International action star Jackie Chan announced the trial opening of his Yaolai International Cinema in Beijing on Monday. The theater has 17 screens, 3,500 seats, and covers 15,000 square meters (Almost 162,000 square feet!). More »

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From Rekuru:

If a feel good story about beating the odds really fits your fancy, Swing Girls could be for you.

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From Rekuru:

If a feel good story about beating the odds really fits your fancy, Swing Girls could be for you.

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From Rekuru:

If you’re looking for something incredibly nerdy with a hint of hilarious, check out Summer Timemachine Blues, it could be for you. Directed by Katsuyuki Motohiro, it takes a familiar concept (time travel) and makes it into something you probably didn’t expect.

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Japanese film lovers, have we got the special for you. This week, Ningin has teamed up with Japanese entertainment site Rekuru for the Japanese Film Royale special. Everyday this week will feature blog posts related to Japanese film. Here’s what we’ve got in store: More »

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JAPAN CUTS returns for the third year in a row! Known for being the only large-scale annual Japanese film festival in North America, JAPAN CUTS brings Japan’s newest films to New York City with 27 screenings, 18 premiere films, 7 special guests, and 2 parties. Presented by Japan Society from June 30-July 12, JAPAN CUTS is chock full of exclusive Q&As with filmmakers, special events and more. Films screened between July 1-5 are co-presented with the New York Asian Film Festival and the awesome team at Subway Cinema. More »

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THE LAST AIRBENDER teaser trailer is now out… The only action I got out of this is muttering “Ang ain’t white” to myself. Other than that, this trailer’s a real yawner. I see more impressive martial arts from 1970s movies on TV during Sunday afternoons. Someone might say it’s just the teaser trailer and not a whole fight scene, but the teaser trailer is supposed to get me excited, right? And this really doesn’t. More »

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Today’s the big day — opening nite for the New York Asian Film Festival! Kicking off 2009 will be WRITTEN BY from writer/director Wai Ka-fai, who will be live in and in person all the way from Hong Kong tonight. The rumors are true that Lau Ching-wan has canceled his appearances in New York City due to fear of swine flu. (Yes. Really.) Tonight’s screening is sold out at the IFC Center, so please stop messaging for help buying tickets. I can’t help you. No one can now. But Wai Ka-fai will be attendance at all three screening of WRITTEN BY. Speaking of which, we have our NYAFF ticket winners! More »

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Our own Kevin Desmond got featured on Bollywood Buzzine! Shy guy that he is, Kevin’s tried to keep it on the down low, but I’m putting it out there for everyone to read! In fact, he’s the top story on the main page! Kevin talks about his long road to producing and directing. He even gives some sneak peaks at the latest film that he’s now producing. Here’s the link to the full story: More »

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DEPARTURES won this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and America’s been waiting to see what the hype is all about… and that includes me! Originally titled OKURIBITO, the film also won 13 Japan Academy Awards. Well, I finally got to see it last nite at a special screening sponsored by Regent Releasing, the film’s distributor, and promoted by New York-Tokyo and Asian Cinevision. More »

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The 2009 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival closed on Thursday night with a screening of the Oscar winning film DEPARTURES (directed by Yojiro Takita). The winners of this year’s 25th festival were also announced and it was a lineup of the usual suspects who have been cleaning up at Asian film festivals throughout 2009… More »

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The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival kicks off Thursday nite, April 30, with one of Ningin’s film favorites CHILDREN OF INVENTION. Directed by Tze Chu, COI has been garnering praise film festival after film festival. No doubt you can expect it to be showing at a theater near you after it’s incredible festival run. So Yong Kim’s endearing TREELESS MOUNTAIN will be the centerpiece spotlight film, and the Oscar-winning Japanese film DEPARTURES will close the festival. In between those great films will be over 175 other features, shorts and documentaries showcasing the best Asian cinematic talent. More »

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TREELESS MOUNTAIN opens this week in New York City and I cannot stress how great an opportunity this is for cinephiles. Director So Yong Kim has crafted a touching film that can only come from the creative inner depths of one’s own heart. It’s the kind of film that gets easily overlooked with all the millions of advertising spent on big budget films. And that’s a shame. More »

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The 3rd Annual Korean American Film Festival New York, or KAFFNY as we New Yorkers like to say, is this Saturday, February 28! KAFFNY showcases emerging and award-winning Korean and Korean American filmmakers. This year the festival moves to the prestigious TheTimesCenter, located at 41st St (btwn 7th and 8th ave). This year’s festival consists of two shorts programs, both followed by a short Q&A session with filmmakers. More »

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The 9th Annual Slant: Bold Asian American Images film festival is now calling for short film entries! In an effort to combat Asian stereotypes in the American media, Slant showcases an eclectic mix of the best emerging Asian American filmmakers. All genres are accepted. Entries must be postmarked by February 23. This year’s festival will be held May 30 & 31 at the The Aurora Picture Show in Houston, TX. More »

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In New York City this week, Japan Society will kick off a ten-day introspective film series entitled Shinjuku Ecstasy. From February 18 till March 1, the series will feature twelve classic independent films from the Art Theatre Guild of Japan.

Originally conceived in 1961 as a distributor of European art films in Japan, the Art Theater Guild (ATG) began co-producing Japanese independent films in 1967. For the next 30 years, the ATG became a major force in the art-house movement in Japan. ATG filmmakers tackled controversial subjects in Japan, such as homosexuality and capital punishment. More »

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YATTERMAN hit the big screen tonight in New York City, and hundreds of fans waited hours in below freezing weather for a world premiere seat. Ningin ningens Hoc Poeng, Mia Lerda, Jessica Dawson, Lara Visconti, Eddie Lebron, Samuel Javier, Amy Chang and myself braved the cold to see director Takashi Miike (三池 崇史) and actor-singer Sakurai Sho (櫻井 翔) live and in person - certainly a rare event! (Wow, we had a full Ningin team there!) But the coolest part of the night was the chance to meet our YATTERMAN contest winners in person! More »

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The New York - Tokyo Film Grand Prix (NYTFGP) 2008, New York-Tokyo’s annual film festival, is now underway with one more week of audience favorited Japanese films left. The NYTFGP2008 Festival represents the wide diversity of Japan’s creativity in film. The festival lineup of ten films is determined by audience votes and the New York-Tokyo staff.

Screening Schedule: * Monday, 10/13, 7pm, 77BOADRUM, Anthology Archives, 32 Second Street, New York City * Monday, 10/13, 9:15pm, 77BOADRUM (Appearance by Director Kawaguchi), Anthology Archives, 32 Second Street, New York City * Tuesday, 10/14, 7pm, BLOODY SNAKE UNDER THE SUN (Appearance by Actor Shogen), Anthology Archives, 32 Second Street, New York City * Thursday, 10/16, 7pm, KAMACHOP (Appearance by Director Matsumoto), Tribeca Cinemas, 54 Varick Street, New York City

For more details and to buy tickets, visit newyork-tokyo.com

“BLOODY SNAKE UNDER THE SUN” still image courtesy of Three Arrows Entertainment.

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I tried to depart a little from the traditional martial-arts genre. Instead of treating these characters as heroes, I wanted to see them as ordinary people – at the stage before they became heroes. – Wong Kar-wai

Wong Kar-wai’s restored, re-scored, expanded, recolored and re-edited Ashes of Time Redux premiered tonight at the New York Film Festival. Playing before a sold out crowd at the 1,131-seat Ziegfeld Theatre, Wong Kar-wai was joined on stage afterward for Q&A with the still beautiful actress Brigitte Lin and cinematographer Christopher Doyle.

The acclaimed film has has been digitally colorized from the 1994 print, at times adding beauty to the cinematography, but sometimes too digitally enhanced for some viewers of the original release depending on who you asked at the screening. It seemed everyone was in agreement the subtitles received a nice revision. Regardless, if you’ve only seen this film on DVD, you’re in for a special treat when this story of swordplay and ill fortunes gets a wider theatrical release in the USA on October 10. More »

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