Editor

Legendary Japanese maniac, Suzuki Seijun, returns to the screen with his first
film in ten years with the full-bleed, super-saturated Pistol Opera at
the New York Asian Film Festival running April 26th to May 2nd. Korea offers
up its two biggest comedies ever released: My Sassy Girl, number one
at the box office for six weeks straight, and Kick The Moon. The most
popular film ever released in Thailand , Bang Rajan brings history
to the screenings at the Anthology Film Archives in Manhattan.

The festival celebrates Asian filmmakers and their off beat films where Japan's
giant monster movies are reinvented from the ground up with Gamera 2
and 3. Indian Musicals are represented by Mani Ratnam's Dil Se.The
festival showcases comedies, dramas, action films and thriller from some of
the best known directors of the genres.

The Feature Lineup

Bang Rajan Directed by: Thanit Jitnukul - In 1765 Burma invaded Thailand
and sacked its capital. The Burmese army advanced from two fronts,but one column
of 100,000 soldiers was held up at a little rural village called Bang Rajan,
where every man woman and child put down their ploughsand picked up big, flesh-cleaving
sabers and held off the invading Burmese army for five weeks.

Pistol Opera Directed by: Suzuki Seijun - Stray Cat is the #3 killer
in the Killer's Guild, sort of a business association for assassins. Ranked
from 1 to 100, Guild members spend all their time jockeying for better ratings
and someone in the elite Top Ten is angling for the coveted #1 spot and paranoia
chokes the world like thick yellow fog.

My Sassy Girl Directed by: Kwak Jae-Yong- Based on a real-life diary
originally posted on the internet, My Sassy Girl is the touching story
of a dolt in love. The object of his affection is a hard-drinking chick who
can only express herself through physically assaulting strangers, slinging insults
and passing out. My Sassy Girl was number one at the box office for six
straight weeks in Korea.

Visitor Q Directed by: Takashi Miike - Celebrating cultural values like
sex and violence, this ode to the family where Little Brother beats his mother,
when he's not getting whomped on by school bullies; Sis is a hooker; Dad is
her sometime customer and Mom's a junkie is taking basic family relationships
and exaggerating them slightly.

Dil Se Directed by: Mani Ratnam - The first Indian movie to break into
the UK's box office top ten, Mani Ratnam's tale of love in a time of terrorism
jerks your tears with an iron fist. A journalist doing a puff piece on India's
50 Years of Independence falls in love with a suicide bomber, right on the eve
of her final mission.

Gamera 2 Directed by: Shusuke Kaneko - Gamera vs. space insect
action with anitroglycerine edge. Cities are evacuated, office buildings become
breeding chambers for alien eggs, and subways become snacks on wheels.

Gamera 3-A primal tale of god-like monsters bringing Armageddon in their
wake, it's black as blood and dripping with end times panic.

Jiang Hu- The Triad Zone Directed by: Dante Lam - On the streets
the word is out that in the next 24 hours a gang boss, Jim Yam will die. As
he desperately searches for his killer, Yam must cope with cancer-ridden colleagues,
a sleek young punk with murder on his mind, angry widows, bored mistresses,
accidental sodomy, a wife who's tired of compromises, and the intercession of
General Kwan, the Chinese god of honor and justice.

Kick The Moon Directed by: Kim Sang-Jin - Starting in the god awful
80's,we watch the class bully grow up to become a gym teacher, and the class
nerd grow up to become a bigshot gangster. The two collide as adults, engaging
in hand-to-hand combat over the heart of a noodle shop owner in an opera buffo
world of bubbling problems and seething resentments, where asking for a date
can spark a riot.

One Fine Spring Day Directed by: Hur Jin-Ho - This a story about
two sound engineers who meet, fall in love, and break up while recording the
sounds of their surroundings.

Freeze Me Directed by: Ishii Takashi - Chihiro was gang raped five years
ago, back in her home town, and now she's moved to Tokyo, gotten a good job,
gotten engaged to a nice guy, and the past is the past, the scars have healed,
she's moved on. Until one of the rapists shows up on her doorstep, back for
more. .