This year’s NYAFF brings the best of new Asian cinema as well as several retrospectives…

The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema organizes New York Asian Film Festival for the 17th time, featuring four world premieres, three international premieres in the rich programme showcasing up to 60 titles from all around East Asia. The festival focuses on the genre cinema that is deeply grounded in the local realities and reflects on contemporary society. As the festival turns 17, it’s profile gets mature, searching out the most interesting titles in Asian genre cinema.

New York Asian Film Festival Main Competition come back for the second time with seven films in the section: Shiraishi Kazuya’s Blood of Wolves (Japan) about yakuza turf war in 1988 Hiroshima; Nam Ron’s Crossroads: One Two Jaga (Malaysia) focusing on the migrant workers in Malaysia; Naito Eisuke’s Liverleaf (Japan) – j-horror among sadistic school bullies; in Dong Yue’s The Looming Storm (China) China noir comes back but instead of Black Coal Thin Ice Northern cold we have Southern rain and a security guard chasing a serial killer in the small sleepy town back in 1997 hectic modernization era; Sunny Chan’s Men on the Dragon (Hong Kong) is also NYAFF Centerpiece presentation, a quintessential underdog story about a group of blue-collar workers who reluctantly join their company’s dragon boat team; Jeon Go-woon’s Microhabitat (South Korea) tells a story of a low-income young housekeeper, who decides to give up her apartment and live on the streets as a woman rebelling against the rising prices, capitalist market and the Korean society as a whole; and finally Treb Monteras’s Respeto (Philippines) – a celebration of the underground Pinoy hip hop world. Four of the competition titles are debut films, reflecting the festival’s ongoing support for new directors.

Opening Night screening sheds light on the story of Japanese Hugh Hefner – Tominaga Masanori’s Dynamite Graffiti is a drama based on the life and times of Japanese porn magazine king Suei Akira, who cultivated future artists such as Araki Nobuyoshi and Moriyama Daido. This spirited tale of sexual exploitation is an ode to free expression that shattered the division between high and low art that are forever intertwined in the contemporary times, keeping art alive and relevant. New York Film Festival organizers see it as a metaphor for the humble origins of the festival itself as a Chinatown-born grindhouse showcase introducing the works of Johnnie To and several of the modern masters of Korean cinema thus chose it for the opening night screening.

World premiere of Erik Matti‘s BuyBust for a Closing Night sums up this year’s turn towards exhibiting more and more Southeast Asian titles, especially from the Philippines. It reveals festival’s transformation, diverse appeal and the focus on the future development as ASEAN countries genre cinemas are storytelling goldmines. On the surface, BuyBust is structured like an 309 stuntmen action film, with superstar Anne Curtis and MMA world champion Brandon Vera as narcs taking down a drug kingpin against insurmountable odds over one unrelenting rainy night. It also offers a perspective on the ongoing drug war and broader issues of political corruption, the themes forever recurring in Erik Matti’s films such as On the Job (2013) also included in the 2018 NYAFF line up.

The programme features six productions from the Philippines, except for Erik Matti’s two films and Respeto in the Main Competition, there is also Mikhail Red’s Neomanila, about a “mother-and-son” death squad, and Richard Somes’s brutal We Will Not Die Tonight, starring Erich Gonzales as a stuntwoman trying to survive a single night. As Philippine cinema is definitely not all bloodshed, corruption and crime in Manila sin city, but also comedy and romance, NYAFF line up features Irene Villamor’s blockbuster (anti-) romance Sid & Aya (Not a Love Story), also starring Anne Curtis from BuyBust.



The China section, supported by Confucius Institute Headquarters and China Institute, continues to take a more central role, showcasing mainstream as well as art house side of a booming film industry. One year ago, NYAFF committed to supporting the new generation of first-time directors emerging in Asia with the Young Blood series, focusing on Hong Kong; this year the festival shifts to Mainland China.

As well as The Looming Storm in the Main Competition, the programme features Inner Mongolia-set drama Old Beast (produced by Chinese auteur filmmaker Wang Xiaoshuai), and the razor-sharp Northeastern comedy Looking for Lucky, which revolves around a man, his father, and a missing dog. In the face of Chinese demographic problem and the considerable shortage of female population, the gender rules are shifting, thus Chinese romantic comedy is the genre with great potential for good narratives. 17th NYAFF features Dude’s Manual and The Ex-Files 3:The Return of the Exes indicating the possible future trend.

The New Cinema from Japan is broadly represented, with fourteen titles in the programme. The festival is gathering several influential young filmmakers: Naito Eisuke with circle-of-revenge drama Liverleaf in the Main Competition, Ogata Takaomi with experimental youth drama The Hungry Lion, Takeshita Masao with slow-burn drama The Midnight Bus, and Kanata Wolf with his slacker debut Smokin’ on the Moon. Also attending is actor Emoto Tasuku who brings his mischievous charm to the protagonist of porn publishing odyssey Dynamite Graffiti. Other highlights include Sato Shinsuke’s cross-generational superhero showdown Inuyashiki, Ueda Shinichiro’s meta zombie film homage One Cut of the Dead, and Yukisada Isao’s brutal youth drama River’s Edge.

Hong Kong panorama, presented with the support of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York, includes nine films, three of which are tribute to Dante Lam, who has been at the creative forefront of the Hong Kong action genre for ten years, debuting with Beast Stalker (2008), complex thriller that became an instant modern classic. The festival celebrates Dante Lam’s career by awarding him the Daniel A. Craft Award for Excellence in Action Cinema and a special 10th anniversary screening of Beast Stalker on 35mm, together with his MMA drama Unbeatable and his latest film Operation Red Sea, which became the second highest-grossing Chinese-language film of all time, and Asia’s biggest hit of 2018. Lam attends our opening weekend to discuss his films with long-term producer Candy Leung. Except for Lam’s retrospective, Hong Kong panorama features the latest releases directed by newcomers such as Jonathan Li’s The Brink or the biggest Hong Kong filmmakers like Chapman To’s The Empty Hands, all bringing new tales of crime and action.

This year’s South Korean Cinema section showcases several works of women film directors: Jeon Go-woon’s competition title Microhabitat, Yim Soon-rye’s Little Forest, based on Japanese manga series about young women returning to her rural hometown after the disappointment with the city life, and Jeong Ga-young’s Hit the Night about a woman, who under a pretense of research, interviews the man she is interested in. All three titles show different ways women agency is realized in the character’s daily life, no compromises involved.



Among five films selected to showcase newest Taiwan cinema releases, Yang Ya-che’s The Bold, the Corrupt and the Beautiful is a title not to miss, based on the true story that took place in the south of Taiwan in the 1990s, the film perfectly grasped Taiwanese reality, bringing to light the story that proves as relevant today as it was two decades ago. On Happiness Road, animation directed by Sung Hsin-yin, reflects the experience of many Taiwanese growing up, being universally touching at the same time. On the other hand, the mainstream productions are represented by gangster film Gatao 2: Rise of the King, poised comfortably between classic yakuza and triad movies from Japan and Hong Kong.

Southeast Asian cinema is not only represented by The Philippines, but also few other titles to watch out for. NYAFF presents two Malaysian premieres, Crossroads: One Two Jaga in the Main Competition and black magic thriller Dukun – the long-buried debut of established Malaysian director Dain Said, screening twelve years after its shoot was completed. There is also a special subsection devoted to Southeast Asian Westerns, exhibiting 2018 Mike Wiluan’s Buffalo Boys, as well as 2000 Wisit Sasanatieng’s madcap Tears of the Black Tiger that returns in a special 35mm screening.



This year’s New York Asian Film Festival puts a spotlight on several filmmakers, whose work reflect the contemporary currents in Asian cinema. Except for Dante Lam and Erik Matti, NYAFF honours veteran director Harada Masato with Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award and short retrospective. Since his debut in 1979, Harada has worked in nearly every genre, but always focusing on societal issues. The festival will screen his dark classic gem Kamikaze Taxi on 35mm, the recent Kakekomi (2016), a period piece about female empowerment, and his most recent historical epic Sekigahara, about the one-day battle in 1600 that defined modern Japan.

As well as the film screenings, the programme is completed with additional events such as HBO® Free Talks (Q&As with Harada Masato, Dong Yue, Xin Yukun, Erik Matti, and Mike Wiluan) and “Safe Imagination Is Boring” – a group exhibition of 10 emerging artists who have created new work inspired by Asian cinema.

Full Line Up:

CHINA (7)

Dude’s Manual (Kevin Ko, 2018)

End of Summer (Zhou Quan, 2017)

The Ex-Files 3: The Return of the Exes (Tian Yusheng, 2017)

Looking for Lucky (Jiang Jiachen, 2018)

The Looming Storm (Dong Yue, 2017)

Old Beast (Zhou Ziyang, 2017)

Wrath of Silence (Xin Yukun, 2017)

HONG KONG PANORAMA (9)

Beast Stalker (Dante Lam, 2008) – Tribute to Dante Lam

The Big Call (Oxide Pang, 2017)

The Brink (Jonathan Li, 2017)

The Empty Hands (Chapman To, 2018)

House of the Rising Sons (Antony Chan, 2018)

Men on the Dragon (Sunny Chan, 2018)

Operation Red Sea (Dante Lam, 2018) – Tribute to Dante Lam

Paradox (Wilson Yip, 2017)

Unbeatable (Dante Lam, 2003) – Tribute to Dante Lam

INDONESIA (1)

Buffalo Boys (Mike Wiluan, 2018)

JAPAN (14)

Blood of Wolves (Shiraishi Kazuya, 2018)

Dynamite Graffiti (Tominaga Masanori, 2018)

The Hungry Lion (Ogata Takaomi, 2017)

Inuyashiki (Sato Shinsuke, 2018)

Kakekomi (Harada Masato, 2015) – Tribute to Harada Masato

Kamikaze Taxi (Harada Masato, 1995) – Tribute to Harada Masato

Sekigahara (Harada Masato, 2017) – Tribute to Harada Masato

Liverleaf (Naito Eisuke, 2018)

Midnight Bus (Takeshita Masao, 2017)

One Cut of the Dead (Ueda Shinichiro, 2018)

River’s Edge (Yukisada Isao, 2018)

The Scythian Lamb (Yoshida Daihachi, 2017)

Smokin’ on the Moon (Kanata Wolf, 2017)

The Third Murder (Kore-eda Hirokazu, 2017)

MALAYSIA (2)

Crossroads: One Two Jaga (Nam Ron, 2018)

Dukun (Dain Said, 2018)

PHILIPPINES (6)

BuyBust (Erik Matti, 2018) – Tribute to Erik Matti

Neomanila (Mikhail Red, 2017)

On the Job (Erik Matti, 2013) – Tribute to Erik Matti

Respeto (Treb Monteras, 2017)

Sid & Aya: Not a Love Story (Irene Villamor, 2018)

We Will Not Die Tonight (Richard Somes, 2018)

SOUTH KOREA (10)

1987: When the Day Comes (Jang Joon-hwan, 2017)

After My Death (Kim Ui-seok, 2017)

The Age of Blood (Kim Hong-sun, 2017)

Counters (Lee Il-ha, 2017)

Hit the Night (Jeong Ga-young, 2017)

I Can Speak (Kim Hyeon-seok, 2017)

Little Forest (Yim Soon-rye, 2018)

Microhabitat (Jeon Go-woon, 2017)

The Return (Malene Choi, 2018)

What a Man Wants (Lee Byeong-hun, 2018)

TAIWAN (5)

Gatao 2: Rise of the King (Yen Cheng-kuo, 2018)

The Last Verse (Tseng Ying-ting, 2017)

Missing Johnny (Huang Xi, 2017)

On Happiness Road (Sung Hsin-yin, 2017)

The Bold, the Corrupt and the Beautiful (Yang Ya-che, 2017)

THAILAND (3)

Premika (Siwakorn Jarupongpa, 2017)

Sad Beauty (Bongkod Bencharongkul, 2018)

Tears of the Black Tiger (Wisit Sasanatieng, 2000)

The 17th New York Asian Film Festival takes place from June 29 to July 12 at the Film Society’s Walter Reade Theater (165 West 65th St), and July 13 to 15 at SVA Theatre (333 West 23rd St) in New York. Click here to check out schedule and ticket info.