The Center for East Asian Studies

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Film Library

East Asia Film Library

The CEAS Film Library is one of the largest East Asian DVD collection in the United States, comprising over 5,000 titles from China, Japan, and Korea. It includes historical films, documentaries, television series and contemporary cinema. Many of the films are imported from overseas and are difficult to find in the U.S. Films are available for check-out free of charge to any current University of Chicago student, staff, or faculty member. CEAS Associate Members may also borrow films.

Easy to Use

Search the online film catalog to find what you're looking for. Use the "Advanced Search" function to narrow down films by language, director, subtitles, etc. Write down the CEAS catalog number so you can find it on the shelf when you arrive. If a film is currently checked out, the catalog listing will read "Not Available."

Borrow and return films in Judd Hall, Room 302. Lending hours are Monday-Friday, 9:30am-4:30pm.

Film rental is FREE and is as easy as coming to Judd 302 and signing up. Any current University of Chicago faculty, student, staff, or CEAS Associate Member may borrow films.
Borrowers will be held responsible for replacing lost or damaged films.
Films are due back in Judd 302 one week from the date they are borrowed.
Films are for viewing only and are not to be copied.
Only two films may be borrowed at one time. Exceptions for course-related viewing should be arranged in advance with the Coordinator.
Use of the film library implies agreement to all above conditions.

Region Codes and DVD Playback

CEAS does not guarantee that films borrowed from the Film Library will be viewable on your player. Because many of the DVDs in the CEAS film library originate overseas, viewers may encounter regional code differences that affect playback. Region 1 DVD players from the United States will often not play Region 2 and 3 DVDs from overseas. Many desktop computers and laptops only allow a region change five times before locking. The free, legal video player VLC is a downloadable alternative that bypasses region issues. Macintosh users should be aware that most Macs do not support region changes or the VLC player. A limited number of VCD and region-free DVD players are available for use by faculty and graduate students teaching courses. More information about DVD region codes can be found here.