Ringo Lam - recipient of Lifetime Achievement Award at NYAFF 2015

Ringo Lam (left), an unidentified female, and Samuel Jamier, one of NYAFF's co-directors
(Photo by Philip Tsai)

On Saturday, June 27, 2015, veteran Hong Kong director Ringo Lam received the Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award at the 14th New York Asian Film Festival.

Lam began directing in 1983, and is well known for such films as City on Fire (1987) and Full Alert (1997), both of which screened at NYAFF. Like Tsui Hark and John Woo, he also has worked in Hollywood, where he directed Jean-Claude Van Damme in Maximum Risk (1997) and Replicant (2001).

Since 2003, Lam has been on a hiatus, directing only a sequence of the three-part movie, Triangle (2007), with Tsui Hark and Johnnie To. Wild City (2015) marks his return to directing a full length feature film. It is set to debut July 25, 2015 at the Fantasia International Film Festival and will subsequently be released in Hong Kong and Singapore on August 20th.

Hong Kong actor Aaron Kwok received Star Asia Award at NYAFF 2015

Aaron Kwok (Photo by Philip Tsai)

Hong Kong actor Aaron Kwok received the Star Asia Award on June 26th at the 14th New York Asian Film Festival.

Once one of the kings of Cantopop, he began acting in TV series in the late 1980s and started to concentrate much more on his acting -- as opposed to his singing -- career in the 1990s. He has won several other awards -- including best actor awards at Taipei's Golden Horse Film Festival two years running (2005 and 2006) -- and been nominated for others.

The Star Asia Award was presented in conjunction with NYAFF's opening night screening of Port of Call (2001). PoC was one of two of his films that were screened at the festival, the other being Cold War (2012).

CART playing at the New York Asian Film Festival on Monday evening

Cart / Ka-teu

Directed by BOO Ji-young

South Korea, 2014, 103 minutes

Language: Korean with English subtitles

New York Premiere

When: Monday, July 6 at 8:45pm

Where: Walter Reade Theater

Tickets

Cart is the second feature-length film from female director BOO Ji-young (Sisters on the Road, 2008). It's a powerful drama about a labor struggle in South Korea that is based on actual events.

The Mart is a huge retail store that has both permanent employees, almost all of whom are men, and temporary workers, almost all women, many able to work only part time. To improve the bottom line, the upper level management -- all men, like the mid-level managers -- decides to layoff the female temporary workers -- cleaners and cashiers -- and outsource their jobs. The women respond by going on strike and starting a union. Later they are joined by some of the lower level permanent male employees.

Management initially responds to these efforts with indifference, then with ploys to divide the strikers and break their solidarity, and ultimately with the use of violence in terms of hired goons to attack the strikers.

I saw Cart at a press screening before NYAFF began and was quite impressed, though I wondered about some aspects of it. For example, I was surprised that the only media coverage depicted was a brief television clip in which the on-site anchor, a woman no less, essentially spouted management's point of view. There seemed to be no media interest in the harsh violence meted out to the overwhelmingly female strikers, even when it resulted in the child of one worker being hospitalized in serious condition.

I have no way of knowing how closely the film conforms to the actual events that transpired. My impression was that there have been changes, some perhaps significant, in order to create a more dramatic cinematic narrative. This is not surprising, nor is it meant as a criticism. It's one of the inevitable results of making a movie based on real events.

In any case, the film effectively shows the remarkable solidarity of the women strikers against the near intransigent attitude of management, which couldn't care less about the effect of its attitude on low-wage workers who desperately need their meager incomes for themselves and their families. The film concludes with  information about the eventual outcome of the strike, which was quite lengthy.

AsianCineFest Rating: 3 out of 4 stars, a good, solid film well worth seeing.

Director Boo Ji-young and Producer Shim Jae-myung will attend Monday's screening.

Part of MYUNG FILMS: PIONEERS AND WOMEN BEHIND THE CAMERA IN KOREAN FILM, one of the Special Focus sections of NYAFF.

Presented with the support of Korean Cultural Service in New York. Co-presented with The Korea Society.

Remembering Kinji Fukasaku; three of his films playing at NYAFF

Battles Without Honor and Humanity

Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku was born in Mito, Japan on July 3, 1930, making today the 85th anniversary of his birth. He died on January 12, 2003 while making Battle Royale II, the sequel to the terrific 2000 original. Battle Royale II was completed by his son Kenta Fukasaku.

Fukasaku directed over sixty films, including Black Lizard (1968) and Black Rose (1969), both of which starred transvestite singer and actress Akihiro Miwa (a.k.a. Akihiro Matuyama). He, along with Toshio Masuda, took over directing the Japanese sequences of Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) after Akira Kurosawa left, or was fired from, the production.

But Fukasaku is most certainly best known and remembered for his numerous and innovative yakuza films which did away with any romantic notions of such gangsters having a lofty code of honor. The five film series Battles Without Honor and Humanity (1973-1974, also known as The Yakuza Papers) ranks at the top of a list that includes Street Mobster (1972) and Graveyard of Honor (1975).

Cops Vs. Thugs

In what most surely is no coincidence, two Fukasaku films will be screened at the New York Asian Film Festival today, Friday, July 3rd, the anniversary of his birthday. Battles Without Honor and Humanity (1973) will be shown at 7:00pm and Cops Vs. Thugs (1975) at 9:00pm.

Wolves, Pigs and Men

A third Fukasaku film, Wolves, Pigs and Men (1964), will be shown Wednesday, July 8 at 5:30pm.

These three films are part of the NYAFF special focus section The Last Men of Japanese Film, which features a total of six films starring Japanese film legends Ken Takakura and Bunta Sugawara. All films will be shown at the Walter Reade Theater.

Myung Films: Pioneers and Women Behind the Camera in Korean Film - a special focus section of NYAFF

Korean cinema has been known internationally primarily through the works of a small group of male directors (Hong Sangsoo, Kim Ki-duk, Park Chan-wook, Kim Jee-woon, and others), but one of its key film production companies, Myung Films, is led by a woman: producer Shim Jae-myung. Myung Films has spearheaded the transformation of the Korean film culture and industry in the late 1990s and early 2000s by establishing new genres and discovering new talent.

The New York Asian Film Festival, which runs through July 11th, is showcasing a couple of their recent productions, Cart and Revivre, as well as some of their masterworks (The President’s Last Bang, The Isle, and Waikiki Brothers) as part of a greater focus on women who work behind the scenes. Shim Jae-myung will be in attendance and will be joined by top female directors Yim Soon-rye (The Whistleblower) and Boo Ji-young (Cart), who are known for their uncompromising films dealing with issues of social justice.

For these women behind the camera, it’s not just about standing up against patriarchy, oppression, or power but about telling stories of real people and real lives—struggling, folding and sometimes collapsing—perhaps showing that the human condition might be best expressed by women.

Presented with the support of the Korean Cultural Service New York.
Co-presented with The Korea Society.

PORT OF CALL will be Opening Night Film at NYAFF on Friday; second screening Saturday afternoon

Aaron Kwok, center with glasses, stars in Port of Call

 Port of Call

Director: Philip Yung

Cast: Aaron Kwok, Michael Ning, Jessie Li

Hong Kong, 2015, 121 minutes

Language: Cantonese with English Subtitles

North American Premiere

When: Friday, June 26 at 8:30pm & Saturday, June 27 at 3:00pm

Where: Walter Reade Theater

Tickets

Port of Call will be the Opening Night Film at the 14th New York Asian Film Festival on Friday, June 26th. This screening will be preceded by the presentation of the Star Asia Award to actor Aaron Kwok. (This screening has -- not surprisingly -- sold out. However, there will be a standby line should any tickets go unclaimed.) The film will also be shown on Saturday, June 27th when Kwok will participate in an Intro and Q&A.

Jiamei (Jessie Li, in her film debut) is a sixteen year old girl who has moved to Hong Kong with her mother and sister, while her father stayed in Hunan. She dreams of becoming a model, but ends up as a teen-age prostitue who is brutally murdered. Hong Kong Police Officer Chong (Aaron Kwok, whose 53 credits include The Storm Riders and Cold War) is the detective who heads up the investigation into the crime. With glasses and grey hair, Chong is a grizzled veteran who is all but done in by all the violence he has seen. A loving father to his preteen daughter, one senses that what his job has done to him over the years probably has much to do with why he is separated or divorced.

The film is divided into four sections, and although the identity of the murderer is revealed fairly early on, much mystery remains. There are several jumps back and forth in time, but each shift is identified by year. Director Philip Yung has done a deft job of keeping the narrative clear and moving along. The cinematography is fabulous, which is what one would expect from veteran Christopher Doyle, who is probably best known for his work on several films by Wong Kar Wei.

A gripping crime mystery, Port of Call is a perfect film for opening night at this year's NYAFF. There's teen-age sex and prostitution and some harrowing violence, both described and depicted. There's also some explicit nudity. The film must carry a Category III (adults only) rating in Hong Kong. Given it's subject matter and nude scenes, I can't imagine it being released in any form -- even severely edited -- in Mainland China, except, of course, as an illegal bootleg.

AsianCineFest Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars; very good indeed.

The two screenings of Port of Call are part of HONG KONG PANORAMA, one of the Special Focus sections of NYAFF, and are presented with the support of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office New York.

The full schedule for NYAFF 2015 can be found here.

A FOOL to open New York Asian Film Festival this Friday, June 26th

A Fool / Yi ge shao zi

Director: Chen Jianbin

Cast: Chen Jianbin, Wang Xuebing, Jin Shijia

China, 2014, 105 minutes 

Language: Mandarin with English subtitles

North American Premiere

When: Friday, June 26th at 6:00 pm

Where: Walter Reade Theater

Tickets

In this, his directorial debut, actor Chen Jianbin plays Latiaozi, an honest goat farmer. One day, in a simple act of kindness and compassion, he gives a young homeless man some food. The youth, who is filthy, apparently mentally retarded and who wears a large broken red visor on his head, follows Latiaozi home. Fearful that the idiot will freeze to death, Latiaozi and his wife reluctantly agree that he should be allowed to sleep in the hut with the sheep.

This development further complicates the life of Latiaozi and his wife, whose son is in jail. They have already given $50,000 dollars (most certainly a subtitle error, as there's no way they could have amassed that amount in U.S. currency) to an intermediary to get the son's sentence reduced. Thus far they have nothing to show for the money they've spent.

The couple's efforts to find the young man's family ultimately bring them in contact with a parade of individuals, each of whom claim that the boy is their relative. Latiaozi's best intentions turn against him as he and his wife are beset with numerous financial claims from these greedy individuals.

A Fool, part drama, part black comedy, raises the question of who, in a world of greed and grifters, is it a kind, honest person who's actually the fool.

AsianCineFest Rating: 3 out of 4 stars; a good film, well-made and thought-provoking

A Fool will be the first film shown at this year's New York Asian Film Festival. Presented with the support of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office New York, Friday's screening is part of HONG KONG PANORAMA, a special focus portion of NYAFF.

The full schedule for NYAFF 2015 can be found here.

New York Asian Film Festival teaser trailer + schedule & ticket info

The 14th New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) will run from June 26 - July 8 at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater and from July 8 - 11 at the SVA's Beatrice and Silas Theatres.

Tickets are now on sale for Film Society Members. General Public and SVA tickets go on sale June 11th.

Schedule information, including details of individual films, and links for ordering tickets can be found at the Film Society of Lincoln Center NYAFF homepage. Additional schedule information can be found at Subway Cinema.