New York Asian Film Festival 2014
It’s unlucky number 13! That’s right, this year is the 13th New York Asian Film Festival and that means that you’re going to walk under a ladder, trip over a black cat, break a mirror, and wind up getting squashed by a falling piano the second you step outside. The only way to stay safe is to double down and make sure you spend your summer inside a movie theater watching eyeball-exploding Asian films.
Plus, check out Film Comment‘s fully loaded two-part Made in Hong Kong anthology. The Part 1 digital anthology explores the 1960s-90s. Part 2, located in the May/June issue, focuses on the 1990s-present and is available both digitally and in print.
Special thanks to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office New York; the Taipei Cultural Center of TECO in New York; Korean Cultural Service in New York; American Australian Association’s Dame Joan Sutherland Fund; Celestial Pictures; the Korea Society.
Lineup
Overheard 3
Opening Night
International Premiere. Q&A with Alan Mak and Felix Chong.
After tackling insider trading and real estate conspiracies, Alan Mak and Felix Chong (Infernal Affairs) turn to the untamed rural villages of Hong Kong’s New Territories in the third installment of the hugely popular Overheard series.
Kano
Centerpiece Screening
North American Premiere. Q&A with Umin Boya.
Based on the true story of a ragtag group of young players who became the pioneers of Taiwanese baseball in the 1930s, Boya’s feature-film directorial debut is a love letter to the sport.
3D Naked Ambition
North American Premiere
A low-level sex writer for an adult paper who can’t handle his girlfriend’s success at work and command in the bedroom travels to Japan and accidentally becomes a porn star in this 3-D sex romp.
Aberdeen
This ensemble family melodrama about expectations of beauty and marital betrayal features Pang’s (Isabella) signature complex performances and magic-realist touch.
Aim High in Creation!
U.S. Premiere. Q&A with Anna Broinowski.
This revolutionary comedy about the cinematic genius of North Korea’s late Dear Leader Kim Jong-il has a groundbreaking experiment at its heart: a propaganda film, made according to the rules of his 1987 Manifesto “The Cinema and Directing.”
As the Light Goes Out
North American Premiere
A squad of firefighters who used to be BFFs but now find themselves wallowing in Man Angst are brought back together by a power-plant explosion in this testosterone-fueled soap opera.
Au revoir l’été
U.S. Premiere. Q&A with actress Fumi Nikaido.
A light comedy of manners played out during 10 days in a seaside town, Au revoir l’été is a nicely played rondo of human behavior that echoes Eric Rohmer’s Pauline at the Beach (1983).
Blind Massage
U.S. Premiere
This innovative film about the blind employees of a massage center in Nanjing is a powerful ride through a parallel word of metaphysical cinema where light and darkness lose their usual meaning.
The Chinese Boxer
Note: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Jimmy Wong Yu is no longer able to attend.
The first open-handed martial-arts film from Hong Kong to become a worldwide blockbuster was a major influence on the films of Bruce Lee and remains an exciting and terrific watch to this day.
Cold Eyes
New York Premiere. Q&A with actor Sol Kyung-gu following July 7 screening, who will be presented with the Star Asia Award.
This epic of nonstop suspense is a three-way race against time between a rumpled surveillance guru, a ruthlessly efficient criminal, and a new recruit eager to prove she’s got what it takes.
Control
This futuristic thriller follows an insurance salesman coerced to commit criminal acts by an unseen villain, who sends instructions over the phone and has control of the city’s surveillance cameras.
The Eternal Zero
U.S. Premiere
No doubt the most extreme film experience of NYAFF, The Eternal Zero follows the quest of a young man investigating the life of his late grandfather, a reluctant kamikaze pilot, during the Pacific War.
The Face Reader
Q&A with actor Lee Jung-jae
The Face Reader, which beat Iron Man 3 at the Korean box office last year, is a lavish period drama with high-level cast at the top of its game, juicy dialogue, and a smooth mixture of low comedy and high drama.
Firestorm 3D
New York Premiere
Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau plays a prissy police detective who’s getting his butt handed to him by flashy thief Nam (Hu Jun, Drug War), an insanely competent career criminal who knocks over armored cars like dominos.
From Vegas to Macau
New York Premiere
Oozing so much debonair that he makes Don Draper look drab, Chow Yun-fat fires on all cylinders as a no-holds-barred gambler who will do absolutely anything to entertain an audience.
Fuku-chan of FukuFuku Flats
North American Premiere
This irresistible comedy about life in a run-down apartment complex offers laughs aplenty and a lead performance by comedienne Miyuki Oshima as a Japanese everyman rich in friends and poor in romance.
Golden Chicken
Q&A with actress Sandra Ng
Sandra Ng plays Kum, a hooker with a heart of gold and a brain of bubblegum who takes us on a tour of Hong Kong’s history, as seen from the bedroom.
Golden Chickensss
North American Premiere. Q&A with actress Sandra Ng following June 27 screening, who will be presented with the Star Asia Award.
Kum has aged into a hard-working madam with a calculator for a soul who must round up her girls, deck them out for a night on the town, and fulfill the needs of her hard-partying clients.
Han Gong-ju
New York Premiere. Q&A with director Lee Su-jin
Praised by Martin Scorsese and showered with awards at festivals around the world, this devastating portrait of South Korea’s blame culture follows a high-school girl seeking anonymity and escape from the horrors of her past.
Hope
North American Premiere. Q&A with actor Sol Kyung-gu.
Inspired by a horrifying case of child rape in South Korea, Hope brings a fresh approach to a difficult subject matter, and by focusing on the victim’s recovery, ultimately delivers flawless feel-good human drama.
Il Mare
Q&A with actor Lee Jung-jae
Two enormous stars, a magical time-portal mailbox, and a house by the lake were all mixed into the melodrama pot in 2000 and out came Il Mare, which has since been cemented in the canon of Korean romances.
Killers on Wheels (a.k.a. Madboys in Hong Kong)
What starts out as a teen beach movie becomes a bloody take on the biker flick when a series of pranks between group of spoiled rich kids and a rowdy bunch of road rebels escalates out of control.
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires
Shaw Brothers teamed with Hammer Studios, England’s House of Horror, on this kung-fu vampire movie starring Peter Cushing as Van Helsing and David Chiang as his Chinese counterpart.
May We Chat
North American Premiere
Two teenagers—one a deaf-mute escort, the other junkie’s daughter—come together to find their missing friend, a rich girl with a thing for bad boys, with the help of their smartphones in this teen drama turned gangland noir.
Miss Zombie
New York Premiere
A rich family man receives a crate containing a mail-order zombie maid, an instruction manual, a cautionary note against letting her eat meat, and a gun (just in case) in this razor-sharp social satire.
Moebius
New York Premiere. Q&A with actress Lee Eun-woo.
A playfully twisted black comedy with no dialogue, Moebius is an everyday tale of penectomy, rape, sadomasochistic sex, and incestuous love from award-winning Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-duk.
Monsterz
North American Premiere
Japanese horror master Hideo Nakata (Ring, Dark Water) returns with this highly original paranormal thriller about two men with supernatural abilities, locked in a duel to the death.
Mr. Vampire + Rigor Mortis
The film that kicked off Hong Kong’s hopping vampire fad and its turbo-charged, spiritual successor screen together as a demented, bloodthirsty double feature.
My Man
North American Premiere. Q&A with Fumi Nikaido, who will be presented with the Screen International Rising Star Award.
The relationship between a man and an adolescent girl brought together by a natural disaster goes from from emotional to erotic, from inchoate to inflamed, from serene to obscene, in this controversial love story.
New World
Q&A with actor Lee Jung-jae
A huge hit at the box office, New World elevates the popular Korean gangster genre with its fascinating and harrowing look at the power structures and politics of a criminal organization.
No Man’s Land
North American Premiere
A smug legal grandstander must drive from Northwestern China to Beijing ASAP in this blackly comedic road movie and savvy indictment of capitalism that was shelved for four years after running afoul of Chinese censors.
The One-Armed Swordsman
Note: Due to unforeseen circumstances, actor Jimmy Wong Yu is no longer able to attend.
The One-Armed Swordsman burst onto the scene in 1967 as riots swept the streets of Hong Kong and bombings pushed the city over the brink into chaos, channeling the people’s anger and fury on screen.
Portland Street Blues
Q&A with actress Sandra Ng
This spin-off of Hong Kong’s mighty Young & Dangerous series about young gangsters known as triads follows Sister 13 (Sandra Ng), a lesbian pimp who sports a spiky ’do and boss suits.
Public Enemy
Q&A with actor Sol Kyung-gu
When a remorseless killer slashes an archetypal bad cop in an alleyway, it kicks off a relentless pursuit complete with graphic violence, vulgar comedy, and a healthy dose of Korean social satire.
R100
Hitoshi Matsumoto is Japan’s most famous comedian, but even if you’ve seen Big Man Japan and Symbol you’ll barely be prepared for the S&M antics of this straight-faced send-up of genre cinema.
Rough Play
North American Premiere. Q&A with director Shin Yeon-shick following July 1 screening.
A crazed actor takes his dedication to his craft too far when he threatens an actress, leading to a dramatic downfall fueled by narcissism and a rampant ego.
Seeding of a Ghost
A cab driver makes a deal with a necromancer to exact revenge on the thugs who murdered his adulterous wife, but the ritual requires some serious sins of the flesh, in this grotesque 1983 Shaw Brothers shocker.
Seventh Code
North American Premiere
A girl wanders the mean streets of post-Soviet Vladivostok in pursuit of a hunky businessman who stood her up in Tokyo and ends up getting kidnapped by thugs in the latest from Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Tokyo Sonata, Penance).
Screening with: Beautiful New Bay Area Project (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 29m)
Silent Witness
North American Premiere. Q&A with director Fei Xing.
When a millionaire’s daughter stands trial for the murder of her future stepmother, layers of previously hidden information are revealed that ultimately elevate the tale into one of Chinese myth and personal redemption.
Soul
New York Premiere. Note: Due to unforeseen circumstances, actor Jimmy Wong Yu is no longer able to attend.
When a taciturn chef named Chuan collapses at work, he is brought to the country to recover and embarks on a killing spree. When confronted by his uncle, he claims to no longer be Chuan...
The Terror Live
A disgraced TV news anchor demoted to hosting a radio call-in show sees an opportunity to turn his fate around when a man phones in, blows up a bridge, and claims to have other bombs hidden around Seoul.
Top Star
North American Premiere. Q&A with Park Joong-hoon following June 28 screening.
A famous actor’s manager gets his own chance to shine in front of the cameras and quickly rises, eventually eclipsing the fame of his former boss, in this send-up of the Korean film industry.
The White Storm
U.S. Premiere
One part Reefer Madness, one part John Woo action bromance, The White Storm is piled high with gunfights, male bonding, car crashes, snappy action, super melodrama, handsome cops, and intense style.
Zone Pro Site: The Moveable Feast
New York Premiere
A failed actress on the run from debt collectors moves back home, opens a catering business, and enters a cooking contest with a $1 million prize in this colorful and mouth-watering delight.
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It’s unlucky number 13! That’s right, this year is the 13th New York Asian Film Festival and that means that you’re going to walk under a ladder, trip over a black cat, break a mirror, and wind up getting squashed by a falling piano the second you step outside. The only way to stay safe is to double down and make sure you spend your summer inside a movie theater watching eyeball-exploding Asian films. Read More
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