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<\/a><\/p>\nThe Film Society of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema announced today the complete lineup for the 15th New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF), which will take place from June 22 to July 5 at the Film Society and July 6 to 9 at the SVA Theatre (333 West 23rd Street). North America\u2019s leading festival of popular Asian cinema will showcase 51 feature films, including one World Premiere, 2 International Premiere, 16 North American premieres, 2 U.S. Premieres, and 14 films making their New York City debuts. Featuring in-person appearances by more than 30 international filmmakers and celebrity guests from Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
The Opening Night gala will be the World Premiere of Kazuya Shiraishi\u2019s wild crime epic Twisted Justice, based on Yoshiaki Inaba\u2019s autobiography and starring Japan\u2019s hottest actor (and Rising Star honoree) Go Ayano as his country\u2019s most corrupt police detective. The Centerpiece Gala is the North American Premiere of Ralston Jover\u2019s Hamog (Haze), an empowering, thrilling and impassioned tale of a gang of street kids, headlined by (Rising Star honoree) Teri Malvar. Closing Night is the International Premiere of Adam Tsuei\u2019s The Tenants Downstairs. Based on a screenplay and story by former NYAFF guest Giddens Ko (You Are the Apple of My Eye), the blackly comic, sexually explicit thriller features Simon Yam as a landlord spying on and manipulating the lives of his tenants. Filmmakers and cast members from the three movies will be in attendance at their respective screenings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe set out this year to champion a much broader range of Asian cinema,\u201d said NYAFF Executive Director Samuel Jamier. \u201cFor example, we are particularly excited by a new breed of noir film, rooted in social issues, that is emerging in both China and Southeast Asia. With these and other selections in the lineup, we want to show that Asian films are still exploring new directions for world cinema.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faithful to its Chinatown roots and central to its lineup, the festival will feature a Hong Kong Panorama, showcasing the most innovative films from the Special Administrative Region, with the support of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York. From a coming-of-age drama about high-school girls who become involved in the sex trade (Lazy Hazy Crazy), to a feel-good baseball movie set within Hong Kong\u2019s public-housing system (Weeds on Fire), to a hard-boiled gangster omnibus (the Johnnie To\u2013produced Trivi\u1e63a), these films are revitalizing local genre staples with a fresh spin. The program also includes Nick Cheung\u2019s Keeper of Darkness, Herman Yau\u2019s The Mobfathers, and Adam Wong\u2019s She Remembers, He Forgets.<\/p>\n
The South Korean Cinema lineup includes a vibrant mix of thrillers (both supernatural and surreal) from first and second-time directors that are daring twists on genre films (Alone, The Boys Who Cried Wolf, and The Priests), and insightful art-house dramas focusing on social issues from established directors (Jung Ji-woo\u2019s Fourth Place, about how much we demand from the next generation, and E J-yong\u2019s The Bacchus Lady, about the plight of the country\u2019s abandoned elderly). In co-presentation with the Korean Movie Night New York Master Series, NYAFF will feature the two latest films by Lee Joon-ik, who will attend screenings of Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet (with producer and screenwriter Shin Yeon-shick) and The Throne. Together with Lee Jong-pil\u2019s The Sound of a Flower, the triptych examines the scars of South Korea\u2019s troubled history. The festival\u2019s 11 South Korean films are presented with the support of the Korean Cultural Center New York.<\/p>\n
NYAFF\u2019s Taiwan Cinema Now! section defies genres with first films by new directors Adam Tsuei (The Tenants Downstairs), Vic Cheng (The Tag-Along), and Lee Chung (The Laundryman) that expand the horizons of the island\u2019s genre cinema. The section, presented with the support of the Taipei Cultural Center of TECO in New York, is completed by two powerful dramas from established filmmakers Tom Lin (Zinnia Flower) and Cheng Wen-tang (Maverick), which explore loss and redemption.<\/p>\n
Southeast Asian Cinema receives greater focus this year, reflecting how the region is making some of the world\u2019s most innovative films. Highlights include the Tamil-language Jagat (Brutal) from Malaysia, the acutely observed Heart Attack from Thailand, and empowering youth noir Haze (Hamog) from the Philippines. Proving that stars from the region are just as glamorous and talented as their Northern neighbors, we are joined by John Lloyd Cruz, Teri Malvar, Sid Lucero, Gwen Zamora, and Annicka Dolonius (stars of the Philippines\u2019 sensuous surfing drama Apocalypse Child), and Apinya Sakuljaroensuk (from the social-media slasher flick Grace).<\/p>\n
Special screenings include a full day of films on July 4 from noon until midnight celebrating the indie spirit of Hong Kong cinema. The day will conclude with the hotly anticipated 10 Years, winner of Best Film at the Hong Kong Film Awards, which examines life in Hong Kong in an imaginary future when Cantonese is a second-class language and where the island has completely fallen under Mainland control. Special screenings also include a Founding Fathers Tribute, a focus on the favorite films of the festival\u2019s programmers, from Michael Arias\u2019s madcap animated feature Tekkonkinkreet to Shinya Tsukamoto\u2019s Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Pang Ho-cheung\u2019s Love in the Buff starring Miriam Yeung, alongside a Surprise Screening of a contemporary classic that holds special significance to the founders of NYAFF.<\/p>\n
The 2016 Star Asia Awards honorees are Hong Kong\u2019s Miriam Yeung, the Philippines\u2019 John Lloyd Cruz, and South Korea\u2019s Lee Byung-hun, and all three box-office mega-stars will be in New York in person to discuss their newest films and their careers. Yeung, whose charismatic girl-next-door persona epitomizes the anything-is-possible spirit of Hong Kong, stars in in Adam Wong\u2019s romantic drama She Remembers, He Forgets. The film is her return to the screen after headlining the biggest local hit of 2015, Little Big Master. Cruz, the Philippines\u2019 most popular movie star, who broke box-office records in last year\u2019s romantic drama Second Chance, transforms his image as a father who will do anything in festival selection Honor Thy Father, a powerful crime epic from Erik Matti. Lee, South Korean cinema\u2019s leading man and one of the few to successfully cross over to Hollywood, stars in Inside Men, Woo Min-ho\u2019s takedown of the corruption at the heart of South Korea\u2019s institutions. Lee has been seen in multiple blockbuster action franchises (G.I. Joe, Red 2, Terminator Genisys), is best known for South Korean films The Good, the Bad, the Weird, I Saw the Devil, and Bittersweet Life (by Kim Jee-woon); as well as the tormented soldier in Park Chan-wook\u2019s Joint Security Area and the lowlife-turned-king in Choo Chang-min\u2019s Masquerade.<\/p>\n
In addition to the Star Asia Awards, previously announced award recipients include:<\/p>\n
Lifetime Achievement Award \u2013 Iwai Shunji. The first Japanese recipient of the award, he will present his three cinematic epics\u2014Swallowtail Butterfly (1996), All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001), and A Bride for Rip Van Winkle (2016), also starring Ayano\u2014during the festival\u2019s opening weekend. Iwai has proven himself one of Asia\u2019s most influential filmmakers since his mid-1990s Undo, Picnic, and Love Letter. He is recognized for capturing the spirit of the times, and stretching the cinematic language of Asian cinema. Despite his early successes, he has continued to reinvent himself, recently directing his first animated feature.<\/p>\n
Screen International Rising Star Asia Awards \u2013 China\u2019s Jelly Lin, Japan\u2019s Ayano Go, and the Philippines\u2019 Teri Malvar. Lin made a powerful debut this year, showcasing her natural comedic skills in Stephen Chow\u2019s fish-out-of-water tale (China\u2019s highest-grossing film) The Mermaid; 15-year-old Malvar has already proven herself one of Asia\u2019s most naturally gifted actresses, and stars in festival selection Hamog (Haze), in which her violent street kid character is kidnapped into a twisted household to work as its maid; and Ayano, Japan\u2019s hottest actor of 2016 is being recognized for his chameleon-like range, stars in two of the festival\u2019s key films, Twisted Justice and A Bride for Rip Van Winkle.<\/p>\n
Daniel A. Craft Award for Excellence in Action Cinema \u2013 Yue Song. The Chinese actor, director, and stunt choreographer will be honored for his old-school, balls-to-the-wall instant-classic kung-fu flick The Bodyguard. Yue found fame online by uploading action-packed training videos and short films that became cult hits in China, before making his first feature King of the Street. His new film has found a natural home in our anniversary edition.<\/p>\n
Credits:
\nCurated by executive director Samuel Jamier, senior programmer Stephen Cremin, and programmers Rufus de Rham and Claire Marty.<\/p>\n
The New York Asian Film Festival is co-presented by Subway Cinema and the Film Society of Lincoln Center and takes place from June 22 to July 5 at Film Society\u2019s Walter Reade Theater, and July 6 to 9 at SVA Theatre.<\/p>\n
For more information visit: http:\/\/www.subwaycinema.com<\/a><\/p>\n