These are fifteen films you shouldn’t miss at the New York Asian Film Festival which will take place from July 15 – 31, 2022.

– Selected Films –

Dharna, a gay hairdresser and model citizen beloved by his community, learns that his name has been added to a government watchlist, which falsely claims he is a drug addict. This makes him a target of extrajudicial killings, and he embarks on the most challenging night of his life, trying desperately to clear his name and stay alive. Eccentric family and friends, a bodacious all-male cabaret, greedy local bureaucrats, and a whacked-out movie star are just some of the colorful encounters in Dharna’s extraordinary odyssey. Director Jun Robles Lana weaves a savage satire fleshed out from real life, where the innocent often fall victim to indiscriminate death hunts. (NYAFF 2022)

Screening:
July 27, 2022 | Wednesday | Walter Reade Theater | 6:15 pm (With Q&A)

Trailer:

Successful go-getter Margaret heads back home when her irascible father takes to his bed, suffering from debilitating depression. A forced family reunion ensues with her two arrested-development brothers, and the siblings make tragicomic attempts to return their father to his old, tyrannical self. What at first seems like an overly familiar dysfunctional-family setup quickly evolves into something more, and the film’s endearingly flawed characters evoke appreciative laughter as they manifest the second-generation immigrant experience. Caught between uncompromising traditional ideals and American-bred individualism, Margaret and her brothers must rise to the task and navigate the fine lines between family ties, mutual respect, and unconditional love. (NYAFF 2022)

Screening:
July 15, 2022 | Friday | Walter Reade Theater | 9:15 pm (With Q&A)

Hau is a 28-year-old IT super-geek who’s got everything he needs in life except a love interest. Ironically, his financial security comes from developing a dating app, and before he can say synchronicity, he’s transformed into an unassuming Don Juan and begins seeing one attractive woman after another, all of whom live in different remote corners of Hong Kong. The clueless lothario learns a new life lesson from each of his potential soulmates and gradually comes of age. This sweet travelogue is a breezy ode to romance and finding one’s way in life, as well as a love letter to the cultural and natural riches of Hong Kong. (NYAFF 2022)

Screening:
July 16, 2022 | Saturday | Walter Reade Theater | 1:00 pm

Trailer:

Thirty-year-old Kao is the world’s fastest sport stacker, thanks in large part to his self-sacrificing girlfriend, Jay (NYAFF 2022 Screen International Rising Star Urassaya Sperbund), who allows him to practice nonstop. When she comes to her senses and leaves, he must face reality, grow up, and build a new support system to reach his goal—as well as win her back. Director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit (Happy Old Year, Heart Attack) has crafted a thrill-a-minute romcom/stacking-action tale that is as fast moving and quirky as the oddball sport at the center of its plot. Throbbing with energy, ingenuity, and originality, this spirited send-up of young adulthood is a mesmerizing showstopper. (NYAFF 2022)

Screening:
July 15, 2022 | Friday | Walter Reade Theater | 6:00 pm (OPENING NIGHT)

Trailer:

When Detective Shu investigates a serial murder cold case in which cab drivers were targeted, he reunites with his long-lost childhood friend Fei and is pulled dramatically into dark layers of memory. Growing up, Shu and Fei display different rebellious teen tendencies and traverse different paths: Shu becomes a regular at the police station for street fighting, whereas Fei is tired of her feelings of hopelessness and longs to start a new life in a southern city. As the romantic tension between the two grows, Fei convinces Shu to run away with her but before fleeing they promise to celebrate Christmas by setting a fire together, which leads to a series of unexpected occurrences with tragic results. Through the lens of two-generation vicissitudes, Fire on the Plain paints a powerful picture of China’s industrial northeast in the 1990s, a period that seems both recent and distant. (NYAFF 2022)

Screening:
July 17, 2022 | Sunday | Walter Reade Theater | 5:30 pm

Trailer:

Mo Ji-min, the impossibly glamorous headliner More at Club Trans for the past two decades, is one of Itaewon’s most popular drag queens. A transgender trailblazer, More had always dreamed of being a ballerina, and endured years of torturous training (with the support of loving parents and a devoted boyfriend) to audition for one of Seoul’s famed ballet conservatories. Turned away by the conservative old guard, More continues to train rigorously. One day, John Cameron Mitchell, in Seoul for a run of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” catches More’s show. The ballerina is soon invited to perform in New York on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a career turning point. Veteran documentarian Lee Il-ha (Counters, NYAFF 2018 selection) illuminates More’s captivating journey with warmth, empathy, and artistry. (NYAFF 2022)

Screening:
July 24, 2022 | Sunday | Walter Reade Theater | 7:00 pm (With Q&A)

NYAFF mainstay Kazuya Shiraishi (Last of the Wolves, NYAFF 2021) returns with his most elegant, restrained work yet, but with plenty of gore in this seductive thriller about a diabolical serial killer who from death row contacts a young law student for help. Former baker Harumura (a chillingly quiet Sadao Abe) has been sentenced to die for 24 beastly killings over a seven-year period, yet refuses to confess to the ninth murder, the sole adult victim and the only one who nearly got away. Shiraishi’s unrivaled visual panache complements the harrowing buildup of suspense. As Harumura continues to exert a frightening power over the innocent, the ensuing cat-and-mouse game is rife with shocking twists and nauseating turns in this electrifying meditation on the good, the bad, and the irredeemable. (NYAFF 2022)

Screening:
July 21, 2022 | Thursday | Walter Reade Theater | 9:30 pm

Trailer:

Taiwanese American director Arvin Chen returns to the silver screen almost 10 years after Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? with his 2022 Taipei Film Festival opening night film. Xiao-hong (played by heartthrob Kai Ko) is timid to a fault, thanks largely to his domineering mother. After her attempts to set him up with a love interest end in disaster, he inadvertently meets an older woman (singer-actress Vivian Hsu) who captures his attention in a most unexpected place. Chen brilliantly de-glamorizes his cast, transforming them into quotidian characters we can all root for, without belittling their personal battles. Their gradual metamorphoses are painted with a vibrant cinematic palette and punctuated with moments of magical realism. Deftly exploring real-life social phenomena, Chen allows comedy and a sublime dramatic arc to evolve organically between the characters. Mama Boy is an endearing, insightful tale about a young man finally coming of age. (NYAFF 2022)

Screening:
July 16, 2022 | Saturday | Walter Reade Theater | 3:15 pm

Trailer:

Director Kearen Pang presents another brilliant female-driven, cross-generational story that is guaranteed to delight viewers of every stripe. A seamless blend of Cantopop fantasy, idol-chasing mania, and social issues, including economic malaise and women’s return to the workforce, the film is deeply moving, with show-stopping moments from each of its leads. Mei-fung (veteran Teresa Mo) is a former talent manager and now single mother, who discovers a potential star and reignites her career. But her devotion to the singer incites her teenage son’s jealousy, and she struggles to relocate the balance between her vocation and her family. Keung To and Jer Lau (both of pop sensation Mirror) are stellar in their film debuts, with musical numbers that will have audiences dancing in the aisles. (NYAFF 2022)

Screening:
July 26, 2022 | Tuesday | Walter Reade Theater | 6:00 pm

In this exceptionally engaging coming-of-age dramedy, Non (star of Hold Me Back, NYAFF 2021) plays Itsuka, an art student who’s finishing up her graduation project when her college is closed down due to Covid. Students are given just a few hours to either haul home their work (much of it is site-specific and thus not portable) or toss it in the trash. With this shining moment of their youth stolen from them—and job offers revoked while employers delay hiring amid the pandemic—Itsuka and her friends struggle to hang onto their future promise. In her debut theatrical feature as writer-director-editor-star, Non creates an intensely personal vision of an artist trying to reclaim her identity, boldly demonstrating why she’s the new voice of her generation. (NYAFF 2022)

Screening:
July 21, 2022 | Thursday | Walter Reade Theater | 4:30 pm

Trailer:

Single mother Chun Hua works two jobs, struggling to survive the hustle of Taipei while facing a personal crisis. Summoned home to attend her grandfather’s funeral, she’s greeted by her cousin with oddly preternatural cheer, but treated with chilling disdain by her family, who insist she doesn’t belong there. Soon, Chun Hua’s ghostly nightmares begin to turn real, as she and her daughter are threatened by malevolent spirits and eerie visions. The dangers grow ever more deadly, devastating secrets are revealed, and lives are truly at stake—or is it already too late? Chilling camerawork, heart-stopping sound cues, and unexpected shock cuts all contribute to a mounting sense of dread in this superlative horror film, which probes the dark shadows of family dysfunction, crushing societal pressure, loneliness, and loss. (NYAFF 2022)

Screening:
July 20, 2022 | Wednesday | Walter Reade Theater | 9:00 pm

The other girl with the dragon tattoo is Korean, and her name is Kim Hye-yoon—here she delivers a breathtaking, star-making turn as the eponymous girl who takes no guff from anyone. When her dad falls into a coma and slick manipulators attempt to take over the family restaurant, she has to grow up fast. In her tenacious search for answers—interrupted by a prison stay and mandated training on heavy equipment—she must face off against an ever-expanding horde of corrupt forces. A terrifically entertaining, committed coming-of-age thriller, the film unleashes a barrage of societal critiques, but never loses sight of its rebellious heroine and her dogged crusade for truth and justice.

Screening:
July 25, 2022 | Monday | Walter Reade Theater | 8:30 pm (With Q&A)

Trailer:

This explosive compound of Asian action cinema tropes and triumphs is a balls-to-the-wall thrill ride of suspenseful combat bravado and then some. The story follows a retired hitman (Jang Hyuk, reuniting with the director of The Swordsman) forced to babysit a 17-year-old girl who naturally can’t stay out of trouble. When she ends up kidnapped by ruthless gangsters, he turns super-vigilante to save her. Harrowing stunts, electrifying fights and breakneck narrative twists ensue in this rousing celebration of cinematic badassery. Told with self-referential savvy, the film features great hat tips to some zeniths of the genre, from The Man from Nowhere and A Bittersweet Life to Takeshi Kitano. All of this adds up to a superlative genre effort. (NYAFF 2022)

Screening:
July 19, 2022 | Tuesday | Walter Reade Theater | 6:30 pm (With Q&A)

Trailer:

When college coed Saruul takes a temporary job as a clerk in a sex shop, her awakening begins—but it’s not what you think. Her poker-faced indifference makes her the perfect foil for the shop’s clientele, who range from slightly sheepish to cautiously curious to downright perverse. But it’s the shop’s flamboyant, eccentric female owner who initiates Saruul’s journey into adulthood, taking her under her wing, teaching her the art of living, and gently guiding her forward on the path to self-discovery. This joyfully quirky, candid, clever coming-of-age tale is fueled by a splendidly original script, utterly unique characters, unexpected encounters, and, in the background, Saruul’s very own musical combo. (NYAFF 2022)

Screening:
July 28, 2022 | Thursday | Walter Reade Theater | 6:30 pm

Trailer:

Yezi returns to her home by the Flower Fish Pond to spend her last college summer vacation with her grandmother, who seems to have dementia. Following traces of grandma’s folklore tales and supernatural apparitions, Yezi encounters pond monsters at a midnight ceremony. The monsters reveal the whereabouts of her deceased grandfather in a parallel world. As Yezi wanders between the two worlds, constantly gathering fragments of forgotten childhood memories, the connection between past and present gradually emerges. This marvelous, enigmatic, sentimental story takes viewers to a secret spot by the pond, where the boundary between dreams and reality is gently blurred.

Screening:
July 25, 2022 | Monday | Walter Reade Theater | 6:00 pm

Trailer:

For more information, please visit: https://www.nyaff.org/