Since 2002,
various venues including The ImaginAsian, the IFC Centre and the Japan Society
have been hosting the New York Asian Film Festival whereby each year over 30 of
the most popular Asian films are selected to be shown. The showcase includes films from all over Asia
including countries such as Japan, China, Korea, India, Thailand and more, from
directors as esteemed as Park Chan-wook who brought us the perverse and violent
Oldboy and the sweet but merciless Sympathy for Lady Vengeance; Takashi Miike
whose films have shocked and amazed audiences due to how outrageous he is
unafraid to get (see Visitor Q and Audition); and Kim Ki-duk who with films
like 3-Iron and The Isle has managed to transmit peaceful and serene energies
through destructive but also beautiful relationships.
After the
event, an award dubbed the NYAFF Audience Award is given to one of the films by
democratic vote of an audience ballot. The winner of the inaugural festival went to Jae-young Kwak’s 2001 Koran
film My Sassy Girl which was Americanised and released earlier this year (2008 My Sassy Girl). Noteworthy Competition included Dil Se, a production with supposedly remarkable cinematography,
which I’m sure MovieZen Bollywood enthusiasts are familiar with.
In 2005 The Taste of Tea, a Japanese film
following the life of a rural family and the hobbies and personalities of each
member which range from the sad to the ludicrous, won the award. The most recent winner was Tetsuya
Nakashima’s Memories of Matusko, a
breathtaking tour de force of destiny, choices and lessons to be learned
wrapped up in exhilarating musical sequences, spellbinding mise en scene, and
the touchingly miserable but humorous tale of how the hopes and
dreams of a young girl are not only grounded, but also grinded into the dirt.
The
festival however is not just about the films but also prides itself on a good
degree of interaction between guest filmmakers (like Sion Sono, Hideyuki
Kobayashi and Onir) who
attend, and the audience. Such things as
Q&A sessions, prize-draws, and puppet shows have said to create a
fun-loving and wacky atmosphere as opposed to other festivals which may have a
more stale and formal air to them.
The 2008
NYAFF seems to be coming to an end as I write this but after having looked
through the catalogue of films that have been shown, without having seen any of
the others I do hope that Strawberry Shortcakes, a film by Hitoshi Yazaki
wins. I had the pleasure of seeing this
film not so long ago and loved every minute of it. It is the story of four contemporary women
living subdued lives in
Nathan
www.filmbanana.com
**Read more articles by Nathan**
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