Tony Rayns, the British writer, festival programmer and screenwriter who spent decades introducing Western audiences to East Asian cinema, has died at 78.
He 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.
Gowman said Rayns’ death was unexpected, coming after a short period of no contact that had raised concerns among friends and family for his welfare.
“We 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,” Gowman told Variety in the email. “He will be sorely missed by many.”
The family plans to hold an event celebrating Rayns’ life and achievements at a later date.
Chinese 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: “Dear Tony, I didn’t get the chance to say ‘thank you,’ or to say ‘I’m sorry,’ before you were gone. In the 28 years we knew each other, I was always the one turning to you for help – whether it was subtitles for my films or questions I needed your guidance on. My work couldn’t 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’m in Yantai now, looking out at a blurred sea.” Tributes also circulated among colleagues and admirers on film forums including Criterionforum.org.
Born 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’s Sight & Sound since the 1970s, and also wrote for Time Out, Melody Maker in the late 1970s, Cahiers du Cinéma and Film Comment.
For 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 “New Chinese Cinema,” 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.
He wrote the screenplay for “Away with Words,” 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.
Rayns recorded audio commentary tracks for numerous Criterion Collection and Masters of Cinema releases, including “Chungking Express,” “In the Realm of the Senses,” “Ugetsu,” “Seven Samurai” and “Memories of Murder.” He also recorded commentary for Bong Joon Ho‘s “Parasite” alongside the director, for Edward Yang’s “Yi Yi” with Yang himself, and for the Criterion release of “Manila in the Claws of Light.” His liner notes and commentary work extended to labels including Arrow, Indicator, Second Run, BFI Video, Disk Kino and Imprint.
His contributions to Japanese cinema earned him the 2004 Kawakita Prize and a commendation from Japan’s Foreign Ministry in 2008.
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