From Studio Ghibli leading the charge for the expansion of anime to BTS and BLACKPINK topping the music charts to TV series and films such as “Squid Games,” Parasite,” “Minari,” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once” dominating the awards circuit, the popularity of Asian culture and media has surged in the United States in recent years. Audiences are becoming more savvy, international, and embracing the art that other countries and cultures are blessing the world with. Yet, there is still a need to push International art, specifically Eastern films, to Western audiences, as there is still an underrepresentation in the mainstream. Thankfully, since 2002, The New York Asian Film Foundation and Film at Lincoln Center have bridged that gap with the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF).
READ MORE: The Best Films Of 2023… So Far
As a celebration of “the mad, bad, downright dangerous, and best in Asian cinema,” NYAFF is returning for its 22nd edition. Running from July 14, 2023, to July 30, 2023, at Lincoln Center in New York City and with special weekend screenings at the historic Barrymore Film Center in Fort Lee, New Jersey, this year’s edition features eight world premieres, nine international premieres, and 32 North American premieres across almost all genres.
Among the 78 films screening at the festival, the line-up includes “Egoist” directed by Daishi Matsunaga, “Dream” directed by Lee Byeong-heon, “Phantom” directed by Lee Hae-young, “Vital Signs” directed by Cheuk Wan-chi, “In Broad Daylight” directed by Lawrence Kan, and a special screening of Bong Joon-ho’s classic sci-fi monster film “The Host” from 2006. The festival opens this year with director Lee Won-suk’s “Killing Romance,” which tells the story of a former superstar actress trapped in a toxic marriage with an egomaniacal tycoon. After the premiere, there will be a Q&A with Lee Won-suk and Lee Sun-kyun, one of the film’s stars. The closing film has yet to be announced, but it should be a good one.
Tickets for the 22nd NYAFF are already on sale through Film At Lincoln Center. You can see the trailer for this year’s festival below and check out the full line-up underneath.
FULL LINE-UP (78 films)
(Please note the program is still subject to change.)
OPENING FILM
– Killing Romance | dir. Lee Won-suk, South Korea, 2023 | North American Premiere
CENTERPIECE FILM
– Dream | dir. Lee Byeong-heon, South Korea, 2023 | International Premiere
OUTDOOR FILM
– The Host | dir. Bong Joon-ho, South Korea, 2006 | Special Screening
CLOSING FILM
– 2023 | World Premiere
BEYOND BORDERS (3)
Films that tell stories about characters confronting different cultures
– Mountain Woman | dir. Takeshi Fukunaga, Japan, USA, 2022 | North American Premiere
– The Sunny Side of the Street | dir. Lau Kok-rui, Hong Kong, Malaysia, 2022 | New York Premiere
– A Tour Guide | dir. Kwak Eun-mi, South Korea, 2023 | North American Premiere
CROWD PLEASERS (5)
Films that captivate, comfort, and cheer
– Bear Man | dir. Park Sung-kwang, South Korea, 2023 | North American Premiere
– Gaga | dir. Laha Mebow / Chieh-Yao Chen, Taiwan, 2022 | East Coast Premiere
– I Love You, Beksman | dir. Percival Intalan, Philippines, 2022 | North American Premiere
– Marry My Dead Body | dir. Cheng Wei-hao, Taiwan, 2022 | East Coast Premiere
– Rebound | dir. Chang Hang-jun, South Korea, 2023 | New York Premiere
DIASPORIC DISCOVERIES (3)
Films that blur the clear-cut lines of East-West identities
– The Effects of Lying | dir. Isher Sahota, U.K., 2023 | North American Premiere
– Shaky Shivers | dir. Sung Kang, USA, 2023 | East Coast Premiere
– A-Town Boyz | dir. Eunice Lau, USA, 2023 | World Premiere
FRONTLINES (6)
Films grounded in the lives of those in marginalized communities, with narratives that examine pressing issues
– 12 Weeks | dir. Anna Isabelle Matutina, Philippines, 2022 | International Premiere
– December | dir. Anshul Chauhan, Japan, 2022 | North American Premiere
– Eye of the Storm | dir. Lin Chun-Yang, Taiwan, 2023 | International Premiere
– Glorious Ashes | dir. Bui Thac Chuyên, Vietnam, France, Singapore, 2022 | North American Premiere
– In Broad Daylight | dir. Lawrence Kan, Hong Kong, 2023 | North American Premiere
– Vital Signs | dir. Cheuk Wan-chi, Hong Kong, 2023 | North American Premiere
GENRE MASTERS (6)
Innovative new work that tweaks and twists genre conventions
– #Manhole | dir. Kazuyoshi Kumakiri, Japan, 2023 | East Coast Premiere
– Geylang | dir. Boi Kwong, Singapore, 2022 | North American Premiere
– Kitty the Killer | dir. Lee Thongkham, Thailand, 2023 | International Premiere
– Mad Fate | dir. Soi Cheang, Hong Kong, 2023 | North American Premiere
– Miss Shampoo | dir. Giddens Ko, Taiwan, 2023 | North American Premiere
– The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell | dir. Herman Yau, Hong Kong, 2023 | North American Premiere
NEXT/NOW (7)
Highlighting emerging voices and promising works by up-and-coming directors
– Bad Education | dir. Kai Ko, Taiwan, 2022 | North American Premiere
– The Cord of Life | dir. Qiao Sixue, China, 2022 | New York Premiere
– Extreme Festival | dir. Kim Hong-ki, South Korea, 2023 | International Premiere
– Hail to Hell | dir. Lim Oh-jeong, South Korea, 2022 | North American Premiere
– A Light Never Goes Out | dir. Anastasia Tsang, Hong Kong, 2022 | U.S. Premiere
– Mayhem Girls | dir. Shinichi Fujita, Japan, 2022 | International Premiere
– You & Me & Me | dir. Weawwan Hongvivatana, Wanweaw Hongvivatana, Thailand, 2023 | North American Premiere
STANDOUTS (6)
Exceptional films, regardless of premiere status
– Art College 1994 | dir. Liu Jian, China, 2023 | North American Premiere
– Egoist | dir. Daishi Matsunaga, Daishi Matsunaga, Japan, 2023 | New York Premiere
– A Hundred Flowers | dir. Genki Kawamura, Japan, 2022 | New York Premiere
– Motherhood | dir. Ryuichi Hiroki, Japan, 2022 | U.S. Premiere
– Phantom | dir. Lee Hae-young, South Korea, 2023 | North American Premiere
– A Woman | dir. Wang Chao, China, 2022 | North American Premiere
VANGUARDS (5)
Original films that break away from formalistic and/or narrative conventions
– Everyphone Everywhere | dir. Amos Why, Hong Kong, 2023 | North American Premiere
– In Her Room | dir. Chihiro Ito, Japan, 2022 | North American Premiere
– Nomad (Director’s Cut) | dir. Patrick Tam, Hong Kong, 1982 | East Coast Premiere
– Okiku and the World | dir. Junji Sakamoto, Japan, 2023 | North American Premiere
– Where Is the Lie? | dir. Quark Henares, Philippines, 2023 | New York Premiere
FILMMAKER IN FOCUS: ZHANG WEI (4):
– Empty Nest | dir. Zhang Wei, China, 2020 | North American Premiere
– Factory Boss | dir. Zhang Wei, China, 2014 | Special Screening
– Redemption with Life | dir. Zhang Wei, China, 2023 | World Premiere (also in the Uncaged Competition)
– The Rib (Director’s Cut) | dir. Zhang Wei, China, 2018 | Special Screening
UNCAGED AWARD FOR BEST FEATURE FILM COMPETITION (9):
– The Abandoned | dir. Tseng Ying-ting, Taiwan, 2022 | North American Premiere
– Abang Adik | dir. Jin Ong, Malaysia, 2023 | North American Premiere
– Back Home | dir. Nate Ki, Hong Kong, 2023 | World Premiere
– Faces of Anne | dir. Rasiguet Sookkarn, Kongdej Jaturanrasmee, Thailand, 2022 | North American Premiere
– Flaming Cloud | dir. Liu Siyi, China, 2023 | World Premiere
– Greenhouse | dir. Lee Sol-hui, South Korea, 2022 | North American Premiere
– Home Sweet Home | dir. Takumi Saitoh, Japan, 2023 | North American Premiere
– Mountain Onion | dir. Eldar Shibanov, Kazakhstan, 2022 | North American Premiere
– Redemption with Life | dir. Zhang Wei, China, 2023 | World Premiere (also in Filmmaker in Focus)
SHORTS: SHORTS SHOWCASE – ANIMATION
– Borderline | dir. Kong Son-hee, South Korea, 2022 | World Premiere
– Confusion of the Afternoon | dir. Yung-Chieh Lee, Taiwan, 2023 | East Coast Premiere
– Goose Mountain | dir. Hu Rui, Chen Liaoyu, China, 2023
– Handwritten | dir. Jaime Sunwoo, USA, 2022 | New York Premiere
– Hidari | dir. Masashi Kawamura, Iku Ogawa, Japan, 2023
– Impurrfection | dir. Chiang Yao, Taiwan, 2022 | New York Premiere
– The Kidnapping (Old Man Yang) | dir. Gu Yang, Liu Kuang, Chen Liaoyu, China, 2023
– Little Pig Demon (Nobody) | dir. Yu Shui, Chen Liaoyu, China, 2023
– Ship Down the Well | dir. Chen Xi, Zhou Xiaolin, Chen Liaoyu, China, 2023
– What We Leave Behind | dir. Kang Nam-jin, South Korea, 2022 | International Premiere
SHORTS: SHORTS SHOWCASE – LIVE ACTION
– All Your Fault, PD | dir. Kim Sun-yeun, South Korea, 2022 | North American Premiere
– Fix Anything | dir. Lê Lâm Viên, Vietnam, 2022 | North American Premiere
– Infant (Perzent) | dir. Karash Zhanyshov, Kyrgyzstan, 2022 | U.S. Premiere
– Kumbang (Bugs) | dir. Gwai Lou, Malaysia, 2023 | World Premiere
– Neo Portraits | dir. Gazebo, Japan, 2023 | International Premiere
– Pufferfish | dir. Mohamad Kamal Alavi, Iran, 2023 | World Premiere
– Resellers | dir. Lee Seung-ju, South Korea, 2022 | International Premiere
– A Roadside Banquet | dir. Peiqi Peng, United States, China, 2023 | East Coast Premiere
– Sweet Refuge | dir. Maryam Mir, USA, 2023 | East Coast Premiere
– Will You Look At Me | dir. Shuli Huang, China, 2022