Equal parts earnest coming-of-age drama and feel-good rip-roaring romp, Victory centers on a group of high school cheerleaders about to shake things up in their sleepy town. This infectious ’90s-set film captures the essence of what it means to be young and ready to take on the world, one cheer at a time.

Lin Jianjie’s gut-punch of a debut exposes the scars and anxieties beneath post-one-child-policy China through the story of two students who get tangled up in each other’s lives after a mysterious incident at school.

A poignant, ethereal exploration of resilience in the face of despair, Carefree Days follows a 25-year-old uremia sufferer who embarks on a solace-seeking road trip with her close friend and old classmate.

A slow-burn powder keg of a movie that blends social commentary with crime drama tropes, A Long Shot takes aim at the human toll of breakneck economic reform in the smoldering crucible of early ’90s Northeast China.

Pema Tseden (Jinpa, NYAFF 2019), the late, great pioneer of Tibetan cinema, saved his most magical, fantastical tale—a metaphorical showdown between a man and a white snow leopard on the Tibetan steppe—for his final film.

In his Teddy Award-winning film, Ray Yeung masterfully explores the lives of two sixty-something women who have weathered life and love’s storms together for decades.

In this explosive Hong Kong thriller, superstars Nicholas Tse (2024 Screen International Star Asia Awardee) and Jacky Cheung ignite the screen as customs officers caught in a deadly web of arms smuggling.

Rising filmmaker Sasha Chuk wrote, directed, and stars in an acclaimed feature debut that spans two turbulent decades in the lives of two Hunanese sisters as they navigate the tempestuous waters of immigration, adolescence, and the search for self in Hong Kong.

Chow Kam Wing’s intricate, suspenseful neo-noir charts an unlikely bond between grizzled veteran Tai Bo and rising star Kuku So—he a mysterious rescuer, she a teenager running away from her mother’s abusive partner.

This action extravaganza follows a skilled fighter (Angus Yeung) who finds himself transported from the real world to an alternate universe, where he must work with his master’s daughter to find an artifact that could bring about the end of days.

Are online “romance scams” always destructive? This moving feature debut probes the unlikely emotional connection that forms between a lonely young man and a vibrant older woman who meet on a dating app.

Ray Yeung’s gut-wrenching tale of forbidden love between two married men in their golden years shines a light on the isolation and heartache faced by those who dare to love outside the lines, delivering a powerful and unforgettable portrait of a love that refuses to be denied.

Three teenage beach buddies unwittingly open Pandora’s box when their camera accidentally captures what appears to be damning evidence of a crime in this richly diabolical dissertation on human fallibility.

Megastar Kento Yamazaki, this year’s Best from the East Awardee, is magnetic in the gargantuan, soul-rousing fourth chapter of this beloved historical juggernaut as a warrior leading his soldiers into battle against overwhelming odds.

Kento Yamazaki and Shota Sometani star in the first-ever big-budget fantasy flick directed by a Japanese woman, featuring sumptuous visual effects from Shirogumi (the Oscar-winning team behind Godzilla Minus One).

In her delightfully unorthodox feature debut, director Kim Da-min weaves a tapestry of magical realism and inventiveness, drawing upon her animation background to create a world where a bottle of rice wine leads a young girl on a series of strange adventures.

Yeon Je-gwang’s skin-crawling debut, set at a seedy motel that peddles voyeuristic thrills to the highest bidder through a network of hidden cameras, is a white-knuckle descent into the heart of darkness.

Wunderkind director Leo Wang (The 9th Precinct) cooks up a hyperbolically hilarious reverse-heist action-comedy with a star-studded cast.

This heart-stirring, time-hopping romance follows a lovelorn protagonist (Taiwan megastar Hsu Kuang-han, of Marry My Dead Body fame) chasing the ghost of his youthful passion.

Director Panu Aree, known for his hard-hitting docs on Muslims in Thailand, makes a spine-chilling narrative feature debut with the story of a man (Ananda Everingham) who drags his teenage daughter (Jennis Oprasert from Thai pop group BNK48) to a tight-knit Muslim community outside of Bangkok—and accidentally unleashes the wrath of a seriously pissed-off Djinn.

An emotional sucker punch masquerading as a snarky domestic charmer, this massive Thai box office phenomenon smuggles profundities about life, death and family into the soul like a Trojan Horse.

This coming-of-age tale from the Thai team behind Bad Genius (NYAFF 2017 Opening Night selection) is a cheeky, imaginative romp through the world of guerilla filmmaking.

Kongkiat Komesiri’s masterful excursion into the undead realm, set during Thailand’s traumatic WWII involvement, transcends well-trod genre territory, providing a soul-stirring elegy for lost humanity in a world where even the damned deserve empathy.

Thai stars Ananda Everingham (Shutter) and Thaneth Warakulnukroh (Bad Genius) bring their A-game to this bodacious postmodern crime-action opus set in the country’s notorious “sin city,” leaving in their wake a trail of ultra-violence, rampant sexuality, and a sprinkle of Thai-flavored dark humor.

An unassuming ladykiller (Ananda Everingham) meets a wildly unpredictable free spirit (Chayanit Chansangavej) through her online photos, but just as the rom-com sparks start flying, so does the emotional baggage.

In his feature debut, Sean Wang (Oscar-nominated documentary short Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó) crafts a poignant and humorous narrative about a 13-year-old (Izaac Wang) navigating the treacherous waters of teenage life in 2008 California.

A gay Chinese American fashion stylist (Jake Choi) journeys through the fashion world with a seemingly straight actor from Beijing (James Chen) in this evocative tale of love, identity, and cultural collision.

Janell Shirtcliff’s wild, campy debut feature follows a ragtag group of young immigrants led by church-girl-gone-bad Mads (Bella Thorne) through a bizarre underworld ruled by the maniacal drug lord Queenie (Josie Ho).

This mind-bending masterpiece uses every trick in the animation playbook to tell the gut-wrenching story of a young man who’s one bad day away from losing himself—literally.

A young drug dealer slinging dope to rich brats in a swanky condo during the Philippines’ COVID lockdown may find an escape through a kind-hearted condo staffer in this wild and woolly stoner comedy.

In this delightfully offbeat debut, a 17-year-old shaman who’s as clumsy at adulting as he is at channeling spirits finds himself on a journey of self-discovery, stumbling through the minefield of young love and cultural identity with all the grace of a drunken yak.

These seven superlative short films from emerging and established Asian and Asian diasporic filmmakers explore and reconfigure the relationship between humankind and animals.

From midnight romance and spiritual family drama to a sci-fi rom-com and gangster thriller, these six dynamic short films expand the boundaries of Asian female representation on the silver screen.

A mixture of fiction and non-fiction storytelling, these seven formally innovative short films offer unique perspectives on different facets of youth culture in China.

Tony Bui’s debut feature is a love letter to rain-soaked Saigon, weaving together four lives in a tale that’s at once gritty and poetic, a snapshot of a place where the old and new collide in a dance of beauty and despair.

Meet the fresh voices of Asian cinema in our short film panel.

Journey through the world of Asian film distribution in the U.S. with a group of film industry professionals and distributors with first-hand experience in the business.

A panoramic view of Thai cinema’s scope with Ananda Everingham, actress Chayanit Chansangavej, and The Cursed Land director Panu Aree.