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Responding to recent calls in sociolinguistics and social semiotics to study the material, technological and embodied features of writing, this article examines Chinese users' experiences and practices with the emergent technology of bullet comments on Bilibili, a major video-sharing platform and breeding ground for online subcultures. As one of the first studies based on in-depth interviews with its long term users, this article demonstrates that the unique design of bullet comments, by inserting writing into a moving screen, creates multimedia, multimodal semiotic affordances, reinforces "participatory spectacles," and facilitates powerful multisensory, bonding experiences similar to the (secondary) orality culture. Users' diverse range of adaptive and creative practices, which resemiotize available linguistic, visual and cultural resources to create new meaning-making possibilities, are analysed. Considering the recent "desubculturization" of Bilibili and its increased interactions with mainstream culture and the state media, this timely study is well positioned to capture users' observations about this transition, and assess potential impacts on their experiences and writing practices. It is pointed out that the new synergy of youth nationalism and the technology of bullet comments reflects the complex interplay between writing as a technologized social-semiotic practice, and the wider social, cultural and political conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article delves into the history of Chinese film remakes, tracing their evolution from the early twentieth century to the present day, emphasizing the intertextual nature of filmmaking practices across national boundaries in East Asia. It also discusses the influence of Hollywood on Chinese cinema, particularly in terms of narrative structures, character types, and visual storytelling techniques, highlighting the complex dynamics of cultural exchange and adaptation in the film industry.

This essay presents a little-known chapter in the film history of the Federal Republic of Germany. Alfred Andersch, founding member of Gruppe 47 and influential broadcast editor, was one of the few authors who was intensively involved with film. The essay reconstructs Andersch's attempt to associate film and literature and thereby develop an alternative concept to the European cinéma des auteurs. To this end, the essay discusses not only Andersch's critical writings but also a number of documents from his estate. Andersch's film theory is evaluated in light of the contemporary literary debate on the medium. His screenplays for the adaptations of his novels Die Rote and Die Entwaffnung are used to examine the conclusions Andersch drew regarding film aesthetics in his own poetics of screenwriting. In sum, the essay reconstructs Andersch's attempt at a literary response to the crisis of West German film around 1960. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Filmmaking in the Pacific region is growing, with increasing numbers of films made in and about the region. Pacific filmmaking carries multiple forms of agency: it can redress colonial framings of the region, contribute to diversifying small island economies and support the diversity of cultural expression. However, little attention has been paid to gender in Pacific filmmaking. This article presents a quantitative gendered analysis of filmmakers in key behind-camera roles in films screened at the Pasifika Film Festival over three iterations of the festival. Our results indicate that while there are fewer women than men working as directors, scriptwriters, producers and cinematographers, those inequalities appear to be declining. However, more women work on short films and documentaries with smaller budgets, and fewer women have IMDb profiles. Further research could address gender diversity, intersectionality and the nuances of gendered agency in different filmmaking contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]