June 25 – July 8
Co-presented for the first time with The Film Society of Lincoln Center!
All screenings at the Walter Reade Theater!
Additional screenings July 1 – 4 at Japan Society!
Special Midnight shows Fridays & Saturdays at the IFC!
Like Vandals storming the gates of Rome, the New York Asian Film Festival
rampages through the Film Society’s Walter Reade Theater June 25 – July 8,
unleashing an orgy of the latest and greatest pop masterpieces Asian cinema
has to offer. For nine years, the NYAFF has been North America’s leading
festival of popular Asian cinema but now it’s teamed up with the Film
Society of Lincoln Center to also become North America’s fanciest!
America’s art-house theaters normally show an anemic sliver of what Asian
cinema has to offer but the NYAFF’s 2010 line-up is a brawny slab of 35
blockbusters and break-out hits that audiences in Thailand, China, Korea,
Hong Kong and Japan actually buy tickets to watch.
The full line-up will be announced in May, but this year’s festival will
have three major events, so mark them on your flesh now!
THE STAR ASIA AWARDS
The NYAFF will be presenting three Star Asia Awards to actors Western
audiences should know more about. The ceremony will take place on opening
night, June 25, and the recipients will all be at the festival to receive
their awards.
Rising Star of Asia Award to Huang Bo
One of China’s most popular new actors, Huang Bo got his break in Ning Hao’s
2006 comedy, CRAZY STONE, and he’s gone on to specialize in earthy,
foul-mouthed characters. A leading man with a character actor’s face, he won
a Golden Horse for his performance in COW, and we’ll be screening it as part
of the NYAFF 2010, as well as his movie CRAZY RACER.
Star Asia Award to Simon Yam
Starting as a character actor in the 1970’s, Simon Yam has gone on to become
one of Hong Kong’s favorite leading men, winning “Best Actor†at the 2010
Hong Kong Film Awards for his performance in ECHOES OF THE RAINBOW, an
official selection of this year’s New York Asian Film Festival. From his
performance as the insane fashion plate, Judge, in Ringo Lam’s FULL CONTACT
to his turn as the dapper pickpocket, Kei, in Johnnie To’s SPARROW, Simon
Yam has been one of the world’s best, and most debonair, actors. In this
year’s festival, he appears in ECHOES OF THE RAINBOW, STORM WARRIORS and
BODYGUARDS & ASSASSINS.
Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award to Sammo Hung
A special Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award will go to the legendary
actor and director, Sammo Hung, to honor his legacy of onscreen work. Jackie
Chan’s “older brother†at Master Yu Jim Yuen’s Chinese Opera School, Sammo
has worked as a producer, director, action-choreographer or stuntman in over
230 films. In this year’s NYAFF, Sammo Hung choreographed the action in IP
MAN, he co-stars in the festival’s official opening night film, IP MAN 2,
and he stars in the cracked action-cooking-comedy KUNG FU CHEFS. There will
also be a special screening of his 1987 Vietnam War movie, EASTERN CONDORS,
preceded by an onstage chat with the maestro about his career.
RETURN TO THE OLD SCHOOL: HONG KONG’S NEW MARTIAL ARTS CINEMA
After 2009’s film, IP MAN, became a massive box office hit, savvy Hong Kong
producers unleashed a wave of old school-inspired martial arts films that
went back to basics: no CGI, no fancy wire work, no fakery. Instead, they
were all about blazing hand-to-hand combat, hard-falling stuntmen and
lightning fast kung fu. In conjunction with the Hong Kong Economic and Trade
Office in New York, this year’s NYAFF features a special focus on Hong
Kong’s new wave of old school kung fu.
This year’s line-up will include Jackie Chan’s latest movie, LITTLE BIG
SOLDIER; we’ll be screening GALLANTS, a rollicking action comedy starring a
gallery of old school greats like Bruce Leung and Chen Kuan-tai; and two
movies about Bruce Lee’s teacher and Chinese folk hero, Ip Man: an encore
presentation of the original IP MAN and the North American Premiere of IP
MAN 2, our official Opening Night Film.
We’ll also be screening the award-winning, 2009 Hong Kong blockbuster,
BODYGUARDS & ASSASSINS; the insane cooking kung fu flick, KUNG FU CHEFS; and
the totally mad throwback to visually bonkers Hong Kong comic books of the
70’s, THE STORM WARRIORS, and much more
UP FROM THE JAPANESE UNDERGROUND
Independent movies get a bad rap, but for the past two years some of the
wildest Japanese films have been shot on video for about $1.95. Hip hop
wannabes stranded in the middle-of-nowhere will be ripping up the screen in
the award-winning 8000 MILES (about male rappers, dying on the vine)
followed by a screening of the much-anticipated follow-up 8000 MILES 2
(about female rappers, languishing in obscurity). Director Yu Irie will be
here for both screenings. We’ll also be screening two films from director
Tetsuaki Matsue, who will also be attending the festival. First up is his
Japanese/Korean personal odyssey porno documentary, ANNYONG YUMIKA, that’s a
testament to the passions aroused by one Japanese skin flick actress working
in Korea. Then we’re screening LIVE TAPE, one of the most ambitious concert
films ever made and winner of “Best Japanese Film” at the Tokyo
International Film Festival, starring Kenta Maeno, known as Japan’s Bob
Dylan. Kenta Maeno is expected to attend the screenings.
We may be in a new location, but the NYAFF will still be as raw and potent
as moonshine. Although we’re on the Upper West Side, we’re still showing
movies that’ll mess you up and ruin you permanently for the pale, lifeless
junk Hollywood has to offer.
Send all press enquiries to:
Grady Hendrix, [email protected], 917-405-7477
Or: Irika Slavin, Director of Communications at Film Society of Lincoln
Center, [email protected], 212-875-5281
ABOUT THE NEW YORK ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL
Subway Cinema is a New York-based film programming, exhibition, and
marketing collective, committed to increasing exposure and appreciation for
Asia’s popular cinema with year-round events and screenings. Its flagship
event is the New York Asian Film Festival (June 25 – July 8) which the New
York Times has called “…one of the city’s most valuable events…”
Launched in 2002, the Festival selects only the best, the strangest, and
the most entertaining movies to screen for New York audiences. It was the
first North American film festival to put a spotlight on Johnnie To, Bong
Joon-Ho and Park Chan-Wook and it also held the largest retrospective of
Tsui Hark’s work outside of Hong Kong. Â It is widely considered invincible.
For all festival news, keep your eyes on our blog:
www.subwaycinemanews.com
Or check out our Facebook page:
“New York Asian Film Festival” on Facebook
And watch for write-ups and schedule info on our website:
www.subwaycinema.com
ABOUT THE FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER
Under the leadership of Mara Manus, Executive Director, and Richard Peña,
Program Director, The Film Society of Lincoln Center offers the best in
international, classic and cutting-edge independent cinema. The Film Society
presents two film festivals that attract global attention: the New York Film
Festival, currently planning its 48th edition and New Directors/New Films
which, since its founding in 1972, has been produced in collaboration with
MoMA. The Film Society also publishes the award-winning Film Comment
Magazine, and for over three decades has given an annual award – now named
“The Chaplin Award†– to a major figure in world cinema. Past recipients of
this award include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, Meryl
Streep and Tom Hanks. For more information, visit www.FilmLinc.com.
The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from 42BELOW,
American Airlines, GRAFF, Stella Artois, Illy Caffè, The New York State
Council on the Arts, and The National Endowment for the Arts