New York Asian Film Festival sets 25th edition with Yeon Sang-ho’s Colony and Joan Chen honor

 

Fat Choi Spirit (©2010 Fortune Star Media Limited All Rights Reserved); Gamer Girls (courtesy of Film Movement); Colony (courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment); Crossing a Dawn (©Momo Pictures); and Montreal, Ma Belle (©Filmoption International)

New York Asian Film Festival sets 25th edition with Yeon Sang-ho’s Colony and Joan Chen honor

The New York Asian Film Festival ( NYAFF ) will mark its 25th edition this summer with a program that pairs anniversary reflection with the restless discovery that has long defined the event: a major Korean genre premiere, a tribute to Joan Chen, returning filmmakers, and a lineup that stretches across East and Southeast Asia.

Presented by the New York Asian Film Foundation and Film at Lincoln Center, NYAFF 2026 will run July 10 through July 26 at five New York venues: Film at Lincoln Center, SVA Theatre, IFC Center, Anthology Film Archives, and the Korean Cultural Center New York. Screenings at Film at Lincoln Center will take place from July 10 through July 23.

The anniversary edition also brings the festival back to two sites tied to its early history. Anthology Film Archives, where NYAFF began in 2002, will host screenings July 16 through 18. IFC Center, which was home to four formative editions, will host screenings July 13, 15, 16, and 22.

Opening night, July 10 at Film at Lincoln Center, will feature the North American premiere of “Colony,” the new film from Yeon Sang-ho, the filmmaker behind “Train to Busan.” The film arrives after its world premiere in the Cannes Midnight Screenings section — the same program that introduced “Train to Busan” a decade ago.

Set in a central Seoul high-rise as a virus tears through the building, “Colony” stars Jun Ji-hyun, also known as Gianna Jun, as a biotech professor drawn into a fight for survival. The cast also includes Ji Chang-wook, Koo Kyo-hwan, and Shin Hyun-been. Yeon is expected to attend the opening-night screening, being held before the film’s August 28 theatrical release.

After the premiere, the festival’s Opening Night Market will return to the Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery at Film at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater, with live music and Asian street food.

NYAFF’s Opening Weekend Gala will take place July 11 at Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein Atrium, where the festival will present Joan Chen with its Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award. Chen’s career has moved between American and Asian cinema for four decades, from “The Last Emperor” and “Twin Peaks” to recent work in “Dìdi” and “Montréal, Ma Belle.” Sean Wang and Andrew Ahn, who directed Chen in “Dìdi” and “The Wedding Banquet,” respectively, will present the award. NYAFF will screen the New York premiere of “Montréal, Ma Belle” on July 12.

This year’s first wave includes more than 50 filmmakers scheduled for post-screening Q&As and special appearances. The program is built around two impulses that have shaped NYAFF since its beginning: introducing New York audiences to films rarely seen in the United States and bringing back major titles, cult works, and genre milestones that helped form modern Asian cinema.

Yeon Sang-ho will be one of the edition’s central figures. In addition to “Colony,” the festival will screen “Seoul Station,” his 2016 animated horror film; “Train to Busan” in a new 4K presentation timed to its 10th-anniversary North American theatrical re-release; and “Peninsula.” His latest series, “Human Vapor,” a reimagining of Toho’s 1960 sci-fi classic, is set to premiere globally on Netflix on July 2, days before his New York appearance.

The Korean lineup also includes “The King’s Warden,” described by organizers as the highest-grossing Korean film of all time, starring Yoo Hae-jin and Park Ji-hoon. Two other Korean selections, “Hallan” and “My Name,” address the Jeju 4·3 Incident, the 1947–54 massacres that remained difficult to discuss publicly in South Korea for decades. Both films are supported by the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation and will be presented alongside a Jeju 4·3 exhibition.

Hong Kong cinema remains another major anchor. The Hong Kong Panorama, presented by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York with support from Cathay Pacific, includes Longman Leung’s “Cold War 1994,” Philip Yung’s “Cyclone,” and Jack Ng’s “Night King” in a director’s cut that has not previously screened outside Hong Kong. The section also features new work by Keane T.K. Wong, Amos Why, Frankie Chung, and Joey Wu, along with Pang Ho-cheung’s “You Shoot, I Shoot” and Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai’s “Fat Choi Spirit.”

A Filmmaker in Focus series will spotlight Andrew Lau, who co-directed “Infernal Affairs” and served as cinematographer on much of “Chungking Express.” The series includes “The Dumpling Queen,” “The Storm Riders,” and a newly restored 20th-anniversary 4K edition of “Initial D.”

The Japanese selections range from Tomorowo Taguchi’s “Street Kingdom,” about Tokyo’s Rockers scene, to Eisuke Naito’s survival thriller “Higuma!! The Killer Bear” and Koji Shiraishi’s viral horror title “Kinki.” Takashi Miike’s “Ichi the Killer” returns as part of the festival’s 25th-anniversary Rediscoveries program.

Other highlights include Giddens Ko’s Taiwanese martial arts comedy “Kung Fu”; Lee Yi-shan’s Golden Horse-winning debut “A Dance with Rainbows”; Rafael Manuel’s Sundance-winning “Filipiñana,” from the Philippines; Raymond Red’s “Manila’s Finest”; Chan Sze-Wei’s “10s Across the Borders,” about Southeast Asia’s underground ballroom scene; Leon Le’s 35 mm Vietnamese drama “Ky Nam Inn”; Tony Bui’s live cine-concert “A Life in Cinema”; and Peng Fei’s Chinese film “Take Off.”

Tickets for Film at Lincoln Center screenings go on sale June 18 at 2 p.m. ET, with early access for Film at Lincoln Center and NYAFF members beginning at noon. Standard tickets are $20 for the general public; $17 for students, seniors, and persons with disabilities; and $15 for members. 

Opening Night Film and Night Market tickets are $50 for the general public.

The second wave of NYAFF 2026 programming, including selections for the Centerpiece and Closing Films, as well as additional award recipients, is expected next week. 

galabid.com/nyaffgala2026.