There are more a dozen queer features, shorts, and documentaries screening at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival, taking place July 11-27 at Film at Lincoln Center, the SVA Theater, Look Cinemas W57, and the Korean Cultural Center. Here is a rundown of what to watch.
“Bel Ami” (July 21 at 9 p.m. Walter Reade, with Q&A and July 26 6:00 p.m., LOOK Cinemas W57) is a notable contribution to queer Chinese-language cinema. (It has a French pedigree.) Filmed in crisp black and white, this melancholic comedy-drama chronicles a handful of queer folks in a small town. Gang Xu (Gang Xu) is despondent after his boyfriend (Zixing Wang) suddenly breaks up with him. Gang eventually connects with Zhiyong Zhang (Zhiyong Zhang), who is also looking for love. Meanwhile, a lesbian couple (Chen Xuanyu — who also appears in “1 Girl Infinite” and Qing Wang) asks Gang’s ex to father a child with them — only to keep him under close surveillance. Writer/director Geng Jun makes each “love story” interesting. While the lesbians are very open about their relationship, the men are more clandestine and sometimes uneasy. A bedroom scene between Gang and Zhiyong involves spitting and hitting, but it is less disturbing than Gang having to fend off unwanted advances from Baohe Xue (Baohe Xue), who tells Gang to “Let his passions out” and practically attacks him in a sauna. “Bel Ami” is asking, “Is love being a slave or giving each other freedom?” It is a pertinent question that is examined in the shifting power dynamics. Both Gang Xu and Zhiyong Zhang give soulful performances (Zhang won an award at Taipei’s Golden Horse Film Festival).
The queer entry from Japan, “Babanba Banban Vampire” (July 27 at 6:00 p.m., SVA Theatre) is a fun and fleet adaptation of a popular manga. (It was also adapted for an animated series on Netflix). Ranmaru (Ryo Yoshizawa) is a 450-year-old vampire who protects 15-year-old Rihito (Rihito Itagaki), who saved him a few years ago. When Rihito goes off to high school, he literally and figuratively falls for Aoi (Nanoka Hara). Ranmaru tries to discourage Aoi’s attraction to Rihito, but she is crushed on Ranmaru — much to Rihito’s dismay. Meanwhile, the teens’ teacher, Sakamoto (Shinnosuke Mitsushima), is a vampire hunter who doesn’t want to kill Ranmuro; he wants Ramuro to suck his blood! Complications further ensue when another character, Nagayoshi (Gordon Maeda), shows up seeking revenge. “Babanba Banban Vampire” features several entertaining musical numbers and stylized fight scenes, which should all please genre fans. While the queer content is downplayed, Aoi’s hunky brother Ken (Mandy Keiguchi) provides some eye candy doing naked pushups in the bathhouse Rihito’s family owns.
Writer/director Huang Xi’s delicate Taiwanese film, “Daughter’s Daughter,” (July 18 at 5:30 p.m., LOOK Cinemas W57) follows Jin Aixia, aka “Ai” (Sylvia Chang) as the mother of two adult daughters, Zuer (Eugenie Liu), a lesbian whom she raised, and Emma (Karena Kar-Yan Lam), whom she gave up for adoption. When Zuer and her partner Jiayi (Tracy Chou) are killed in a car accident, Ai becomes the legal guardian of their embryo; they were trying to have a child through IVF. As Ai contemplates what to do, Emma finally asks long-held questions about why she was given up by her birth mother. Despite this soapy premise, “Daughter’s Daughter” never becomes mawkish thanks to Chang’s luminous performance. The actress, who coproduced the film with acclaimed filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien, is very moving as she processes her grief — crying while eating a cookie Zuer made or listening to voicemails or looking at photographs from her late daughter’s life. Xi’s film, ultimately, is about how parents and their daughters connect and communicate. Tensions abound as Ai’s own mother, Shen Yan-hua (Alannah Ong), has dementia. Beautifully filmed if leisurely paced, “Daughter’s Daughter” is a tender and absorbing mama-drama.
“1 Girl Infinite” (July 19 at 12:15 pm, Walter Reade) opens with Yin Jia’s (Chen Xuanyu) suicide note which claims her death has nothing to do with Tong Tong (director Lilly Hu). But, of course, it has everything to do with her; Yin Jia is hopelessly in love with Tong Tong, who only appreciates Yin Jia’s affections when it suits her. Tong Tong is more interested in Chen Wen (Yang Bo), a drug dealer. When Tong Tong has Yin Jia steal a suitcase — Yin Jia is an adept shoplifter — she informs her that it is because Chen Wen is going to take her to America. Yin Jia, already jealous of their relationship, tells Chen Wen she will do anything to stop him from taking Tong Tong away. “1 Girl Infinite” is a gritty, immersive film that captures the forces in this love triangle. Lilly Hu uses a handheld camera to create a level of intimacy to expresses the young characters’ urgent desires, which build to an intense confrontation. However, some viewers will have difficulty caring about these at times unpleasant characters. The committed performances by the three leads keep this uneven film interesting even during its most awkward moments.
“Skin of Youth” (July 24 at 8:45 pm, Walter Reade) has San (Trân Quân) hoping to earn enough money to get gender reassignment surgery. Her boxer boyfriend Nam (Võ Diên Gia Huy) loves her deeply; he tells her that he sees her as a “real woman.” But when she believes a client (Lé Quoc Nam) at the club she performs at will pay for her surgery, San is optimistic that she can transition. However, a series of terrible situations occur, causing San to self-harm and Nam to take more dangerous bouts. In addition, Nam has impregnated a young girl, Mimi (Phạm Thị Kim Ngân) — because his grandmother (NSUT Phi Dieu) wants a baby. “Skin of Youth” becomes even more melodramatic when a crime is committed that further tests the couple and their relationship. Director Ash Mayfair never makes the series of compounding events maudlin. And the film is buoyed by Võ Diên Gia Huy’s magnetism. His Nam looks at San with such affection — and can’t seem to keep his hands off her — it’s just swoony. As his story unfolds, Võ Diên Gia Huy really makes viewers feel the weight of the world on his bare shoulders. As San, Trân Quân is also moving as a troubled young woman, but her performance scenes are fabulous; they capture her strength and resilience. “Skin of Youth” is perhaps a little overstuffed plot-wise, but Mayfair imbues her gorgeous-looking drama with a palpable sense of atmosphere. Viewers will feel the heat of 1990s Saigon, the sweatiness of the bodies, as well as every physical and emotional body blow.
The New York Asian Film Festival has selected a curious feature for closing night, “Flower Girl” (July 27 at 8:30 pm, SVA Theatre). This broad Filipino comedy has Ena (Sue Ramirez) getting a lesson in trans issues when she misgenders her new assistant Mel (Maxie Anderson) as well as a stranger named Amanda (KaladKaren) in a rest stop ladies’ room. Amanda responds by putting a curse on Ena that causes her vagina to disappear. This development prompts Ena to lose both her boyfriend, Robert (Martin Del Rosario), and her job as a spokesmodel for feminine hygiene products. What is more, Ena won’t get her vagina back unless she finds someone who loves her for who she is. That task proves difficult as most men call her a “freak” when they learn she has no genitalia — until a guy named Dick (Jameson Blake) shows up not wanting sex. Of course, Dick has a guessable secret or two himself. “Flower Girl” uses its comic plot to make obvious points about aspects of the trans experience, which makes one wish the film was deeper. The ensemble cast gives energetic performances, but even at just over an hour, this one-joke comedy can feel shrill to savvy viewers.
The festival will also preview the first two episodes of the glossy Taiwanese series, “Islanders” (July 13 at 4:00 pm, LOOK Cinemas W57). Hanrong, aka Rong (Wu Kang-Jen), is the gay executive assistant to Li Xianhong (Christopher Lee), a wealthy businessman. Rong harbors a crush on his boss, but he settles into a relationship with Patrick, a friend of Xianhong’s instead. Meanwhile, Xianhong is sexually interested in Lilian (Rima Zeidan). As the characters’ relationships intersect and overlap — Xianghong’s intimacy with his partner Xiaowen (Yu Tzu-Yu) is crosscut with Rong and Patrick having sex — “Islanders” comments on the fickle nature of love and desire.
Episode 2 continues the drama by first flashing back to 2008 as Lilian’s relationship with Effie in New York City implodes. In 2015, she returns to Taiwan and starts cozying up with Xianhong. However, when they both attend a dinner together, it creates “a feast drenched in blood.” The promise of these two episodes will certainly whet the appetites of viewers who will be keen to see more.
For tickets, showtimes and schedule visit nyaff.org/nyaff25/films.
“The New York Asian Film Festival” | July 11-27 at various locations
