Press Release
New York Asian Film Festival 2006

June 16 – July 1, 2006

 

At Anthology Film Archives (32 Second Avenue, at 2nd Street) in Manhattan

-- June 16 – June 25, 2006 --

-and-

At The ImaginAsian (239 E. 59th Street, at 2nd Avenue) in Manhattan

-- June 23 – July 1, 2006 –

NEW YORK, May 10, 2006 – New York City will play host to masked alien wrestlers, monsters, and zombie mermaids, when the fifth annual New York Asian Film Festival opens on June 16 with a showcase of the best cult and contemporary Asian movies.

Presented by Subway Cinema and ImaginAsian TV, the 16-day festival will feature 25 award-winning movies from China, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea, India, and Japan and will be held in the historic Anthology Film Archives, and New York’s premier Asian American theater, The ImaginAsian.

The New York Asian Film Festival has previously premiered films by critically acclaimed directors Suzuki Seijun, Park Chan-Wook, and Kim Ki-Duk. This year, the tradition of showcasing distinguished Asian filmmakers continues with No Singing. No Dancing. No Mercy: The Films of Ram Gopal Varma, a sidebar of four movies from India’s most accomplished director. Varma has remade the Bollywood film-scape with hard-hitting crime and horror flicks. A highlight of the festival is the world premiere of his latest film, Shiva.

Also screening are films from some of Japan’s best filmmakers. Takashi Miike’s Lord of the Rings-sized monster movie, Great Yokai War will have its New York premiere, as will Ten Shimoyama’s critical and commercial hit, the “ninjapocalypse” movie, Shinobi. Katsuhito Ishii (who directed last year’s Audience Award winner The Taste of Tea, and the animation for Kill Bill Vol 1) returns to the New York Asian Film Festival with Funky Forest: First Contact, considered the strangest movie since Eraserhead. New York

critics raved about Ryuichi Hiroki’s Vibrator when it showed in 2003, and this year the festival features his latest masterpiece, It’s Only Talk. Other Japanese films include Minoru Kawasaki’s Beetle, The Horn King, and Naoki Kudo’s Oh! My Zombie Mermaid.

 The festival will also screen the U.S. premieres of Malaysia’s box office hit, Gangster (featuring popular Malay actor Rosyam Nor in the three lead roles), Thailand’s Art of the Devil 2, directed by seven filmmakers known as The Ronin Team; and the New York premiere of  Korean director Lee Myung-Se’s controversial swordplay romance, Duelist.

Advanced tickets go on sale June 1st. For updated information, please visit www.nyaff.org and www.theimaginasian.com .

About Subway Cinema

Subway Cinema is a film programming collective, based in New York City, that is committed to increasing exposure and appreciation for popular Asian cinema, which has been traditionally overlooked by mainstream American critics and distributors. This is our fifth New York Asian Film Festival, and while we don’t have millions of dollars from corporate sponsors, we do have the best Asian movies in the world, for 13 days only.

About ImaginAsian TV and The ImaginAsian

ImaginAsian TV (iaTV) is America's first national 24-hour Asian American network, catering to American audiences with a passion “for all things Asian,” including more than 14 million Asian / Pacific Americans.  iaTV (www.iatv.tv) offers top-notch movies, music, dramas, anime, documentaries, sports, news, and original programming from Asia and the U.S.  All foreign-language programs are subtitled in English to meet the needs of the general public, and English-speaking hosts introduce shows during prime time.  Fully advertiser-supported, ImaginAsian TV is currently carried on cable systems in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Hawaii and parts of New Jersey, as well as via broadcast in other parts of the United States, including Las Vegas, NV, Seattle, WA, and Edison, NJ.  Along with The ImaginAsian Theater, ImaginAsian Radio, and iaLink, ImaginAsian TV is an integrated division of ImaginAsian Entertainment, Inc.

The ImaginAsian (www.theimaginasian.com) is New York City’s premier Asian American theater, dedicated to showcasing the exciting world of Asian and Asian American cinema and culture.  From international box-office smash hits to critically acclaimed independent films, the theater hosts the best Asian-themed titles hailing from all over Asia and the U.S., with English subtitles provided for all foreign-language films.  Moreover, The ImaginAsian’s state-of-the-art facilities and Asian café provide a unique home to an exciting series of film festivals and cultural performances.