The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema have announced the 18th edition of the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF), with screenings from
Year 18 of this fabulous festival (aka the “Still Too Young to Die” edition) showcases five international premieres, 23 North American premieres, four U.S. premieres, and eight New York premieres. Wow.
To make our lives a little easier, we’ve hand-picked 11 (not 10 or 12, mind you) films from Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, China, and the Philippines.
THE FABLE (Japan): Director Eguchi Kan and some of Jackie Chan’s stunt crew bring an action comedy adaptation of a manga about a hitman forced to live the normal life. 
ZOMBIEPURA (Singapore): Every festival needs a zombie movie. Jacen Tan’s zom-com is billed as Singapore’s first zombie film! It’s also a parody of life on the island city. 
ANOTHER CHILD (South Korea): Actor Kim Yoon-seok makes his directorial debut. A coming of age film about two teenage classmates who unite when they discover an affair between their parents. 
SAMURAI MARATHON (Japan): British director Bernard Rose (Immortal Beloved) sets his film on the cusp of modernity in 1850 as a feudal lord sends his samurai on the titular race to prepare for change. 
THE ATTORNEY (Hong Kong): Wong Kwok-fai’s courtroom drama follows the defence of a a young man accused of killing the daughter of Hong Kong’s richest tycoon after a drunken tryst. 
HAN DAN (Taiwan): Huang Chao-liang’s beautifully photographed film looks at atonement through the uniquely Taiwanese lens of ritualized firecracker attacks (as effigies of the deity Han Dan). 
FURIE (Thailand) is sure to get the pulses racing as Veronica Ngo (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) is on a quest to rescue her daughter. Fight choreography by Kefi Abrikh (Jason Bourne). 
PUSH AND SHOVE (China): A possible take on Bad Neighbours, it’s a satire on the over-the-fence rivalry between a couple and the hefty Tibetan Mastiff from next door. 
IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD SHOW (Taiwan): Nien-Tsu Hsieh’s stylish adaptation of the successful comedy theatre production Crazy TV and showcases the dark side of Taiwanese television. 
MA (Philippines): NYAFF describes Kenneth Lim Dagatan’s film as a “phantasmagorically macabre tale of loss, sacrifice and evil.” How can we argue with that? 
THE CROSSING (China): A timely tale from director Bai Xue in this coming-of-age story about a 16-year-old girl muling iPhones from China to Hong Kong to pay for a trip to Japan.
The 18th edition of the New York Asian Film Festival runs from 28 June – 14 July 2019. Tickets are available from nyaff.org and filmlinc.org.
