22nd New York Asian Film Festival

22nd New York Asian Film Festival
Official poster
Opening filmKilling Romance by Lee Won-suk
LocationFilm at Lincoln Center, New York
Founded2002
Awards
Hosted byNew York Asian Film Foundation Inc.
Artistic directorSamuel Jamier
No. of films78 films
Festival dateOpening: 14 July 2023 (2023-07-14)
Closing: 30 July 2023 (2023-07-30)
LanguageInternational
WebsiteNYAFF
New York Asian Film Festival

The 22nd New York Asian Film Festival was held in New York on 14 July with North American premiere of South Korean film Killing Romance by Lee Won-suk, who attended the screening in person. In the 22nd edition seventy eight titles were screened in person. The lineup included eight world premieres, nine international premieres, thirty-two North American premieres, three U.S. premieres, and sixteen East Coast/New York premieres.[1] Films from various genres from Hong Kong, Japan, China, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Singapore, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, and the United States were screened.[2][3]

In Star Asia Awards category, Asian stars were honoured with various awards such as: Louis Koo a Hong Kong actor, singer and film producer with Extraordinary Star Asia Award;[4] Junji Sakamoto, a Japanese film director, with Screen International Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award; Ryohei Suzuki, a Japanese actor, with Screen International Rising Star Asia Award;[5] and Lee Hanee a South Korean actress, model, classical musician, with Best from the East Award.[2]

The festival was closed on 30 July with Anthony Stacchi's animated Netflix film The Monkey King. It is the first time the festival has partnered with Netflix for the world premiere of a film, which was held before the August 18 worldwide release on Netflix.[6] Malaysian film Abang Adik by Jin Ong won the Uncaged Award for best feature film. It is a directorial debut feature of Jin Ong and follows two orphaned brothers whose bond is tested after a brutal accident.[7] The Audience Award was awarded to Taiwanese film Marry My Dead Body, a LGBTQ+ story from director Cheng Wei-hao. In his closing speech the NYAFF Executive Director and President of the New York Asian Film Foundation Samuel Jamier said, “2023 marked a giant leap forward for the festival, in terms of audience size (with a 35% increase in attendance, and the largest number of sold out screenings), numbers of films and guest filmmakers and actors (over 100 guests from Asia), a major partnership with Netflix and a whole new, expanded pool of donors.”[8]

  1. ^ Michael Rosser (July 15, 2023). "How New York Asian Film Festival is broadening horizons and showcasing Asia's stars". Screen Daily. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "NYAFF 2023 Unveils Special Guests, Award Honorees and Second Wave of Films". NYAFF. July 1, 2023. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  3. ^ Rogers, Jamie (June 23, 2023). "New York Asian Film Festival: Watch The Action-Packed Trailer For The 22nd NYAFF Edition [Exclusive]". The Playlist. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference lk:sd was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference rs:sd was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Michael Rosser (July 19, 2023). "NYAFF sets 'The Monkey King' as closing film in first collaboration with Netflix". Screen Daily. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  7. ^ Michael Rosser (July 31, 2023). "Malaysia's 'Abang Adik' wins top prize at New York Asian Film Festival". Screen Daily. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference aw:nyaff was invoked but never defined (see the help page).