News

Jack Neo’s comedy proved the leading local feature over Chinese New Year.

Jack Neo’s Ah Girls Go Army has crossed $1.49m (S$2m) at the Singapore box office, making it the top grossing local film since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Released by mm2 Asia on February 1, the first day of the Chinese New Year, the comedy follows the first batch of female recruits going through national service because of a shortage of men. It is a spin-off from the hugely successful Ah Boys To Men franchise, which has spawned four films all directed by Neo, the most bankable Singaporean filmmaker.

Home ministry reveals that censors outlawed comedy Banglasia for fear it might ‘raise controversy and public doubt’

An irreverant comedy from the Malaysian director and YouTube star Namewee was banned by authorities for promoting homosexual lifestyles, mocking troops and ridiculing national security issues, a government ministry has revealed.

Namewee’s film Banglasia, which centres on a group of individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds who find themselves forced to accept each other’s differences, was banned from cinemas last year after 31 scenes were deemed inappropriate by local censors. Efforts to resolve the dispute failed when it became clear the entire movie would have to be reshot to assuage the authorities.

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Indian filmmaker Gurvinder Singh’s The Fourth Direction won the top award of best film at the 26th Singapore International Film Festival’s Silver Screen Awards.

Japan’s Ryusuke Hamaguchi was named best director for Happy Hour, while an ensemble Turkish cast was awarded best performance for their roles in Paruk Kacihafizoglu’s Snow Pirates.

A special mention was given to Avishai Sivan’s Tikkun although its public screening was cancelled as part of the festival’s long-standing policy not to screen censored films.

The Israeli production, which touches on the nature of sexuality, life and death, received an “R21 to be passed with cuts” rating from Singapore’s Media Development Authority. It continued to compete at the Silver Screen Awards through a closed-door jury screening.

Other awards to be presented at the Silver Screen Awards ceremony on Saturday night (Dec 5) at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands included an honorary award for Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf and an...

Indian filmmaker Gurvinder Singh’s The Fourth Direction won the top award of best film at the 26th Singapore International Film Festival’s Silver Screen Awards.

Japan’s Ryusuke Hamaguchi was named best director for Happy Hour, while an ensemble Turkish cast was awarded best performance for their roles in Paruk Kacihafizoglu’s Snow Pirates.

A special mention was given to Avishai Sivan’s Tikkun although its public screening was cancelled as part of the festival’s long-standing policy not to screen censored films. The Israeli production, which touches on the nature of sexuality, life and death, received an “R21 to be passed with cuts” rating from Singapore’s Media Development Authority. It continued to compete at the Silver Screen Awards through a closed-door jury screening.

Other awards to be presented at the Silver Screen Awards ceremony on Saturday night (Dec 5) at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands included an honorary award for Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf and an...

The 14th New York Asian Film Festival will launch on June 26 with the North American premiere of Philip Yung’s crime thriller.

Festival top brass announced that the Centerpiece Presentation is the North American Premiere of Sabu’s Chasuke’s Journey.

Other notable films include the world premiere of Fire Lee’s Robbery, the International Premiere of Anh Sang-hoon’s Empire Of Lust and the North American premieres of Chen Jiabin’s directorial debut A Fool and Lau Ho-leung’s Two Thumbs Up.

As reported previously, the 2015 Screen International Rising Star Award will go to Japanese actor Shota Sometani (pictured) and the 2015 Star Asia Award will be presented to Hong Kong’s Aaron Kwok.

North American film premieres include Nobuhiro Yamashita’s La La La At Rock Bottom, Yim Soon-rye’s The Whistleblower and the international premiere of Namewee’s Banglasia.

Sidebars include a spotlight on Myung Films and Korean women filmmakers.

Japanese film legends...

The 14th New York Asian Film Festival will present Hong Kong director Ringo Lam with the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award.

Lam rose to fame with a string of crime dramas in the 1980s and 1990s and his credits include City On Fire, Prison On Fire and Wild City.

As reported previously, the 2015 Screen International Rising Star Award will go to Japanese actor Shota Sometani and the 2015 Star Asia Award will be presented to Hong Kong’s Aaron Kwok.

North American film premieres include Nobuhiro Yamashita’s La La La At Rock Bottom, Yim Soon-rye’s The Whistleblower and the international premiere of Namewee’s Banglasia, which was banned in Malaysia.

Sidebars include a spotlight on Myung Films and Korean women filmmakers.

Japanese film legends Ken Takakura and Bunta Sugawara, who both died last November, will be the subject of the first joint tribute outside of Japan, which will feature the brand new digital remaster of the classic Battles...

The 14th New York Asian Film Festival in partnership with Screen International will honour the Japanese youngster with the International Rising Star Award on July 4.

Sometani will attend the event and the New York premiere of Kabukicho Love Hotel with director director Ryuichi Hiroki.

The 22-year-old actor Sometani has made a name for himself in his home country with lead roles in the likes of Himizu, for which he shared the Marcello Mastroianni Award for best new young actor in Venice with Fumi Nikaido.

The latter was the subject of the International Rising Star Award in 2014.

The festival, set to run from June 26-July 11, will showcase more than 50 films, most of which will receive their Us and North American premieres.

Port Of Call, will receive its North American premiere and Hong Kong actor Aaron Kwok will receive the Star Asia Award.

Kwok earned back-to-back Golden Horse best actor awards in 2005 and 2006 for Divergence and After This Our Exile.

Other...

As a Malaysian of Chinese descent, the controversial hip-hop artist Wee Meng Chee, Aka Namewee uses his music to comment on the rift between the native and non-native people of his country. As both the director and star of Nasi Lemak 2.0, he utilizes an unusual vehicle – that of a nationally-beloved rice dish – to recognize Malaysia’s many different communities and provide some light satire on how they often view one another.

Namewee plays Hero Huang, a Malaysian master of Chinese cuisine who loses his restaurant when he can’t “localize” his menu to suit the clientele. Broke and desperate to cook again, he reluctantly assists schoolgirl Xiao K (played by singer Karen Kong) when her father and aunt begin fighting over ownership of the family’s Chinese restaurant. In order to decide who will inherit the business, Huang must duel against a former rival to create the most authentic and tasty Chinese dish.

Fans of Asian cinema in the New York area are sure to be happy to get the news that the 11th annual New York Asian Film Festival has set the dates of June 29 through July 15 for this year's event. We've got tons of news about it so read on.

Co-presented with The Film Society of Lincoln Center and in association with Japan Society, the Nyaff is North American's leading festival for popular Asian cinema. All the details we currently have are listed in the press release below, and you can stay current on updates by visiting the New York Asian Film Festival Facebook page.

From the Press Release

The opening night film is Pang Ho-cheung’s astonishingly filthy, extremely hilarious Vulgaria, a movie about making movies, shot in just 12 days, all about gangsters named Brother Tyrannosaur, sleazy lawyers, the sex film industry, and men who love donkeys a little too much.