Eastern Standard Times

10/01/2025

🎥 The Intersections Erwin Hines Refuses to Choose Between

Erwin Hines embodies his “Future Is Color” slogan: a brighter future with more spectrum through decentralized communities.

07/09/2025

Vietnam on Screen: Generations in Dialogue
Presented by

Legendary actress Kiều Chinh (), whose six-decade career launched with “The Bells of Thiên Mụ Temple” (1957) and includes “The Joy Luck Club” and HBO’s “The Sympathizer,” brings a wealth of film history. Tony Bui, trailblazing director of the Sundance-winning “Three Seasons” and curator of Criterion’s “Legacies of War” series, offers an intimate, cross-cultural lens. Top Vietnamese star Việt Hương () joins the panel alongside rising director and producer Catherine T. Nguyễn () (“White Butterfly,” “Colors of the Sky’s End”), actress Nguyễn Lâm Thảo Tâm (.soya) (“Dreamy Eyes,” “Fanti”), and actor Công Dương () (“Hidden Agenda,” “That Summer Will Be Back”).

As Vietnamese cinema continues to evolve, this conversation brings together three generations of storytellers who reflect the richness and complexity of Vietnamese identity on screen. Together, they will trace how narratives have shifted — from memory and trauma to identity and renewal.

The evening continues with the premiere of Catherine T. Nguyễn’s “Colors of the Sky’s End,” () starring Nguyễn Lâm Thảo Tâm, Công Dương, and Việt Hương, followed by .mayfair’s “Skin of Youth.”

📍 Panel: July 24, 2025 6:30PM
Film Screenings: July 24, 2025 8:45PM
🎟️ RSVP at link in bio

07/09/2025

Celebrating its 24th edition in 2025, the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) is North America’s leading festival of Asian cinema. It was called “the best film festival in New York” by The Village Voice and “arguably the world’s best-curated program of new and classic Asian cinema” by IndieWire. Launched in 2002, the festival showcases a wildly diverse lineup of singular titles each year, ranging from mainstream blockbusters and art-house eccentricities to genre and cult classics. It was the first North American film festival to champion the works of Johnnie To, B**g Joon Ho, Park Chan-wook, Takashi Miike, and other auteurs of contemporary Asian cinema. Notable festival guests have included Lee Byung-hun, Ryoo Seung-wan, Masami Nagasawa, Sammo Hung, Lee Jung-jae, and Jackie Chan. Since 2010, NYAFF has been produced in collaboration with Film at Lincoln Center.

: Where Asian Cinema Gets Dangerous

06/23/2025

While the Philippines collects garbage at one of the highest rates in Southeast Asia, the country is drowning in plastic waste. For Grace, Lorme, Nenita, and Marita, the fight against plastic is more than just an additional income: it's a mission to protect their families, their health, and their communities from being buried under waste.

Photo essay by Xyza Cruz Bacani.

The fight against plastic is more than just an additional income: it's a mission to protect their families, their health, and their communities.

05/15/2025

The world’s most successful drug kingpin isn’t who you’d expect. While Pablo Escobar built mansions and El Chapo granted celebrity interviews, Tse Chi Lop — who today is awaiting trial in Australia — stayed hidden for more than 15 years. Until now.

His “Sam Gor” syndicate, also referred to simply as “The Company”, generated $17.7 billion in 2018 — 17 times El Chapo’s peak earnings. For the first time, our original article documents Tse’s journey; from his humble origins in Guangzhou, rising through the ranks of triads in Toronto, making fortunes from m**h labs in the hills of Myanmar, to his eventual arrest in Amsterdam.

This is the story of how global justice caught up with the invisible architect of a drug empire that spanned the world. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The Company's distribution network stretched across continents, with a business guarantee reminiscent of Amazon: if authorities seized a shipment, ...

03/26/2025

“It's about what it means to live in an interstitial space, never quite at home, no matter where you go.”

Tam-Claiborne reflects on his journey writing Transplants, the power of cultural exchange, and what it means to exist in limbo.

03/26/2025

Transplants, which will be released on May 13, 2025, captures the experience of longing for home in a place that may not fully accept you. The story follows Lin, a Chinese student forced to leave home after a scandal, and Liz, a Chinese American teacher searching for answers about her family’s past.

As their lives unfold across China and the U.S., they grapple with belonging, betrayal, and the weight of cultural expectations—all against the backdrop of an increasingly fractured U.S.-China relationship.

The novel is deeply personal for Tam-Claiborne, who taught English at Shanxi Agricultural University in rural China for two years during the H1N1 outbreak in 2009. His time there made him question who gets to belong, who gets left behind, and how even fleeting encounters can alter someone’s trajectory forever.

Years later, as COVID-19 swept across the world, he realized his story needed to reflect the new realities of cross-border life—visa restrictions, rising Sinophobia, and the quiet ways geopolitics shape human relationships.

Tam-Claiborne sat down with EST Media to reflect on his journey writing Transplants, the power of cultural exchange, and what it means to exist in limbo.



📸 Courtesy of
Novel cover by .bookdesign

03/20/2025

'I've gone through prison, depression, and a pandemic to get here,' he tells EST. 'People are confused by what I'm creating, but I don't care—I'm just making it.'

His recent LP One Day It'll All Make Sense has shown that the East London producer of "Fashion Week" can fluidly cross cultural boundaries...

03/20/2025

Steel Banglez isn’t just producing tracks—he’s building bridges between continents.

With his newest album “One Day It’ll All Make Sense”, the London producer who helped define UK rap is now blending Punjabi vocals with Afrobeats and bringing Nas together with Indian soul. The album features heavyweights from Nigeria, India, the UK and the US, bringing together Idris Elba, AP Dhillon, Stefflon Don, Sid Sriram, Lojay and Ikka amongst many others.

‘I’ve gone through prison, depression, and a pandemic to get here,’ he tells EST. ‘People are confused by what I’m creating, but I don’t care—I’m just making it.’

Read our exclusive on how this visionary is creating tomorrow’s global sound, today. 🌍🎵



📸 .ig

03/10/2025

When Cai Fei lost her sister during the pandemic, it only made sense to create an exhibit that honoured her memory and the city that her sister loved: Sydney

🔗Full interview in bio

Cao Fei is an artist based out of Beijing whose prolific output and astute commentary of 21st-century China has garnered international recognition, culminating in being voted one of the top ten most influential artists by ArtReview in 2023. Born in Guangzhou, Fei saw first-hand China’s industrial revolution of the eighties and subsequent economic growth. This period of fluctuation significantly influenced her artistic themes and multimedia processes.

While enrolled at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in the mid-nineties, Fei became invested in documenting and empathising with the marginalised groups left behind by the tides of cultural and social change. In the next three decades, Fei produced bodies of work exploring China’s relationship with capitalism, urbanisation, and migration to digital spaces.

Over the summer, the Art Gallery of New South is holding the largest-ever exhibition of Fei’s work in Australia, My City is Yours 欢迎登陆’. The show intertwines Fei’s expansive catalogue of films, photos, and installations into an organised chaos resembling a sprawling cityscape.

My City is Yours 欢迎登陆 intersects the past and present, where local Sydney artefacts act as portals to futuristic visions. While the show’s allure is Fei’s insights into contemporary China, the title encourages a shared reflection on the effects of rapid gentrification on a global level.

03/10/2025

“My hope is that the audience can experience the exhibition in a way that feels immersive and allows for a sense of ‘breathing.’”

Cao Fei looks back on her celebrated career and My City is Yours, where local Sydney artefacts act as portals to futuristic visions.