New York Asian Film Festival

June 20 – July 6, 2008

at the IFC Center
(323 Sixth Avenue, at West 4th Street)

and

Japan Society
(333 East 47th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues)


It's back like a bad dream – the New York Asian Film Festival kicks off its
seventh edition this summer and we're exploding with the rich smoky taste of
pure Asian movie flavor. While we have plenty of surprises still to be
announced (including extreme terrorism, extreme weirdness and some
hard-hitting, high profile action titles) here's what's confirmed so far:

SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO – we unleash the beast a full month before it hits
movie theaters: Takashi Miike's berserk, bloody, out-of-control
English-language spaghetti western, guest-starring Quentin Tarantino. Full
of female gunfighters, clockwork wheelchairs, razor sharp samurai swords and
tiny fetuses growing inside blooming flowers this is the Takashi Miike movie
Variety calls “…one of his wildest ideas yet…” And they're right.
(A co-presentation with Japan Society's Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese
Film)

L: CHANGE THE WORLD – the prequel to last year's hit DEATH NOTE movies, this
is another pop gothic popcorn muncher and this time it's directed by Hideo
Nakata of THE RING and DARK WATER fame.
(A co-presentation with Japan Society's Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese
Film)

ASSEMBLY – China takes the war movie and kicks it up to eleven in one of the
year's biggest blockbusters. The first half is a dirt-in-your-teeth war film
about the Ninth Company's last stand during China's 1948 Civil War. The
second half is a dissection of the way war heroes are put on the shelf and
forgotten once the sounds of battle fade. Truly epic, and truly magnificent.

MAD DETECTIVE – the New York Times says that this dark, nightmarish thriller
from Johnnie To “reaffirms his status as an action master.” And they're
right!

DAINIPPONJIN – this giant monster mock-u-mentary is the movie that
“Cloverfield” should have been. Ever wonder what happens when giant monsters
go into heat? Wonder no longer!
(A co-presentation with Japan Society's Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese
Film)

ALWAYS 1 & 2 – these two massively budgeted feel-good Japanese blockbusters
about a Tokyo neighborhood rebuilding itself after World War II have won 14
Japanese Academy Awards between them and sold millions of tickets. ALWAYS 1
sold-out the NYAFF in 2006, and this year we're bringing it back with its
enormously satisfying sequel.
(Always 2 is a co-presentation with Japan Society's Japan Cuts: Festival of
New Japanese Film)

M – Lee Myung-Se (DUELIST, NOWHERE TO HIDE) turns in one of the trippiest
films of the year. A celluloid hallucination, it's like dreaming with your
eyes open and it inspired legions of fans to take to the streets of Seoul in
protest when one theater wanted to end its run early.

ACCURACY OF DEATH – Takeshi Kaneshiro (FALLEN ANGELS, HOUSE OF FLYING
DAGGERS) rules as the sexiest angel of death ever seen in this pitch
perfect remake of “Death Takes a Holiday.” It's a romantic comedy that
manages the neat trick of being both genuinely funny and genuinely romantic.
(A co-presentation with Japan Society's Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese
Film)

And we're super-excited about LADY WHIRLWIND: AN EVENING WITH ANGELA MAO, a
celebration of the life and works of martial arts legend, angela Mao. You
may remember her best as Bruce Lee's sister in ENTER THE DRAGON, but angela
Mao was one of the greatest female screen fighters of her time and she will
be here in person to do a Q&A and introduce newly discovered prints of two
of her classic films.

We're also excited to be co-presenting the July 3 – July 6 portion of the
New York Asian Film Festival with Japan Society's “Japan Cuts: Festival of
New Japanese Film.” Once we end our festival, they'll keep on going,
presenting great new Japanese films for a further ten days. It's more Asian
films than you can beat with a stick, and they're all out to get you.

It's been a tough year for many of the Asian film industries, with less
blockbusters than ever before, but we're going to bring you a festival of
epic proportions come hell or high water, so stay tuned to
www.subwaycinema.com for all the latest news as we get it.