Asian Cinema

Asian cinema refers to the film industries and films produced in the continent of Asia, and is also sometimes known as Eastern cinema. More commonly however, it is most often used to refer to the cinema of Eastern, Southeastern and Southern Asia. West Asian cinema is sometimes classified as part of Middle Eastern cinema, along with the cinema of Egypt. The cinema of Central Asia is often grouped with the Middle East, or in the past the cinema of the Soviet Union during the Soviet Central Asia era. North Asia is dominated by Siberian Russian cinema, and is thus considered part of European cinema.

East Asian cinema is typified by the Cinema of Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, including the Japanese anime industry and action films of Hong Kong. Southeast Asian cinema is typified by the cinema of the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries. The cinema of Central Asia and the southern Caucasus is typified by Iranian cinema and Tajikistan. West Asian cinema is typified by Arab cinema, Turkish cinema, and the cinema of Israel. Finally, South Asian cinema is typified by the cinema of India, which includes the Bollywood, South Indian, Bengali and Punjabi film industries, the latter also grouped together with the cinema of Pakistan (along with Urdu cinema) whereas Bengali cinema is also typified by the cinema of Bangladesh.