The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema announced today the complete lineup for the 16th New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF), which will take place from June 30 to July 13 at the Film Society and July 14 to 16 at the SVA Theatre. North America’s leading festival of popular Asian cinema will showcase 57 feature films, including 3 International Premieres, 21 North American Premieres, 4 U.S. Premieres, and 15 films making their New York City debuts. The festival will feature in-person appearances by more than 20 international filmmakers and celebrity guests from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia.
This year, all three of NYAFF’s Gala screenings are brilliant reinventions of the thriller genre. The Opening Gala will be the International Premiere of Nattawut Poonpiriya’s Bad Genius, the first Southeast Asian film to open the festival, with the director and stars in attendance. In this exhilarating high-school thriller, straight-A students Lynn (Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying) and Bank (Chanon Santinatornkul) stage a heist that will undermine the U.S. university entrance system after they lose their own scholarships.The Centerpiece Gala of the festivalwill be the North American Premiere of Mikhail Red’s Birdshot, a continuation of the festival programmers’ efforts to champion films from Southeast Asia, and the Philippines in particular. The Closing Gala is the U.S. Premiere of Jung Byung-gil’s The Villainess, fresh from its Midnight screening in Cannes. The adrenaline-soaked action film stars Kim Ok-vin as a ruthless female assassin trained in China who starts a new life with South Korea’s Intelligence Agency. [Read More]

KCON USA presented by Toyota, the world’s largest Korean culture convention and music festival, has announced ASTRO and NCT 127 as the next additions to the concert line-up, joining SF9 and GIRL’S DAY. [Read More]

On the heels of their two-month, 31-city tour of China, Fadi J. Khoury’s FJK Dance will return to NYC on Tuesday, June 13 in “A Fusion of Culture and Dance, A Message of Peace” at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, 7pm (68th street between Lexington and Park Avenues). The FJK Dance mix of contemporary ballet, Argentinian tango, ballroom and Middle Eastern dance hopes to, through its distinctive dance fusion, facilitate an understanding between cultures and break boundaries. [Read More]

Tap City, the NYC Tap Festival, will celebrate jazz legend Duke Ellington and his contribution to the world of tap dance at “TAP ELLINGTON,” on Friday, April 14 at 7pm, The Appel Room at JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER, 10 Columbus Circle. The evening, presented in association with Mercedes Ellington, will celebrate Ellington’s music as well as his unique legacy of introducing, promoting and presenting tap dancers to audiences all over the world. TAP ELLINGTON is a highlight event of the American Tap Dance Foundation’s Tap City Festival week (July 8-15). [Read More]

Eryc Taylor Dance (ETD) will present an original work created by ETD Outreach for dancers living in Lantern Community Services’ supportive housing, to premiere during the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance Uptown Arts Stroll on Friday, June 2 with two performances at 4pm and 6pm, Harlem School of the Arts (645 St Nicholas Avenue New York, New York 10032). The performances are free and open to the public. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mobilize-tickets-34336721057?aff=eac2 [Read More]

This four-film series goes beyond fiction to introduce a selection of titles exploring the neglected voices behind contemporary Taiwanese and East Asian society and history. The series includes the award-winning biography documentary Hebei Taipei about a former soldier who survived the Chinese Civil War and lived with nostalgic memories for the rest of his life, After Spring, the Tamaki Family about a Taiwanese immigration history in Okinawa Japan, Absent Without Leave revealing the hidden past of the Malaysian Communist Party members, and Taiwan’s official Oscar entry, Hang in There, Kids, portraying 3 aboriginal boys who grapple with family struggles and life as aborigines in Taiwan. [Read More]

Following a massively successful festival circuit, ELEVEN ARTS has licensed North American distribution rights to Yoshinari Nishikori’s award-winning period action-drama TATARA SAMURAI. The L.A.-based distribution company, whose recent titles include THE LEGEND IS BORN: IP MAN, UZUMASA LIMELIGHT, SAILOR MOON R: THE MOVIE, and SWORD ART ONLINE THE MOVIE – ORDINAL SCALE -, have set a June 2nd theatrical release for the film, which is produced by EXILE HIRO. [Read More]

Ronald McDonald House Charities New York Tri-State Area (RMHC-NYSTA) celebrated the seven recipients of its 2017 RMHC/ASIA (Asian Students Increasing Achievement) Scholarship Program today with an awards luncheon at the W Hotel Union Square in Manhattan. Seven $16,000 scholarships, an increase from six last year, were awarded to outstanding local high school seniors. Hosted by CeFaan Kim from ABC7 Eyewitness News, the event featured a keynote address delivered by New York State Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou of District 65 and a special award presentation to the Honorable Doris Ling-Cohan of the New York State Supreme Court for her contributions to the Asian American community. The luncheon also coincides with Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. [Read More]

The latest documentary from celebrated filmmaker Steve James (Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters, Life Itself), ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL played to critical acclaim at the Toronto and New York film festivals and, following screenings at dozens of additional festivals, including Opening Night of the Full Frame Documentary Festival, it will open in New York on Friday, May 19 at the IFC Center. A national rollout will follow. [Read More]

KCON USA presented by Toyota, the world’s largest Korean culture convention and music festival, today revealed ZION.T and NCT 127 as the final artist additions to the New York edition of the event series. The breakdown for each of the two concerts will be available on May 11, with combo tickets going on sale at 10 a.m. PT the following day (Friday, May 12). Single tickets go on sale Monday, May 15. KCON 2017 NY will take place on June 23 and 24 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. More details on tickets to the convention and to the concerts, including seating tiers, sections, and the programming schedule, can be found at www.kconusa.com. [Read More]