The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema in association with Japan Society has announced today that Jay Chou’s THE ROOFTOP has been selected as the Closing Night presentation of the 2013 New York Asian Film Festival. Also announced were 22 additional titles, including several notable premieres, highly anticipated titles and salutes to Hong Kong Cinema, Taiwan Pulp and the Well Go USA distribution company. The 12th edition of The New York Asian Film Festival will take place June 28 – July 15, with screenings at The Film Society of Lincoln Center (June 28 – July 11), Japan Society (July 11 – 14) and Asia Society (July 15).

Chou’s THE ROOFTOP will make its North American Premiere as the Closing Night selection for NYAFF. Shot on location in Taiwan, Beijing and Shanghai, Cho’s second film behind the camera, following SECRET (2007) is a romance combining elements of martial arts and special effects in a musical extravaganza. The film stars Chou with Eric Tsang, Wand Xueqi and Alan Ko in a story set in a fantasy world comprised of two distinctly contrasting communities and lifestyles. One group lives on rooftops, where they dance and sing, passing their days without a care in the world, while below them are the people living under the rooftops, who possess more money and power. Chou has described the film as the first in a new genre, “A musical action movie, (where) love is the main axis, combining fantasy, romance, dancing, action, special effects and many other elements, so that there will be romantic scenes and classical taste.” Chou also wrote ten songs for the film’s soundtrack.

Highlights include the North American premieres of Sion Sono’s and Tokyo GAGAGA’s long awaited sci-fi gang war epic, BAD FILM, Hideo Nakata’s chilling descent into a much darker family drama with THE COMPLEX, Nattawat Poonpiriya’s COUNTDOWN, about a deadly New Year’s Eve outing, Takashi Miike’s return to blood and guts with LESSON TO THE EVIL, and the latest entry in the popular Ip Man series, IP MAN: THE FINAL FIGHT, with director Herman Yau in attendance. Mika Ninagawa’s HELTER SKELTER, a horror film dealing with celebrities and plastic surgery, will make its New York debut, and Andrew Lau will be on hand to present the first two films from his YOUNG AND DANGEROUS series.

NYAFF has also announced three planned focuses for this year’s edition of the popular festival: Hong Kong Cinema Now & Beyond!; Taiwan Pulp! – Tales of Gangsters, Female Avengers and Ninjas!; and a spotlight on distributor Well Go USA.

HONG KONG CINEMA NOW & BEYOND! – in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York (HKETONY)

The standard-bearer for Hong Kong in New York City, and a longtime friend and supporter of the New York Asian Film Festival, HKETONY has helped make it possible for NYAFF to bring film legends and icons like Sammo Hung, Tsui Hark, Donnie Yen, Jackie Chan and many more to New York, year after year. Therefore, on the occasion of HKETONY’s 30th anniversary, the festival will present new and exciting Hong Kong produced titles including: THE BULLET VANISHES, COLD WAR, DRUG WAR, HARDCORE COMEDY, IP MAN: THE FINAL FIGHT, THE LAST TYCOON, and THE LEGEND IS BORN: IP MAN

TAIWAN PULP! – TALES OF GANGSTERS, FEMALE AVENGERS, AND NINJAS!

Presented with the support of the Taipei Cultural Center of TECO in New York, this special section takes as its focus Taiwan’s Black Movies – exploitation films that flooded the market from 1979 to 1983. Dealing with serious social issues for the first time, this geyser of 117 movies was notable for its sexual explicitness and extreme violence. Largely forgotten, only a relative handful of these movies survive. NYAFF will present a line-up including: CHALLENGE OF THE LADY NINJA, THE LADY AVENGER, A LIFE OF NINJA, NEVER TOO LATE TOO REPENT, WOMAN REVENGER and the documentary TAIWAN BLACK MOVIES.

WELL GO USA SPOTLIGHT

Well respected within the industry and by connoisseurs of Asian movies, Well Go USA transformed itself from a video company specializing in exercise videos into, arguably, the finest distributor of Asian cinema in America. Titles from this Texas-based, family-owned company can be found throughout NYAFF (including the Closing Night selection THE ROOFTOP, DRUG WAR, IP MAN: THE FINAL FIGHT and THE LAST TYCOON. Additional titles from Well Go USA’s seemingly never-ending collection of great and entertaining films will include: CONFESSION OF MURDER and AN INACCURATE MEMOIR.

NYAFF is deeply grateful for the support of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office New York, the Korean Cultural Service New York and the Taipei Cultural Center of TECO in New York, as well as the following sponsors: The Kitano Hotel, Digital Media Rights, YesAsia.com, the Anthology Film Archives, Manhattan Portage, Well Go USA, Epic Proportions, Film Business Asia.

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