The 19th New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) has announced the names of the recipients of its Rising Star Award and Action Cinema Award, as well as the international jury members who will select the winner of the NYAFF “Uncaged” Competition Award during the upcoming virtual edition, running from August 28-September 12 on the Smart Cinema USA app. Tickets for this year's special virtual edition go on sale August 23.
The 2020 Screen International Rising Star Award goes to South Korean actress Lee Joo-young for Baseball Girl, making its international premiere and screening throughout the festival. The award recognizes her daring choice of roles across her already diverse body of work, as well as her fierce commitment to every performance, whether in indie cinema, where she already stands as a star, or the TV drama scene. These notable traits are exemplified by her tour-de-force turn as the eponymous underdog female athlete in Baseball Girl. Lee, one of the stars of Netflix drama Itaewon Class, appeared in previous NYAFF films A Quiet Dream and Jane (NYAFF 2017) and Maggie (NYAFF 2019).
South Korean cinema figures prominently in the festival lineup, with the International premiere of Forbidden Dream and the SF8 science fiction films series, North American premieres of Choi Won-sub's Hitman: Agent Jun, Yoon Danbi's Moving On and Kim Cho-hee's Lucky Chan-sil, among others.
Geran, directed by Areel Abu Bakar, with action choreographed by Azlan Komeng, showcases Malaysia's local martial art silat and is the recipient of the Daniel A. Craft Award for Action Cinema. The film stars Namron, a guest at NYAFF 2018 with his own film, Crossroads: One Two Jaga. First-time filmmaker Bakar joins previous winners of the NYAFF award Dante Lam (Operation Red Sea), Yue Song (The Bodyguard) and Jung Byung-gil (The Villainess).
Malay films that have played at NYAFF's past editions include Fly by Night, Walk With Me and Nasi Lemak 2.0.
NYAFF also announced the latest addition to its lineup, which already displays a strong Southeast presence: the New York premiere of Vietnamese film Rom, directed by Tran Thanh Huy and produced by Bao Nguyen. With talented young actors Tran Anh Khoa and Anh Tu Wilson, it is a raw, street-level spectacle that tells the tale of two teenage rivals who run, jump and fight against the backdrop of a Saigon shanty town.
The festival organizers also unveil this year's “Uncaged” Competition Award jury lineup: Kristen Yoonsoo Kim (film and culture writer, The New York Times), Arvin Chen (writer and director, Au Revoir Taipei), Bao Nguyen (producer, Rom; director, Bruce Lee documentary Be Water). The jury will be making its selection from five titles competing for Best Film in the section, which is devoted to the discovery of new or under-the-radar talent. The films, which were already announced, are: IWeirDo, Moving On, Legally Declared Dead, Victim(s) and They Say Nothing Stays the Same.
This year's focus on women filmmakers, Women Transforming Film, not only boasts an exciting lineup of great female-forward titles but also marks the first time NYAFF shows films from Kazakhstan (The Legend of Tomiris, a female action-heavy biopic about the first queen of the Amazon warriors) and Bhutan (Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom).
NYAFF will open with the North American premiere of The Girl And The Gun by Rae Red and the centrepiece screening is the feature directorial debut of Japanese actor Odagiri Joe, They Say Nothing Stays The Same.
The New York Asian Film Festival is co-presented by the New York Asian Film Foundation and Film at Lincoln Center and takes place from August 28 through September 12 on the Smart Cinema USA app.
The Hong Kong Panorama section is presented with the support of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York; The Korean section is presented with the support of the Korean Cultural Center New York; 6 films are co-presented with the Freer and Sackler Galleries, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art (see in full line-up list below). The Chinese films are co-presented with China Institute.
ABOUT GERAN – Daniel A. Craft Award for Excellence in Action Cinema
Geran, Malaysia, 2019, 101m
Dir: Areel Abu Bakar. Cast: Namron, Khoharullah, Feiyna Tajudin, Fad Anuar, Azlan Komeng
Malay with English subtitles | North American Premiere
A virtuous family steeped in the traditions of silat, the local martial art, find their home encroached on by gangsters. When the youngest son flirts with the dark side and absconds with the land deed, his sister and brother must get it back and stop the greedy lowlifes at all costs. Jaw-dropping fights ensue, as their nonstop chase hurtles the action through crowded street markets, warehouses, moving buses and supersonic drag races. Geran is the gritty genre engine that could, brimming with social resonance and a decidedly spicy Malaysian flavor.
ABOUT LEE JOO-YOUNG (actress, Baseball Girl) – Screen International Rising Award
Lee Joo-young made her screen debut in the short independent film Encounter (2012). She spent the next few years acting in multiple independent films before earning critical acclaim for her role in A Quiet Dream (NYAFF 2017 selection/US Premiere) directed by Zhang Lu. That same year, she expanded her career into television alongside Irene, member of a popular K-pop girl group Red Velvet, in web drama Game Development Girls, which led to her breakthrough role in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo. After garnering critics' praise with her role in Jane ( NYAFF 2017 selection/North American Premiere), she was awarded the Actress of the Year Award at the 2018 Busan International Film Festival for her performance in Maggie (NYAFF 2019 selection/North American Premiere) then the Special Short Drama Actress Award at the 2019 KBS Drama Awards for Home Sweet Home (2019). Lee continued to rise to fame as she appeared in JTBC's Itaewon Class (2020) which ended as the seventh highest rated drama in Korean cable television history and a runaway hit internationally thanks to a high profile NetFlix run, where it can still be seen. Lee last appeared in Choi Yun-Tae's Baseball Girl (2019) where she plays the leading character
ABOUT JURY:
Arvin Chen is a writer and director best known for his film Au Revoir Taipei, the 2010 romantic comedy that premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and was executive produced by Wim Wenders, and its followup, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? He is currently in pre-production on his third Taiwanese feature, Mama Boy, and his first US feature, Ellie in Wonderland, for Imagine Entertainment.
Kristen Yoonsoo Kim is a South Korea-born, New York-based film critic and culture writer. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice, GQ, The Nation, Pitchfork, The Criterion Collection and elsewhere.
Bao Nguyen is an award-winning Vietnamese American filmmaker whose past work has been seen in The New York Times, HBO, NBC, Vice, ARTE and PBS, among many others. The director of Be Water, about cultural icon Bruce Lee, and the producer of NYAFF 2020 selection Rom, his films have been invited to many prestigious film festivals including Cannes, Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, Telluride and Hong Kong.
FULL LINEUP (51 films) as of 8/20/2020
Titles in bold are included in the “Uncaged” Competition.
BHUTAN
– Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Pawo Choyning Dorji, 2019) New York Premiere
CHINA
Co-presented with China Institute
– Gone With the Light (Dong Runnian, 2019) U.S. Premiere
– Mr. Miao (Li Lingxiao, 2020) International Premiere
HONG KONG PANORAMA
Presented with the support of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York
– Chasing Dream (Johnnie To, 2019) New York Premiere
– My Prince Edward (Norris Wong, 2019) East Coast Premiere
– Hell Bank Presents: Running Ghost (Mark Lee, 2020) World Premiere
– The Grand Grandmaster (Dayo Wong, 2020) North American Premiere
– Legally Declared Dead (Yuen Kim Wai, 2019) U.S. Premiere
– Memories to Choke on, Drinks to Wash Them Down (Leung Ming-kai, Kate Reilly, 2019) North American Premiere
– Unleashed (Ka Hei Kwok and Ambrose Kwok, 2019) North American Premiere
– A Witness out of the Blue 犯罪現場 (Fung Chih Chiang, 2019) New York Premiere
INDONESIA
– Abracadabra (Faozan Rizal, 2019 ) North American Premiere
JAPAN
– Family Bond (Gonno Hajime, 2019) North American Premiere
– A Beloved Wife (Adachi Shin, 2019) North American Premiere
– Miyamoto (Mariko Tetsuya, 2019) New York Premiere
– Dancing Mary (Sabu, 2019) North American Premiere
– Forgiven Children (Naito Eisuke, 2019) International Premiere
– One Night (Shiraishi Kazuya, 2020) North American Premiere
– Beneath the Shadow (Otomo Keishi, 2019) North American Premiere
– They Say Nothing Stays the Same (Odagiri Joe, 2019) U.S. Premiere
KAZAKHSTAN
– Tomiris (Akan Satayev, 2019) North American Premiere
MALAYSIA
– Geran (Areel Abu Bakar, 2019) North American Premiere
– Soul (Roh) (Emir Ezwan, 2020) North American Premiere
– Victim(s) (Layla Zhuqing Ji, 2020) North American Premiere
PHILIPPINES
– The Girl and the Gun (Rae Red, 2019) North American Premiere
– John Denver Trending (Arden Rod Condez, 2019) East Coast Premiere
SOUTH KOREA
Presented with the support of the Korean Cultural Center New York
– Secret Zoo (Son Jae-gon, 2019) New York Premiere. Co-Presented with the Freer and Sackler Galleries, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
– Hitman: Agent Jun (Choi Won-sub, 2020) North American Premiere
– Forbidden Dream (Hur Jin-ho, 2019) International Premiere
– Lucky Chan-sil (Kim Cho-hee, 2019) North American Premiere. Co-Presented with the Freer and Sackler Galleries, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
– Baseball Girl (Choi Yuntae, 2019) International Premiere
– Beasts Clawing at Straws (Kim Yong-hoon, 2019) n/a. Co-Presented with the Freer and Sackler Galleries, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
– Beauty Water (Cho Kyung-hun, 2020) U.S. Premiere
– Moving on (Yoon Danbi, 2019) North American Premiere
– Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 (Kim Do-young, 2019) US Continental Premiere
– SF8 Series: An anthology of eight science fiction films:
The Prayer (Min Kyu-dong, 2020) International Premiere
Empty Body (Kim Ui-seok, 2020) International Premiere
Love Virtually (Oh Ki-hwan, 2020) International Premiere
White Crow (Jang Cheol-s, 2020) International Premiere
Blink (Han Ga-ram, 2020) International Premiere
Baby It's Over Outside (Ahn Gooc-jin, 2020) International Premiere
Joan's Galaxy (Lee Yoon-jung, 2020) International Premiere.
Manxin (Noh Deok, 2020) International Premiere
TAIWAN
– Wild Sparrow (Shih Li, 2019) New York Premiere. Co-Presented with the Freer and Sackler Galleries, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
– Detention (John Hsu, 2019) New York Premiere
– IWeirDO (Liao Ming-yi, 2020) US Premiere. Co-Presented with the Freer and Sackler Galleries, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
– Heavy Craving (Hsieh Pei-ju, 2019) East Coast Premiere
– The Gangs, the Oscars and the Walking Dead (Kao Pin-chuan, 2019) US Premiere. Co-Presented with the Freer and Sackler Galleries, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
– Dear Loneliness (Lien Chien-hung, Sunny Yu, Liao Jhe-yi, 2019) North American Premiere
– Miss Andy (Teddy Chin, 2020) North American Premiere
VIETNAM
– Rom (Tran Thanh Huy, 2019) New York Premiere
