Written By: Alexandra Bentzien
Lights, laughter, happy tears and celebratory cheers: last night marked the opening of the annual New York Asian Film Festival, now coming of age in its twentieth year. For the past two decades NYAFF has engaged audiences through thoughtful programming spotlighting films across Asia, offering an opportunity for New York audiences to experience innovative stories – and the fresh faces who bring them to life – from halfway across the globe.
In his Opening Night introduction, Executive Director of the festival Samuel Jamier emphasized the enriching value of experiencing film as it was originally conceived: as an illuminating occasion unfolding in-person, among an audience, whose individual curiosities, wonders, hopes, fears, thrills, and dreams become a point of shared connection as a story unfolds upon a big screen. The COVID-19 pandemic posed a significant challenge to cultivating the treasured communal aspect of the festival as it took place online (in 2020) and in a hybrid format (in 2021); but these difficulties seemed a thing of the distant past from the very beginning of Opening Night, with a red carpet as hot as the mid-July sun beaming down upon the faces of guests, stars, and eager audience members.
The bustle of the Walter Reade Lobby, the casual chit-chat between screenings, volunteers and fans alike sneaking in glimpse a of a director amidst the glittering flash of the paparazzi and the humble clicking of excited cell phone cameras; staffers making a last-minute run across the bridge to retrieve an actor for a photo-op,the sigh of relief once the theater doors have closed… and reopen again with the anticipation of a glowing night market sampling of some of the most delicious staples in Asian street food. This, new friendships being made when you meet someone who loved the same movies as you growing up, or plans to catch the very same films as you over the next two weeks – these moments comprise the core of the New York Asian Film Festival, with its vibrant flare of a uniquely work-hard, play-hard celebration of cinema, born from a super tenacious team of cinephiles whose heart beats with the rhythm of a true passion project.
It seems only fitting that this exhilaration is paired with an opening film entitled Fast and Feel Love, the latest film from Thai director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, whose humor and sensitivity is enlivened by the comedic and heartwarming performances of lead actors Nat Kitcharit and Urassaya “Yaya” Sperbund, winner of this year’s Screen International Asia Rising Star Award. Fast and feel love: that’s the kind of energy running in abundance through the rushing crowd at this year’s Night Market, which, along with a showcase of popular Asian snacks including dumplings, sweet buns, bubble tea, and irresistibly spicy Thai cuisine, also featured a performance by Son of Paper, debuting the music video for their new track, “Mr. Chinatown.” The rap duo noted that although they make music inspired by their Asian heritage and upbringing, they don’t want to remain in that mold, tied down to the easy labeling of being “Asian” music artists. At the end of the day, their aim is to write songs and make music that deliver honest reflections of their own experiences – the curiosities, wonders, hopes, fears, thrills, and dreams that compose the constellation of their everyday life, and ultimately of themselves.
The program is eclectic and eccentric and refuses to be sidled into any niche: this, as stated in the opening remarks of this year’s festival, is what NYAFF strives to accomplish, through showing films that do not and cannot remain in one mold, or be packaged vaguely into the false genre of “Asian film,” but rather expand its audience’s perspective through a slate of films that are seriously vast in their subject matter and in their depth of story. The scope of this year’s 20th anniversary program charts its course through blockbuster action-packed hits, charming family comedies, bittersweet coming-of-age stories, gritty and sweeping period pieces, and chilling thrillers. On any given day there’s something for everyone; the focus is complex to pin-down, but it’s precisely this complexity that makes the program so enjoyable. It’s a two weeks that have already set sail with the promise of flying by fast. The only requirement to participate in the whirlwind is to find your theater seat, sit back. Feel love.
