The program guides are printed, the prints and master tapes are almost all accounted for, Wai Ka-fai has been sighted at JFK, and the popcorn is popping. The 8th New York Asian Film Festival begins in a little less than 16 hours and we’re exhausted, angry, stressed-out, worried about the rainy weather and sniping at each other constantly, but we’re ready to go and excited about the next 17 days of movies, guests, parties and sleepless nights.

Join us starting at noon tomorrow for opening weekend, which promises Hong Kong action; giant monsters; the World Premiere of Written By, starring Lau Ching-wan; softcore sex comedies; gory horror; Japanese end-of-the-world sci-fi; a cool indie HK noir; Korean spies, and much, much more.

Some of the New York papers have already chimed in with their festival preview reports, including the New York Times, the New York Post, and the Village Voice.

Tickets are available at IFC Center for the next two weeks of shows; we’ll give you an update on what’s likely to sell out in another day or two. Until then, pardon us, but we’ve got a festival to run!

Comments (0) Jun 18 2009