beginnings of Film in Indochina / Tilman Baumgartel9. A National Cinema takes Root in a Colonial Regime: Early Cinema in India / P. K. Nair10. Colonial Beginnings of Cinema in the Philippines / Nick Deocampo11. From Shadowplay to the Silver Screen: Early Malay(sian) Cinema / Hassan Abdul Muthalib12. Iranian Cinema: Before the Revolution / Shahin Parhami 13. Royalty Shapes Early Thai Film Culture / Anchalee Chaiworaporn14. "I was born but": Some Thoughts on the Origins of Cinema in Asia / Stephen Bottomore15. Before Moana: Early Cinema of the Pacific / Stephen Bottomore16. Early Cinema in Central Asia: The Start of an Ascent / Stephen BottomoreAppendix: Chronology of Film Beginnings in Asia / Nick DeocampoSelected BibliographyIndex