The Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award at the New York Asian Film Festival 2019 goes to Hong Kong's martial arts fight choreographer and director extraordinaire Yuen Woo Ping, perhaps best known to mainstream audiences for his work on “The Matrix”, “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” and “Kill Bill”.
The extremely prolific Yuen started as an actor and stuntman in the 60s. In 1978, he made his phenomenal directorial debut with “Snake in the Eagle's Shadow”, followed quickly with “Drunken Master”, the two films that not only made Jackie Chan an international star but practically created the indelible kung fu comedy genre. His filmography is a litany of kung fu movie classics marked by breathtaking innovations in fight choreography and genre stylings.
Screening in the festival are the seminal Donnie Yen vehicle “Iron Monkey”, a now classic of the 90's new wave of kung fu movies, on 35mm, the brand new “Master Z : Ip Man Legacy”, an exciting entry in the Ip Man series of films, starring Max Zhang, Michelle Yeoh and Tony Jaa, and “The Miracle Fighters” Yuen's first of several absolutely crazy meldings of kung fu, fantasy and comedy that must be seen to be believed.
The Yuen Woo-Ping tribute at the 18th New York Asian Film Festival is presented in association with Film at Lincoln Center, with the support of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York (HKETONY)
The screening of “Master Z : Ip Man Legacy” courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment
