{"id":3772,"date":"2026-07-08T12:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3772"},"modified":"2026-07-08T12:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:08:11","slug":"tony-rayns-british-critic-and-champion-of-east-asian-cinema-dies-at-78","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3772","title":{"rendered":"Tony Rayns, British Critic and Champion of East Asian Cinema, Dies at 78"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nTony Rayns, the British writer, festival programmer and screenwriter who spent decades introducing Western audiences to East Asian cinema, has died at 78. <\/p>\n

Read more PBS, BBC Set New \u2018Nova\u2019 Evolution Science Series Tracing \u2018The Epic Journey of Life\u2019 (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tHe was found deceased at his home on July 7 following an accidental fall down his stairs, according to his sister, Stephanie Gowman, in an email to Variety<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n\tGowman said Rayns\u2019 death was unexpected, coming after a short period of no contact that had raised concerns among friends and family for his welfare.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are all shocked and deeply saddened by his sudden death and the loss of a dedicated, lifelong cinephile and a passionate promoter of East Asian cinematic talent,\u201d Gowman told Variety<\/em> in the email. \u201cHe will be sorely missed by many.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe family plans to hold an event celebrating Rayns\u2019 life and achievements at a later date.<\/p>\n

\n\tChinese director Jia Zhangke, who relied on Rayns for subtitling and guidance across nearly three decades of filmmaking, posted a tribute on social media, translated from Mandarin: \u201cDear Tony, I didn\u2019t get the chance to say \u2018thank you,\u2019 or to say \u2018I\u2019m sorry,\u2019 before you were gone. In the 28 years we knew each other, I was always the one turning to you for help \u2013 whether it was subtitles for my films or questions I needed your guidance on. My work couldn\u2019t have happened without you, and yet I often neglected you. You traveled alone, watched films alone, made your home everywhere, smoked alone, worried alone. I think I should have called you more, not to talk business, just to ask how you were doing. You were a free citizen of the kingdom of cinema, but in 1999 you told me I should stay and work in my own country. I\u2019m in Yantai now, looking out at a blurred sea.\u201d Tributes also circulated among colleagues and admirers on film forums including Criterionforum.org.<\/p>\n

Read more Emmy Nominations 2026 (Updating Live)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tBorn in 1948, Rayns got his start writing for the underground publication Cinema Rising, then moved to the Monthly Film Bulletin in December 1970 and continued there until it merged into Sight & Sound in 1991. He had already been contributing to the British Film Institute\u2019s Sight & Sound since the 1970s, and also wrote for Time Out, Melody Maker in the late 1970s, Cahiers du Cin\u00e9ma and Film Comment.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor nearly two decades, from 1988 to 2006, Rayns ran the Dragons and Tigers competition spotlighting Asian films at the Vancouver International Film Festival, and served on festival juries in Cannes, Sapporo, San Sebastian, San Francisco, Vladivostok and Beijing. In the 1980s, he presented \u201cNew Chinese Cinema,\u201d a British television series spotlighting Chinese directors, and translated English-language subtitles for films out of Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, among them the 1990s work of Taiwanese director Huang Ming-chuan.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe wrote the screenplay for \u201cAway with Words,\u201d a feature directed by cinematographer Christopher Doyle and starring Asano Tadanobu. Rayns also authored books on Seijun Suzuki, Wong Kar-wai, Jang Sunwoo and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, as well as on Chinese, Japanese and Korean cinema broadly.<\/p>\n

\n\tRayns recorded audio commentary tracks for numerous Criterion Collection and Masters of Cinema releases, including \u201cChungking Express,\u201d \u201cIn the Realm of the Senses,\u201d \u201cUgetsu,\u201d \u201cSeven Samurai\u201d and \u201cMemories of Murder.\u201d He also recorded commentary for Bong Joon Ho\u2018s \u201cParasite\u201d alongside the director, for Edward Yang\u2019s \u201cYi Yi\u201d with Yang himself, and for the Criterion release of \u201cManila in the Claws of Light.\u201d His liner notes and commentary work extended to labels including Arrow, Indicator, Second Run, BFI Video, Disk Kino and Imprint.<\/p>\n

\n\tHis contributions to Japanese cinema earned him the 2004 Kawakita Prize and a commendation from Japan\u2019s Foreign Ministry in 2008.<\/p>\n

Read more Mubi Acquires \u2018Making Marie Antoinette,\u2019 Eleanor Coppola\u2019s Behind-the-Scenes Doc About Sofia Coppola\u2019s Oscar-Winning Film<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tony Rayns, the British writer, festival programmer and screenwriter who introduced Western audiences to East Asian cinema, has died at 78.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3771,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3098,175,3099],"class_list":["post-3772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-bong-joon-ho","tag-jia-zhangke","tag-tony-rayns"],"yoast_head":"\nTony Rayns, British Critic and Champion of East Asian Cinema, Dies at 78 - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3772\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tony Rayns, British Critic and Champion of East Asian Cinema, Dies at 78 - 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