The New York Asian Film Festival (June 19 – July 5) has imported special guests by the truckload. Here they are, in all their glory. This is the most number of guests we’ve ever brought in for our festival before and we can only hope our audience helps show them a good time at the festival so they’ll come back!

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Wai Ka-fai – Johnnie To’s collaborator, Wai Ka-fai has written, produced or co-directed almost every single film from Milkyway Image, including writing VENGEANCE, which was just in competition at Cannes. He’s here for the world premiere of WRITTEN BY, which he wrote and directed. There will also be a special presentation of his film THE LONGEST NITE (1998) after which he will talk about his career.

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Lau Ching-wan – one of Hong Kong’s most popular actors, Lau Ching-wan has appeared in ten movies from Johnnie To’s Milkyway Image. The recipient of several “Best Actor” awards including one “Best Actor” Hong Kong Film Award he is here for the world premiere of WRITTEN BY in which he plays the lead role. There will also be a special presentation of THE LONGEST NITE (1998) in which he stars opposite Tony Leung Chiu-wai, after which he will talk about his career with Wai Ka-fai.

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Nick Chin – working in London, the US and Hong Kong, Nick Chin is here for the New York premiere of his drop-dead gorgeous independent film noir, MAGAZINE GAP ROAD, which features an all-star cast of Hong Kong and Chinese actors, both new and old.

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Mak Hei-yan – only twenty-four years old and already of the most acclaimed young directors in Hong Kong, Mak Hei-yan is here for the New York premiere of her debut feature, HIGH NOON, for which she received a “Best Director” nomination at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

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Daisuke Goto – one of Japan’s most famous pink film directors, Daisuke Goto is best known for his pink film, THE LONELY COW WEEPS AT DAWN. Known for making pink films that are a cut above average in terms of quality and emotional heft, he’s here for the premiere of his pink movie, BLIND LOVE.

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Yoshihiro Nishimura – a truly unique talent, Yoshihiro Nishimura is a special effects director turned feature film director, who was at the NYAFF last year with his movie TOKYO GORE POLICE. This year he’s here to present the world premiere of his latest film, VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL.

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Noboru Iguchi – best known in America for his film MACHINE GIRL, Iguchi is also the director of A/V (adult videos) like HYPERTROPHIC GENITAL GIRL and feature films like the motion picture adaptation of Kazuo Umezu’s CAT-EYED BOY. He’s here to present his short film in “Tokyo Gore Night” SHYNESS MACHINE GIRL.

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Tak Sakaguchi – one of Japan’s most famous action stars, Tak Sakaguchi started his career as an underground fighter. He was discovered by Ryuhei Kitamura who gave him the starring role in VERSUS and he has since gone on to star in and choreograph numerous productions. He’s here to present his first two directorial efforts, BE A MAN! SAMURAI SCHOOL and YOROI SAMURAI ZOMBIE.

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Kong Hyo-Jin – one of Korea’s most popular up-and-coming actresses, and one of the stars of last year’s NYAFF film M, Kong Hyo-Jin was already well known before her star turn in CRUSH AND BLUSH rocketed her to the forefront as one of Korea’s best and most surprising actresses. She’s here to present CRUSH AND BLUSH and DACHIMAWA LEE, in which she plays the female lead.

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So Ji-Seob – a massive star of Korean TV dramas, with many awards under his belt, So Ji-Seob has been in a few movies before, but nothing to rival the massive acclaim he received for his cooler-than-thou performance as a gangster in ROUGH CUT, one of Korea’s biggest sleeper hits of 2008. He’s here with ROUGH CUT, the movie that has suddenly made him a big screen star.

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Lee Su-Jin – short film director Lee Su-Jin won the award from the Mise En Scene Short Film Festival in the “Comments on Society” category for his film “Enemy Apple,” part of this year’s MSFF program.

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Sion Sono – poet and director, Sion Sono, shot to fame in the West with his 2001 movie SUICIDE CIRCLE. In 2007, he came to the NYAFF with EXTE, and now he’s back with his four-hour masterpiece LOVE EXPOSURE and to present the world premiere of his latest film, BE SURE TO SHARE. His next movie is an English language adaptation of LORDS OF CHAOS, about Norway’s black metal scene, set to star TWILIGHT actor Jackson Rathbone as real-life heavy metal murderer Varg Vikernes.

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Eiji Okuda – since 1986, Eiji Okuda has been one of Japan’s great screen actors, a constant presence on the silver screen. He’s here to present the world premiere of BE SURE TO SHARE in which he stars as a father dying of cancer who makes the Great Santini look like a push-over.

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