
Writing
Tony Rayns
Born 1948-09-20 · Oxford, England, UK
Antony Keith Graham Rayns (20 September 1948 – 7 July 2026) was a British writer, commentator, film festival programmer and screenwriter. He wrote for the underground publication Cinema Rising before contributing to the Monthly Film Bulletin from the December 1970. He contributed writings to Sight & Sound from the 1970s, and also contributed to Time Out, Melody Maker, and Film Comment.
Acting credits
5.3Two women are bound for the same plane, one of whom makes the flight while the other does not. In a cruel twist of fate, the plane crashes, killing everyone on board, and leaving the friends and family of the two women to talk about what was and what could have been.
Hold You Tight
1998
8.0Prominent film critic Tony Rayns has long been a supporter of Korean cinema. This film illustrates Rayns’ affection for Korean cinema through interviews of Korean cineastes that have a special affinity for him, including JANG Sun-woo, LEE Chang-dong and HONG Sang-soo among others.
Tony Rayns, the Not-So-Distant Observer
2012
NRNo synopsis available yet.
A Different Kind of Chinese War Film: Tony Rayns on Wreaths at the Foot of the Mountain
2023
NRInterview with Tony Rayns on the history of early Chinese cinema and the 1931 silent film Love and Duty.
The Rediscovery of a Significant Part in Film History
2022
7.1With Taiwan remaining in the grip of martial law in 1982, a group of filmmakers from that country set out to establish a cultural identity through cinema and to share it with the world. This engaging documentary looks at the movement's legacy.
Flowers of Taipei: Taiwan New Cinema
2014
No synopsis available yet.
An Innovative Feature Film Debut: Tony Rayns on the Black Cannon Incident
2019
NRExamines the early 1980s Hong Kong filmmaking community. Tony Rayns interviews some of the new generation of filmmakers and figures from the wider film culture.
Visions Cinema: Film as a Way of Life: Hong Kong Cinema - A Report by Tony Rayns
1983
In this interview, conducted in 2013, Asian-film critic Tony Rayns offers his thoughts on the popularity of the ZATOICHI series, its main character, and some of the key talents involved in making it.
Serialized Success
2013
NRTony Rayns presents the work of the 'Fifth Generation' and other innovative filmmakers who emerged during the 1980s in China.
New Chinese Cinema
1989
NRA BBC Arena profile of the Director from the time of the release of his film, The Garden, featuring interviews with Jarman, his collaborators and friends.
Derek Jarman: A Portrait
1991
NRTragical lives of Qing Yu, a woman lives in late Qing Dynasty and Gui Hua, a woman lives in modern time.
Virtuous Women
1987
5.5An exploration of Chinese cinema and its relationships with gender and sexuality, which the film argues has been more frankly and provocatively explored than in any other national cinema. Utilizing both film excerpts and interviews with many leading directors and academics, the film examines topics such as male bonding in kung fu movies, depictions of same-sex bonding and physical intimacy, the emphasis on women's grievances in melodramas, and the career of Yam Kim-Fai, a Hong Kong actress who spent her life portraying men on and off the screen.
Yang ± Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema
1998
NRFilm critic Tony Rayns discusses Josef von Sternberg's 1931 film version of 'An American Tragedy'.
An American Picture: Tony Rayns on 'An American Tragedy'
2024
NRHome movies shot on Super 8mm by W+B Hein over 10 years.
Home Movies 1971-81
1985
9.0An overview of Bruce Lee's career and legacy by film critic and historian Tony Rayns.
Legend of the Dragon: Tony Rayns on Bruce Lee
2023
An Interview With Critic And Hong Kong Film Expert Tony Rayns, About The Emergence, Key Players, And Success Of The Shaw Brothers Wuxia Film
Slicing At The Stars
2023
NRHistory of filmmaking in China from its beginnings in the 1920s to 1982, featuring Shanghai cinema of 1930s; the progressive filmmakers; the organisation of filmmaking under the post-war communist government; the impact of the Cultural Revolution; the work of Xie Jin.
Visions Cinema: Cinema in China - An Account by Tony Rayns
1983
7.0Experimental drama set in London during the Thatcher administration involving four characters: Neil, a science-fiction illustrator; Kim, a woman rock musician; Vermilion, an analyst of satellite photography; and Julian, an old friend of the illustrator who has just finished his Ph.D thesis on the fairy-tales of Charles Perrault. Their four lives are closely interlinked as events happen to each of them.
Crystal Gazing
1982
New video interview with film critic Tony Rayns
Tony Rayns on Cruel Story of Youth
2015
Interview with film critic Tony Rayns was conducted in December 2008.
Tony Rayns on Pigs and Battleships
2009
NRAn appreciation of the 1999 film 'Audition' by Japanese cinema historian Tony Rayns.
Damaged Romance: Tony Rains on 'Audition'
2016
NRShot in 1983, edited for the VISIONS: CINEMA programme in 1985, a short documentary about Shanghai Animation Studio.
Frame by Frame: Shanghai Animation Studio
1985
NRWhile attending a screening of his film at the London Film Festival, a Japanese man tries to track down a woman from his past after receiving a mysterious phone call.
London Calling
1985
Documentary about the making of Derek Jarman's 1979 film "Jubilee".
Jubilee: A Time Less Golden
2003
Behind the camera
6.4A Japanese man and a gay bar-owner in Hong Kong drink beer as they talk about their childhood and experiences.
Away with Words
1999
8.0Divided into chapters, the documentary examines Jang's career and films from many different angles and includes the voices not only of those who have worked with Jang but also of numerous ordinary Koreans who have been affected by his work. Individual chapters are devoted to such topics as Jang's idiosyncratic hairstyle and the controversy surrounding his previous feature Lies. The documentary tries to place Jang and his work in the widest possible social context, not only in the context of Korean cinema. At its heart is a series of remarkably candid and revealing interviews with Jang himself.
The Jang Sun-woo Variations
2001
NRExamines the early 1980s Hong Kong filmmaking community. Tony Rayns interviews some of the new generation of filmmakers and figures from the wider film culture.
Visions Cinema: Film as a Way of Life: Hong Kong Cinema - A Report by Tony Rayns
1983
NRTony Rayns presents the work of the 'Fifth Generation' and other innovative filmmakers who emerged during the 1980s in China.
New Chinese Cinema
1989
NRTony Rayns presents the work of the 'Fifth Generation' and other innovative filmmakers who emerged during the 1980s in China.
New Chinese Cinema
1989
Early film by Tony Rayns.
Uriel: Overdrive
1970
NRHistory of filmmaking in China from its beginnings in the 1920s to 1982, featuring Shanghai cinema of 1930s; the progressive filmmakers; the organisation of filmmaking under the post-war communist government; the impact of the Cultural Revolution; the work of Xie Jin.
Visions Cinema: Cinema in China - An Account by Tony Rayns
1983
NRShot in 1983, edited for the VISIONS: CINEMA programme in 1985, a short documentary about Shanghai Animation Studio.
Frame by Frame: Shanghai Animation Studio
1985
Early film by Tony Rayns.
Little Joe, Little Dragon
1974
6.6Film critic Tony Rayns interviews Lino Brocka and other prominent Filipino filmmakers.
Visions Cinema: Film in the Philippines - A Report by Tony Rayns
1983