New York Asian Film Festival June 29 - July 12, 2012

From a media release:

New York Asian Film Festival
June 29 - July 12, 2012
at the Film Society of Lincoln Center


Create your own festival package! Buy a ticket to as many as 12 films and save. Minimum purchase of 3 films required. Packages start at $30 General Public / $24 Students & Seniors / $21 Film Society Members.

NEW YORK CITY - This year, the New York Asian Film Festival is bringing the crazy back! As ever, our two-fisted lineup is packed with the blockbusters, hit romances and wild comedies (and, yes, even a few art films) that are packing them in across Asia. And we’ll be delivering guests, wild ‘n’ wooly retrospective screenings, and the contemporary flicks that are scooping up awards and setting the box office on fire in Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and Taiwan.

In This Series:

Vulgaria
Pang Ho-cheung | 2012 | 90 mins
Opening Night! In person: director Pang Ho-cheung!
A hilariously offensive shock comedy about making movies, Pang Ho-cheung’s ode to filmmaking makes Borat look tame.
Friday, June 29, 2012 - 8:30 pm

Doomsday Book
KIm Ji-Woon |Yim Pil-Sung | 2012 | 115 mins
Centerpiece presentation! North American Premiere!
The much-anticipated three-part science fiction anthology from Kim Ji-Woon (I Saw The Devil) and Yim Pil-Sung (Hansel & Gretel). Robots! Meteors destroying the Earth! Viral outbreaks!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012 - 8:15 pm; Thursday, July 12, 2012 - 1:00 pm



Guns and Roses
Ning Hao | 2012 | 90 mins
Centerpiece Presentation!
Ning Hao, China’s most adrenaline-charged director, delivers a bank heist black comedy that moves at 500 mph.
Saturday, July 07, 2012 - 9:00 pm; Tuesday, July 10, 2012 - 1:30 pm

10+10
Various | 2012 | 115 mins
Directors from Hou Hsiao-hsien to Wei Te-Sheng (Seediq Bale), recruit an army of stars like Shu Qi for these 10 short films about Taiwan.
Thursday, July 05, 2012 - 6:30 pm

Ace Attorney
Takashi Miike | 2012 | 135 mins
Takashi Miike brings one of the world’s most popular Nintendo DS games to the big screen and it’s all about…lawyers? Prepare to have your mind blown by this mashup of The Practice and The Avengers!
Sunday, July 08, 2012 - 2:30 pm

All About My Wife
Min Kyu-dong | 2012 | 121 mins
North American Premiere!
In this all-star remake of an Argentinian romantic comedy, a husband is too timid to ask for a divorce, so he hires a “boyfriend” to woo his wife away.
Thursday, July 05, 2012 - 9:00 pm; Wednesday, July 11, 2012 - 1:15 pm

Blood Letter
Victor Wu | 2012 | 100 mins
From out of left field comes this Vietnamese martial arts movie full of flying swordsmen, weapon-wielding woman warriors, and the kind of wu xia passion the world has just too little of.
Thursday, July 12, 2012 - 9:00 pm

Bloody Fight in Iron Rock Valley
Ji Ha-Jean | 2011 | 90 mins
North American Premiere!
A lone stranger rides into a town ruled by an out-of-control construction cartel, ready to settle scores in this award-winning, ultra-cool, modern day spaghetti western.
Sunday, July 08, 2012 - 12:30 pm; Thursday, July 12, 2012 - 3:30 pm

Boxer’s Omen
Kuei Chih-Hung | 1983 | 105 mins
Nothing can match the sheer lunacy of this Shaw Brothers martial arts classic about black magic. You are not prepared for the gut-churning special effects.
Friday, June 29, 2012 - 11:59 pm



Couples
Jeong Yong-Ki | 2011 | 110 mins
A remake of the NYAFF hit, A Stranger of Mine, this time-looping, multiple-POV Korean romance is about finding true love in the middle of the economic meltdown.
Tuesday, July 03, 2012 - 6:00 pm; Wednesday, July 04, 2012 - 1:00 pm

Crying Fist
Ryu Seung-Wan | 2005 | 135 mins
In person: star Choi Min-Sik!
The director of City of Violence and the star of Oldboy team up for a boxing movie about two deadbeats who desperately need a comeback. A neglected classic of new Korean cinema.
Monday, July 02, 2012 - 9:00 pm

Dead Bite
Apisit Opasaimlikit | 2011 | 94 mins
North American Premiere!
Like smoking a fat blunt on the beach, this hazy, crazy zombie flick is all enthusiastic gore and surreal humor. Directed by and starring Thailand’s one and only hip hop crew, Gancore Club.
Friday, July 06, 2012 - 11:10 pm; Wednesday, July 11, 2012 - 3:50 pm

Din Tao: Leader of the Parade
Kai Feng | 2012 | 124 mins
North American Premiere!
The biggest Taiwanese hit of 2012, it’s the true story of a Din Tao (drumming ritual) team of losers and misfits.
Thursday, July 05, 2012 - 4:00 pm; Tuesday, July 10, 2012 - 9:00 pm

Dragon
Peter Chan | 2011 | 114 mins
In person: star Donnie Yen!
The word-of-mouth hit at Cannes last year, what Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon did for swordplay, it does for kung fu.
Monday, July 09, 2012 - 7:45 pm

East Meets West 2011
Jeff Lau | 2011 | 99 mins
In person: director Jeff Lau! North American Premiere!
Wong Kar-wai’s longtime collaborator, Jeff Lau, delivers an exhilarating comedy about reincarnated superheroes (and failed pop stars) that includes musical numbers, animated sequences, giant battles, and genuine heartbreak.
Wednesday, July 04, 2012 - 3:30 pm



Failan
Song Hae-Sung | 2001 | 115 mins
In person: star Choi Min-Sik!
Choi Min-Sik and Hong Kong superstar Cecilia Cheung are paired in this low key, heartfelt romance about missed opportunities.
Monday, July 02, 2012 - 3:30 pm

Five Fingers of Death
Chung Chang-Wha | 1972 | 97 mins
In person: director Chung Chang-Wha!
Quite simply the most influential martial arts movie of all time, it launched the kung fu craze, paved the way for Bruce Lee, and is still a hard-hitting action flick.
Saturday, June 30, 2012 - 5:30 pm

Goke, the Bodysnatcher from Hell
Hajime Sato | 1968 | 84 mins
Imagine a Mario Bava film, plus Lost, plus wild horror psychedelia from festival fave Hausu. Mind-bending retro madness.
Saturday, June 30, 2012 - 11:59 pm

Golden Slumbers
Davy Chou | 2011 | 96 mins
In person: director Davy Chou!
Obliterated by the Khmer Rouge in 1975, Cambodia's lost cinema lives on in the memories of the filmmakers and stars who survived the genocide in this moving oral history.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012 - 6:00 pm

Honey Pupu
Chen Hung-i | 2011 | 103 mins
Taiwan’s elegiac tone poem for the internet age about all the lost and missing people who are sliding over to an alternate earth.
Thursday, July 05, 2012 - 1:30 pm; Sunday, July 08, 2012 - 10:30 pm



Infernal Affairs 1 & 2
Andrew Lau | 2002/2003 | 101/119 mins
10th Anniversary screening!
Martin Scorsese remade Infernal Affairs as The Departed, but taken together these two movies are Asia’s richest, most complex crime epic. Note: Infernal Affairs screens at 6:00pm. Infernal Affairs 2 screens at 8:40pm.
Friday, July 06, 2012 - 6:00 pm 8:40 pm

Kill Zone
Wilson Yip | 2005 | 93 mins
In person: star Donnie Yen!
This contemporary cop movie stars Sammo Hung, lightning fast Wu Jing and Simon Yam, and it turned Donnie Yen into a major star.
Sunday, July 08, 2012 - 5:15 pm

The King of Pigs
Yeun Sang-Ho | 2011 | 97 mins
In person: director Yeun Sang-Ho!
fresh outta Cannes, this animated drama is about two adults trying to remember what exactly happened to them as kids when they attended a nightmarish high school.
Saturday, July 07, 2012 - 3:45 pm; Sunday, July 08, 2012 - 8:00 pm

Korean Short Film Madness
Various | 2011 | 120 mins
Featuring a short film (Night Fishing) directed by Park Chan-Wook (Oldboy) and his brother, as well as new shorts from Korea’s MSFF Genre Film Festival.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012 - 4:00 pm

The Lost Bladesman
Felix Chong |Alan Mak | 2012 | 109 mins
In person: star Donnie Yen!
The writers of the Infernal Affairs films wrote and directed this movie that tells the tale of China’s revered warrior, General Kwan.
Saturday, July 07, 2012 - 6:30 pm



Love in the Buff
Pang Ho-cheung | 2012 | 106 mins
In person: director Pang Ho-cheung!
Pang Ho-cheung’s razor-sharp romantic comedy is the urban romance of the year. No familiarity with predecessor, Love in a Puff, required.
Sunday, July 01, 2012 - 8:45 pm

Make Up
Yi-chi Lien | 2011 | 107 mins
North American Premiere!
A mortuary make-up artist finds that the latest body on her slab is the closeted gay high school teacher she had an affair with years before. So who killed her?
Monday, July 02, 2012 - 1:00 pm; Wednesday, July 11, 2012 - 10:30 pm

The Miami Connection
Y.K. Kim |Park Woo-Sung | 1987 | 90 mins
In person: star Grandmaster Y.K. Kim!
Gonzo, 80’s exploitation madness on acid, it’s all about a rock band that does martial arts and the drug-smuggling ninjas they must defeat.
Saturday, July 07, 2012 - 11:15 pm

Nameless Gangster
Yun Jong-Bin |
In person: star Choi Min-Sik!
Time magazine compares this gangster epic favorably to Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas and they’re not wrong. Set in the 80’s, Choi Min-Sik is a corrupt customs inspector making his grab for the bloody, brass ring of gangsterdom.
Saturday, June 30, 2012 - 9:00 pm; Tuesday, July 03, 2012 - 1:00 pm

Nasi Lemak 2.0
Namewee | 2011 | 108 mins
North American Premiere! Namewee in person at July 12 screening!
A food movie, directed by a rapper who has been investigated for sedition, that feels like a delirious early Stephen Chow movie. How could we not show it?
Monday, July 09, 2012 - 2:50 pm; Thursday, July 12, 2012 - 6:15 pm



Oldboy
Park Chan-Wook | 2003 | 120 mins
In person: stars Choi Min-Sik and Yoon Jin-Seo!
It won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes, and Choi Min-Sik is iconic as the hammer-wielding Oh Dae-Su, trying to find who imprisoned him in a hotel room for 15 years.
Saturday, June 30, 2012 - 1:00 pm

Pang Ho-Cheung’s First Attempt
Pang Ho-Cheung | 2012 | 50 mins
In person: director Pang Ho-cheung! North American Premiere!
Hong Kong’s hottest director (Vulgaria, Love in the Buff) screens movies he made in high school, mocking himself live, Mystery Science Theater-style.
Saturday, June 30, 2012 - 4:00 pm

Red Vacance, Black Wedding
Park Cheol-Su |Kim Tae-Sik | 2011 | 90 mins
North American Premiere!
This two-part film about adultery is a sexy, funny, over-the-top exploration of why we cheat.
Monday, July 09, 2012 - 10:30 pm

Sacrifice
Chen Kaige | 2010 | 124 mins
Chen Kaige (Farewell My Concubine) employs an all-star cast in this searing drama about a doctor who must sacrifice his own son to protect the child of a disgraced court official.
Tuesday, July 03, 2012 - 8:30 pm

Scabbard Samurai
Hitoshi Matsumoto | 2011 | 103 mins
North American Premiere!
From the director and star of Symbol comes this deadpan comedy about a disgraced samurai who has 30 days to make a dejected boy prince laugh, or he has to kill himself.
Friday, July 06, 2012 - 3:30 pm



A Simple Life
Ann Hui | 2011 | 118 mins
Sweeping awards from Venice to Hong Kong, this film turns a compassionate, unblinking eye on aging and dying. If you don’t cry, you’re probably a robot.
Monday, July 09, 2012 - 5:00 pm

Starry Starry Night
Tom Lin | 2011 | 120 mins
North American Premiere!
This Taiwanese hit is a visually inventive heartbreaker about a 13-year-old girl who hides in an imaginary world to escape the reality of her parent’s divorce.
Tuesday, July 03 2012 - 3:30 pm

The Swift Knight
Chung Chang-Wa | 1971 | 81 mins
In person: director Chung Chang-Wha!
Lifetime Achievement Award-winner Chung Chang-Wha (Five Fingers of Death) counts this Shaw Brothers swordplay movie as his favorite of his own films.
Sunday, July 01, 2012 - 3:20 pm

The Sword Identity
Xu Haofeng | 2011 | 108 mins
A refreshing remix of the traditional martial arts film directed by the screenwriter of Wong Kar-wai’s The Grandmasters.
Sunday, July 01 2012 - 1:00 pm; Wednesday, July 11, 2012 - 6:00 pm



War of the Arrows
Kim Han-Min | 2011 | 122 mins
Korea’s surprise blockbuster of 2011, this swashbuckling period action movie won 14 major film awards, and is a fist-pumping version of Robin Hood.
Friday, June 29, 2012 - 6:00 pm

Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale 1 & 2

Wei Te-Sheng | 2011 | 276 mins
A special Fourth of July screening of the uncut, two-part Taiwanese blockbuster that is that country’s Braveheart about its indigenous peoples fighting for their freedom.
Wednesday, July 04, 2012 - 6:00 pm

You Are the Apple of My Eye
Giddens Ko | 2011 | 110 mins
In person: Director Giddens Ko and star Michelle Chen!
The biggest romantic hit of 2011, this bittersweet movie about the way nothing will ever top the first time you fall in love swept the box office across Asia.
Sunday, July 01, 2012 - 6:00 pm; Monday, July 02 - 6:30 pm; Monday, July 09 - 12:30 pm

Zero Man vs. The Half-Virgin
Sakichi Satô | 2011 | 105 mins
From the writer of Ichi the Killer and Gozu comes this touching tale of a cop with the superpower to see how many sexual partners you’ve had.
Friday, July 06, 2012 - 1:30 pm; Saturday, July 07, 2012 - 1:30 pm

Images: Blood Letter, Din Tao: Leader of the Parads, Doomsday Book, Five Fingers of Death

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