For the full lineup of films at this year's New York Asian Film Festival, please see the source.The NYAFF features films from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and other countries across Southeast Asia, with a mix of premieres and classic films. There is also featured guests and Q&A at select screenings. This year's festival is from June 29 - July 15. For tickets, which are available now, please see the source!Fun fact: Four of the films highlighted in the post are directed by women (
Jeon Go-woon’s Microhabitat, Yim Soon-rye’s Little Forest, Jeong Ga-young’s Hit the Night, & Irene Villamor's Sid & Aya
)Fun Fact #2: Anne Curtis stars in two of these films! (BuyBust and Sid & Aya)
WORLD PREMIERES![6ZqGWdtn0luh_oKBbhIO82QHEOTV024_cqY5atCesqJii6RePQa50487CYFbl3vuLCmCm6SWnyAAWCIcRpU7uQ.jpg]( "6ZqGWdtn0luh_oKBbhIO82QHEOTV024_cqY5atCesqJii6RePQa50487CYFbl3vuLCmCm6SWnyAAWCIcRpU7uQ.jpg")
We Will Not Die Tonight House of the Rising Sons兄弟班
Director: Antony Chan
This turbo-charged '70s Hong Kong flashback chronicles the meteoric rise of real-life pop sensation The Wynners. From their humble beginnings as the neighborhood nuisance “garage band” to forging the careers of two of Asia’s biggest stars of the era, they rocked out on a roller-coaster ride of life’s ups and downs. Directed by the band’s drummer Antony Chan and featuring contemporary musicians in the cast, this nostalgic ode to youthful rebellion, friendship, and chasing your dreams is a glorious pastiche of style and sound.
BuyBustDirector: Erik Matti
After two decades making erotica, fantasy, horror, thrillers and a superhero comedy, Erik Matti directs his first all-out action film. And it’s relentless, featuring 309 stuntmen, 1,278 extras, and a wildly ambitious three-minute, one-cut action scene in which superstar Anne Curtis fights back hordes of thugs across rain-drenched rooftops. Curtis stars as Nina, a rookie police officer on a doomed buy-bust operation with an elite anti-narcotic squad. Matching The Raid and The Villainess in scope and body count, the director of On the Job and Honor Thy Father also takes a sharp knife to contemporary political realities in the Philippines.
This film was previously discussed in a Fantasia International Film Festival post.Men on the Dragon逆流大叔
Director: Sunny Chan
A group of four telecom employees, headlined by Francis Ng in his most charming role in recent memory, begrudgingly join the company dragon boat team hoping such a pledge of loyalty will keep them immune from encroaching layoffs. Under the tutelage of a pretty young no-nonsense coach (Jennifer Yu) they learn not just how to really race, but also to confront their own impending mid-life crises.
We Will Not Die Tonight
Director: Richard Somes
Shot in just 8 days, this pure genre piece is driven by a raw energy as Kray (Erich Gonzales) defends herself from endless hordes of bloodthirsty avengers, armed with every sharp and blunt object to hand.
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERES![sIKCgPS_E7RIQaSjAdtCv9xv88hqlytz3qE8Jb0yVsv5ls7SUeOgaAP-kP79fr_01n9cuwejJup8L6_JrmxGpw.jpg]( "Smokin' on the Moon")
Smokin' on the Moon Smokin' on the Moon
Director: Kanata Wolf
This striking debut feature from independent production house Gentle Underground Monkeys follows two slackers who work at a midnight bar while also selling marijuana. When they come dangerously close to some unhinged yakuza, their paths diverge leading to wildly different fates. Former musician and video game director Kanato Wolf pulls all cinematic stops for a dazzling storytelling style, as eclectic as the film’s zany cast of characters.
What a Man Wants
Director: Lee Byeong-hun
Habitual adulterer Seok-geun and his docile wife live next door to his headstrong sister and her obedient husband Bong-soo. When Seok-geun tries to take Bong-soo under his wing they meet sexy dance teacher Jenny, who sets off a series of events that will reveal everyone’s true colors. What starts off as a simple sex farce evolves into a bitingly hilarious social satire that takes predisposed concepts of love and marriage to task.
Dukun
Director: Dain Said
Shelved for over a decade due to its controversial nature, Dukun details the case of Diana, a nightclub singer turned shaman suspected of murdering a politician who was seeking immortality in his own ritual sacrifice. Straitlaced lawyer Karim’s desperate search for his missing teenage daughter entangles him into defending the mysterious and seductive Diana.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERES![jyeoh8iLSNs9u-MM1-FKHPe7pWQtSqJt8nNSsM4YkN1R6rRiNYCHSC2mrByMkKGSwcI2DBCmKzz_XH5tqzII_g.jpg]( "jyeoh8iLSNs9u-MM1-FKHPe7pWQtSqJt8nNSsM4YkN1R6rRiNYCHSC2mrByMkKGSwcI2DBCmKzz_XH5tqzII_g.jpg")
One Cut of the Dead There are a lot. I've listed them all, but chose 5 to highlight in this post.One Cut of the Dead
Director: Ueda Shinichiro
A low-budget film crew about to shoot a zombie movie at a desolate warehouse is suddenly attacked by real zombies. The cruelly uncompromising director forces his resilient producer, faithful male lead, and feisty ingénue to confront the living dead head-on for the sake of capturing it all in one shot, with no consideration for their lives. Then it gets really crazy.
Hit the Night
Director: Jeong Ga-young
While researching a screenplay, a young female filmmaker interviews a male friend over a long night of drinking, asking him alarmingly frank questions about his relationships and sex life. As their conversation gets more personal, her true agenda emerges. Writer-director Jeong Ga-young also stars as the sassy woman who reverses the male gaze in her delightfully humorous, deceptively simple chamber piece.
PremikaDirector: Siwakorn Jarupongpa
A ragtag group of wannabes and has-beens converge at a countryside resort where they encounter a karaoke-crazed ghost out for vengeance, and suddenly find themselves forced to sing for their lives. This gloriously absurd Thai horror-comedy romp serves as both a send-up of contemporary media and surprisingly resonant social commentary. Bursting with jubilantly crude jokes pulled off with panache and shocking yet cartoonishly fun gore, the distinctly creative Premika announces Siwakorn Jarupongpa as a director to watch.
Sad Beauty
Director: Bongkod Bencharongkul
Part road movie, part thriller, and part drug-fueled psychodrama, Sad Beauty is a brave and unexpectedly personal film about two women’s friendship directed by actress Bongkod Bencharongkul (Bang Rajan, Tom-Yum-Goong). Florence Faivre (The Expanse) stars as a spoiled, insecure supermodel who leans on her put-upon best friend, while simultaneously taking her for granted. After a bloody encounter with a violent stepfather, the two friends experience a harrowing journey into the heart of darkness.
Microhabitat소공녀
Director: Jeon Go-woon
When the price of cigarettes goes up, part-time housekeeper Miso decides to cut out one of her other expenses: rent. She leaves her small apartment and couch surfs with college friends, occasionally enjoying a glass of whiskey at her favorite café. Unlike many of the thirty-somethings with whom she reconnects, Miso has retained her free spirit, which she must use as navigates through their various hang-ups.
THE REST OF THE FILMS:After My Death (Director: Kim Ui-seok);
The Big Call (Director: Oxide Pang);
Blood of Wolves (Director: Shiraishi Kazuya);
Counters (Director: Lee Il-ha);
Crossroads: One Two Jaga (Director: Nam Ron);
Dynamite Graffiti (Director: Tominaga Masanori);
Gatao 2: Rise of the King (Director: Yen Cheng-kuo);
The Hungry Lion (Director: Ogata Takaomi);
Inuyashiki (Director: Sato Shinsuke);
Liverleaf (Director: Naito Eisuke);
Looking for Lucky (Director: Jiang Jiachen);
The Looming Storm (Director: Dong Yue);
Midnight Bus (Director: Takeshita Masao);
On Happiness Road (Director: Sung Hsin-yin);
Respeto (Director: Treb Monteras);
The River's Edge (Director: Yukisada Isao)
NEW YORK PREMIERES![5Lz6pS7HBXanD0MHdxpJWGKwurp4u7031KAa1FjOmfQZAOVEuJPbnEs3wwoCXFKDXW-sHlGPXf-qeME821aDjQ.jpg]( "5Lz6pS7HBXanD0MHdxpJWGKwurp4u7031KAa1FjOmfQZAOVEuJPbnEs3wwoCXFKDXW-sHlGPXf-qeME821aDjQ.jpg")
Sid & Aya (Not a Love Story) Again, there are quite a few so I've listed them all, but chose 5 to highlight.Neomanila
Director: Mikhail Red
Told straight from the gut, it follows teenage orphan Toto (Timothy Castillo, Crossroads: One Two Jaga, Violator), who becomes entangled in the complex hunting ground between police, drug dealers, mercenaries and street gangs. He is rescued by death squad member Irma, who takes out drug dealers for the local police on her motorbike. She takes him on as her apprentice and an unexpected mother-son bond develops. But as the underworld consumes them, all relationships suddenly seem disposable.
Sid & Aya (Not a Love Story)
Director: Irene Villamor
After decades of obeying the formula, a handful of (mostly) female filmmakers are re-inventing the staple genre of Philippines' cinema: the romance. Irene Villamor is at the vanguard, with vibrant dialogue, honest situations, and... sex. Here, Dingdong Dantes plays a cut-throat stockbroker who can't sleep at night. He befriends Anne (BuyBust) Curtis' sassy café waitress and offers to pay her $20 per hour to talk him through his insomnia. But she becomes the one in control of their power dynamic in an anti-romance that has as much to say about the class war as the sex war.
The Scythian Lamb
Director: Yoshida Daihachi
A sleepy seaside town is stirred by the arrival of six mysterious strangers who acclimate to local life in distinct roles: a malevolent boatman, a sexy caregiver, a frightening launderer, a timid barber, a methodical cleaning woman, and a simple-minded deliveryman. Oblivious to their origins, city official Tsukisue supports their assimilation—until the discovery of a dead body forces him to unravel their secrets.
Little Forest
Director: Yim Soon-rye
Kim Tae-ri (The Handmaiden) stars as Hye-won, a would-be teacher so frustrated by city life that she returns to her rural home, where she reunites with childhood friends and acquaints herself with life’s simple pleasures, including growing and cooking her own food and drinking into the twilight hours. Gentle tensions arise, including the hint of a love triangle and the mysterious disappearance of a loved one, but these are left to simmer as the seasons change and the film gives way to the sublime.
The Last Verse
Director: Tseng Ying-ting
Young couple Jen-chie and Hsiao-ping start their romance as new hope sweeps Taiwan, only to face physical separation due to military service and economic hardships. But the raw emotions of both love and despair create a deeper chasm, paralleled by Taiwan’s own fragile democracy, real-estate bubbles, and frightening bandit mentality.
THE REST OF THE FILMS:The Brink (Director: Jonathan Li);
End of Summer (Director: Zhou Quan);
Kakekomi (Director: Harada Masato);
Missing Johnny (Director: Huang Xi);
Old Beast (Director: Zhou Ziyang);
The Return (Director: Malene Choi);
Sekigahara (Director: Harada Masato);
The Third Murder (Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu);
Wrath of Silence (Director: Xin Yukun)
SOURCESMAIN SOURCE / FILM SYNOPSES 1234567891011121314151617So many good films... what do you think? What was the last Asian film you watched?
