ACF 041: NYAFF 2007 Sponsors

I don't shill for anyone. Never have, never will.

But I am a big believer in giving credit where credit is due. As several of my more recent postings have clearly indicated, I have nothing but the highest praise for all those involved with the recent New York Asian Film Festival.

And that has to extend to the festival's sponsors, who are indicated in the above image, a scan of a page in the lush festival booklet. If you're at all a fan of Asian Cinema, and why would you be reading this if you weren't, they deserve your consideration and appreciation for sponsoring this event.

I do want to point out some of the ones who should be of particular interest to you:

Dragon Dynasty - This is a division of the Weinstein Company, sort of a superior successor to the Dimension Films division of Miramax. They're putting out fantastic DVDs, both Hong Kong classics such as The 36 Chambers of Shaolin, The One-Armed Swordsman, My Young Auntie, Hard Boiled, as well as more recent fare, such as Infernal Affairs 2 and Infernal Affairs 3. Check out www.dragondynasty.com.

John Woo Presents Stranglehold - Who wants to play Tequila, not the drink, but Chow Yun-Fat's character in Woo's 1992 classic Hard Boiled? I do!!! I do!!! And so should you. With this game for Playstation 3 and XBox 360 (if yours still works) you can. For more info about this release, due out this month, go to strangleholdgame.com.

Stone Bridge Press - 'Cause every once in awhile ya need ta read about the Asian Films ya been watchin'. Books such as The Films of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Asia Shock, The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film, Stay Dogs & Lone Wolves, and many others. Website: www.stonebridge.com.

Palm Pictures - The company's website is www.palmpictures.com. But you might want to first go www.glamorousmovie.com, the website for The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai, the film that asks, "Can a genius call girl save the world?" I know I'm going after a screener of this one!

Websites of other sponsors and venues:
IFC Center
Japan Society
Zen Green Tea
ImaginAsian TV
Korean Cultural Service NY
HungryManTV.com

ACF 040: NYAFF 2007

Paul Kazee (left) and Grady Hendrix, two of the founders of Subway Cinema, in front of Japan Society

Big time thanks are due to Paul, Grady, the other members of Subway Cinema, and everyone who came out to make this year's NEW YORK ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL so incredibly fantastic.

I felt that one reason for the unprecedented success of this year's festival was having the IFC Center (formerly the venerable Waverly Theater) in Greenwich Village as the main venue. It's extremely convenient no matter which side of the city you're coming from, and its proximity to New York University no doubt helped draw the big - and appreciative - crowds. I'm certainly hoping that next year's festival will return there.

Secondly, it was mutually beneficial that the NYAFF 2007 and Japan Society (as part of its JAPAN CUTS film series) co-presented a number of films. Hopefully it made some people who tend to patronize only one organization aware of and appreciative of the other. Some Asian cinematic cross-fertilization, if you will.

Here, in quotes and green text color, are some paraphrased items about the festival from Subway Cinema News July 13 - 20, 2007:

"The shows were sold-out, the audiences were rowdy, there were surprises a-plenty. Who woulda thought that Pakistan's Hell's Ground would be sold out with a waiting list of close to 40 people? It was beautiful chaos that night!"

Hell's Ground

"Each year the audience votes the Subway Cinema Audience Award. Winning films in the past have included, Ping Pong, The Taste Of Tea, and Please Teach Me English. This year, the winner was:

Memories of Matsuko

Over half the audience gave it a "10" on a scale of 1-10, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house!"

"Second place went to the amazingly fun HULA GIRLS [See ACF 023 and ACF 035 for my thoughts on this great film - Dr G]. People came out of the NYAFF screening of this movie thanking the Subway Cinema crew for showing it, and it's no surprise that it swept the Japanese Academy Awards. Critics have treated it sniffily because it's not cold and ironic, but audiences know the score."

"Third place went to Johnnie To's EXILED (which Magnolia has plans for later this summer), and then came the two Death Note movies (Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name) which landed in the 4th and 5th places."

Yours truly got to see about fourteen films, and there were many more that I wish I could have gotten to. My day job and the heat and humidity of summer in New York have kept me from posting reviews as often as I would have liked, but I'll be getting more up as best I can.

Meanwhile, don't forget about the upcoming New York Korean Film Festival. See ACF 039.