Korean Film Screening at the New York Asian Film Festival 2023
Co-presented by the Korean Cultural Center New York and the New York Asian Film Foundation and specially sponsored by the Korean Film Council
July 14~30, 2023 at FLC’s Walter Reade Theater (165 West 65th Street, NYC)
July 21~23 at the Barrymore Film Center, NJ (153 Main Street, Fort Lee, NJ)
Korean Cultural Center New York is proud to co-present Korean Film screening at the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF). The festival runs from July 14–30, 2023 at Film at Lincoln Center (FLC), with a special weekend of screenings (July 21–23) at a new venue, the historic Barrymore Film Center in Fort Lee, New Jersey, the birthplace of the motion picture industry in America.
NYAFF remains fully committed to increasing exposure of Asian representation on screen and providing opportunities for audiences of all communities to experience the diversity and brilliance of Asian and Asian American cinema. The 22nd edition of the NYAFF lineup will include world, international, North American, U.S., and New York premieres, showcasing the most exhilarating action, comedy, drama, thriller, romance, and art-house films.
Once again, this year with a full return to big-screen viewing, NYAFF will feature14 extraordinary South Korean films and bring its largest number of guest filmmakers ever.
The NYAFF Opening & Centerpiece Film will screened both Korean films. Opening film is the North American premiere of the unique Korean genre mashup Killing Romance, directed by Lee Won-suk. The director will be joined at Film at Lincoln Center on opening night by his lead actor, Lee Sun-kyun (Parasite, A Hard Day), who turns in an unforgettable performance as the indescribably overbearing husband of a disgraced supermodel-movie star, fully armed with his history of versatile roles in everything from art-house collaborations with Hong Sang-soo to rom-coms to his SAG Award-winning turn in Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite. Director Lee Won-suk has a rich history with NYAFF—his first film, How to Use Guys with Secret Tips, premiered at NYAFF 2013, and Lee won the Audience Award at NYAFF 2015 with his second feature, the big-budget period drama The Royal Tailor. It’s a thrill to welcome him back with his third feature.
The NYAFF 2023 Centerpiece Film is the International Premiere of Lee Byeong-heon’s Dream, one of the year’s most highly anticipated blockbusters, with the director in attendance. Both pulse-raising and heartwarming, the story is inspired by the real-life Korean team that participated in the 2010 Homeless World Cup, featuring South Korea’s superstar Park Seo-jun as a virtuoso soccer player-turned-coach and K-pop sensation Lee Ji-eun, best known to the world as IU, as cynical producer.
NYAFF’s bold and diverse South Korean lineup, includes Lee Hae-young’s Phantom, an action-packed spy drama set in 1933 that is one of this year’s biggest hits in the country; the boisterous family comedy Bear Man, from Park Sung-kwang, featuring Park Sung-woong in two indelible roles; Hail to Hell, the impressive feature debut of female helmer Lim Oh-jeong, about two oddballs who track down the bully who pushed them to the brink of suicide; the rousing underdog dramedy Rebound from Chang Hang-jun, in which a group of misfits come together to play nonstop basketball for eight days straight in the KBA National Tournament; and A Tour Guide from Kwak Eun-mi, the touching and timely story of a young North Korean defector who excels at leading Chinese-language tours of Seoul but lives a maladjusted, precarious life as a stranger in a strange land.
Inaugurated last year, NYAFF’s 2023 Best from the East Award honors a singularly outstanding performance in a film, and this year, the award is being bestowed on Korean actress-musician Lee Hanee, star of NYAFF’s Opening Film, Killing Romance. Lee’s absolutely dazzling comedic performance as a former superstar whose would-be dream marriage takes her to the depths of an existential hell and back proves the actress an unstoppable force of nature. Also not to be missed is her turn as a total badass (who may or may not be a spy) busting heads and taking names in Lee Hae-young’s Phantom. She will be on hand late in the festival to receive her award and introduce the screenings of both films. A beauty queen, taekwondo black belt, scuba diver, competitive skier, prodigy of traditional Korean music, and Goodwill Ambassador, Lee was a television host and musical theater star before embarking on her illustrious career as a film and TV actress in 2009. Recent highlights include her star turns in megahit Extreme Job (2019), Black Money (2019), and her role in NYAFF 2022 closing film, Alienoid (2022).
Once again this year, the festival will be co-hosting, with Korean Cultural Center New York and Film at Lincoln Center, a free outdoor screening in Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park. Set for July 21 is Bong Joon Ho’s 2006 masterpiece The Host, arguably one of the greatest monster movies ever made. Highlighting the type of hilarious, ragtag family dynamics that would win him an Oscar for Parasite years later, Bong’s David-versus-Goliath story stars Song Kang-ho and Bae Doona.
NYAFF TICKET PRICING AND INFO
For full lineup and to purchase tickets, please visit: https://www.nyaff.org/nyaff23/films
Tickets for the 22nd edition of the New York Asian Film Festival go on sale June 23 at 12pm ET, with early access for FLC Members beginning June 23 at 10am ET. Tickets are $17 for General Public; $14 for students, seniors (62+), and persons with disabilities; and $12 for FLC Members.
See more at FLC and save with a 3+ Film Package or FLC All-Access Passes ($249 for General Public and $199 for students). Note: Opening Night and premium events are excluded. Opening Night tickets for Killing Romance are $25 for the General Public and $20 for FLC Members, students, seniors, and persons with disabilities.
Those who wish to attend the Opening Night screening and the Night Market can get tickets for $50 for the General Public and $40 for FLC Members, students, seniors, and persons with disabilities. Premium events––including screenings of Killing Romance, Egoist, Home Sweet Home, Vital Signs, Phantom, and Closing Night film (to be announced)––are $25 for the General Public and $20 for FLC Members, students, seniors, and persons with disabilities.
Standard-priced screenings at NYAFF are eligible for the FLC Dinner + Movie combo. For $30, receive one ticket to an NYAFF screening and a select menu item at Café Paradiso, located in FLC’s Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. Learn more here. For additional information, please visit Film at Lincoln Center at filmlinc.org, New York Asian Film Festival at nyaff.org, and follow us on social media @filmlinc and @nyaff.
Barrymore Film Center will be screening films on July 21–23, with pricing to be announced at nyaff.org.
For additional information, please visit Film at Lincoln Center at filmlinc.org, New York Asian Film Festival at nyaff.org. Asia Society will be screening 16 films on July 23 and July 28–31.