New York Asian Film Festival Confirms 2023 Lineup

New York Asian Film Festival returns for its 22nd edition with another packed programme of recent East Asian cinema hits screening at Lincoln Center & Barrymore Film Center July 14 – 30. This year the festival will pay tribute to director Zhang Wei, while Junji Sakamoto will receive the Screen International Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award, Ryohei Suzuki the Screen International Rising Star Asia Award, and Louis Koo the Extraordinary Star Asia Award. 

China

• Art College 1994 – A collection of art students mull over the big questions while floundering in the complicated mid-90s society in Liu Jian’s nostalgic animation. Review.
• The Cord of Life – a folktronica musician embarks on a roadtrip with his mother after learning she has Alzheimer’s.
• Flaming Cloud – whimsical romantic fantasy in which a young man is cursed causing all who kiss him to fall into a deep sleep.
• A Woman – dramatisation of Zhang Xiuzhen’s semi-autobiographical novel charting a woman’s life through the cultural revolution into the new China of the 1980s.

Filmmaker in Focus: Zhang Wei

• Empty Nest – drama in which an elderly woman bonds with a young man selling healthcare products.
• Factory Boss – drama following the owner of a toy factory contending with economic crisis.
• Redemption with Life – drama from Zhang Wei in which the friendship between three bikers is tested by a series of get-rich-quick schemes.
• The Rib (Director’s Cut) – drama in which a transwoman contends with her conservative father whose signature she needs in order to get confirmation surgery. Review.

Hong Kong

• A Light Never Goes Out – a mother and a daughter take very different paths in trying to come to terms with grief in Anastasia Tsang’s poignant drama. Review.
• Back Home – folk horror in which a young man returns from Canada when his estranged mother falls into a coma.
• Everyphone Everywhere – zeitesty drama in which three middle-aged friends reunite 25 years after high school as one prepares to go abroad.
• In Broad Daylight – drama in which an investigative journalist goes undercover at a home for the disabled.
• Mad Fate – mad cap supernatural noir in which a fortune teller and “born psychopath” team up to solve a murder.
• Nomad – Heavily censored on its release, Patrick Tam’s 1982 classic stars a young Leslie Cheung as an aimless young man from a wealthy family who spends his time hanging out with friends at the beach until his cousin’s romance with a fugitive from the Japanese Red Army threatens to upset their idle days. Review.
• The Sunny Side of the Street – An embittered taxi driver is forced to reflect on his prejudices and relationships after getting into a vendetta with a refugee in Lau Kok-rui’s melancholy drama. Review.
• Vital Signs – drama starring Louis Koo as an earnest paramedic.
• The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell – the third installment in Herman Yau’s thematic series starring Louis Koo, Aaron Kwok, and Lau Ching-Wan.

Japan

• #Manhole – a salaryman’s moment of triumph is disrupted when he falls down a manhole the night before his wedding in Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s unhinged B-movie thriller. Review.
• December – Bereaved parents are confronted by the unresolved past when the woman who killed their daughter appeals her sentence in Anshul Chauhan’s empathetic courtroom drama. Review.
• Egoist – a fashion editor reflects on the nature of love after falling for a personal trainer in Daishi Matsunaga’s deeply moving romantic drama. Review.
• A Hundred Flowers – An expectant father finds himself confronted with paternal anxiety and past trauma on learning that his mother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in Genki Kawamura’s adaptation of his own novel. Review.
• In Her Room – eerie drama in which a shy dentist falls for a mysterious woman.
• Mayhem Girls – pandemic-era drama in which a group of high school girls suddenly develop superpowers.
• Motherhood – Ryuichi Hiroki adapts the Kanae Minato novel revolving around the complicated relationship between a mother and a daughter.
• Mountain Woman – a young woman walks into the mountains to die but unexpectedly discovers what it is to feel truly human in Takeshi Fukunaga’s bleak folk tale. Review.
• Okiku and the World – a samurai’s daughter falls for a lowly manure man in a city on the brink of change in Junji Sakamoto’s touching dramedy. Review.

Malaysia

• Abang Adik – drama centring on the relationship between two orphaned young men.

Philippines

• 12 Weeks – drama in which a woman attempts to secure a safe abortion in a fiercely pro-life culture.
• I Love You, Beksman – a flamboyant hairdresser scandalises his family when he comes out as straight after falling for a beauty queen in Percival M. Intalan’s ironic comedy. Review.
• Where Is the Lie? – drama in which a transwoman is targeted by cyberbullies.

South Korea

• Bear Man – surreal comedy in which two bears managed by the North Korean Institute of Technology disappear one day.
• Dream – inspiration sporting drama in which a washed up footballer agrees to coach a team of homeless men.
• Extreme Festival – the CEO of a small events planning firm finds herself in the firing line after agreeing to organise the local cultural festival.
• Greenhouse – gritty drama starring Kim Seo-hyung as a woman pushed to impossible extremes.
• Hail to Hell – black comedy in which a young couple planning to take their own lives decide to get revenge on their bully instead.
• The Host – Bong Joon Ho’s classic monster movie.
• Killing Romance – madcap comedy in which a former star (Lee Ha-nee) teams up with a student (Gong Myoung) to kill her husband (Lee Sun-kyun).
• Phantom – Colonial Era spy thriller meets drawing room mystery in this masterful drama from Lee Hae-young.
• Rebound – inspirational sporting drama in which a moribund high school basketball team make their way towards championship glory.
• A Tour Guide – a North Korean defector becomes a guide for Chinese tourists in the South while searching for her missing brother.

Singapore

• Geylang – crime drama in which a series of cosmic coincidences conspire against residents of Singapore’s red light district.

Taiwan

• The Abandoned – horror in which a grieving policewoman investigates a series of murders of migrant workers.
• Bad Education – a night of post-graduation celebration goes awry when teenage boys unwisely assault a gangster in the directorial debut from actor Kai Ko.
• Gaga – an indigenous family finds its relationships strained when the oldest son decides to run for mayor in Laha Mebow’s warmhearted dramedy. Review.
• Eye of the Storm – a doctor investigates a mysterious virus.
• Marry My Dead Body – a police officer discovers a red wedding envelope but soon realises the proposal comes from the other side and it is the ghost of a murdered man who wants to marry him!
• Miss Shampoo – quirky rom-com from Giddens Ko in which a gangster falls for a hairstylist after she hides him from bad guys.

Thailand

• Faces of Anne – existential drama in which a woman wakes up on a weird island where her face changes every few minutes.
• Kitty the Killer – comic book action comedy in which a rookie teams up with a band of female assassins to take revenge for their mentor’s death.
• You & Me & Me – millennial drama in which the relationship between a pair of twins is disrupted when they fall for the same boy.

Vietnam

• Glorious Ashes – poetic drama focussing on the lives of three of three women in a poor coastal village.

The New York Asian Film Festival runs from 14th June to 30th July. Full details for all the films are available via the official website where you can also find screening times and ticketing information. You can also keep up with all the latest festival news via the official Facebook Page and Twitter account.