See Both Movies for Free, Courtesy of NYAFF and SciFi Japan Source: Subway Cinema/New York Asian Film Festival Special Thanks to Kristen Osborne and Gillian Osborne This month sees the launch of the 2012 New York Asian Film Festival and Japan Cuts: Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema. Running from June 29-July 12 at the Film Society of Lincoln Center and July 12 - 28 at Japan Society, the combined festival will feature dozens of films, international and world premiere screenings, Q&A`s with filmmakers, and other special events. Our friends at NYAFF are once again offering SciFi Japan readers a chance to win free tickets to see two films on their schedule... this time out one is a North American premiere while the other is a sci-fi/horror cult classic. Both will be screened at the Film Society of Lincoln Center`s Walter Reade Theater. located at 165 West 65th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues in New York City. ZERO MAN VS THE HALF VIRGIN (????????, Hanbun Shojo to Zero Otoko, 2011) Saturday, July 7, 1:30PM North American Premiere
105 minutes, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Sakichi Sato. Starring Chihiro Itakura, Shijimi, Koji Yamamoto, Hideo Tsubota and Miho Hoshino. A transcendentally weird sex comedy from the screenwriter of Takashi Miike’s ICHI THE KILLER and GOZU, ZERO MAN VS THE HALF VIRGIN zeroes in on its protagonist, goofball Sakuragi (Chihiro Itakura), who emerges from the blur of a power nap of an undetermined duration... in an unknown location. Without a clue as to who he is, what he’s doing there in full police uniform, and what he’s up to in life in general, he finds himself inexplicably endowed with quite possibly the wackiest superpower ever shown on screen: he has the bizarre ability, whenever he gets erect, to see numbers on the foreheads of everyone around him, as well as on his own -- which shows a rather dismal zero. Sakuragi soon figures out the identity bit: he is indeed an ordinary, low-level beat cop -- except for the number-reading part. He also , one that happens to match his own minor obsession with matters of the flesh, or more accurately, of affairs involving the shoving of his right hand down his pants. After thinking it over, the sex-hungry cop comes up with a prosaic but practical hypothesis that explains the meaning of the numbers... they must refer to he number of sexual partners that each person has had. That would explain the zero that appears on his forehead whenever he looks at his reflection in a mirror, since he’s a virgin. Setting his sights on a young woman with 0.5 proudly adorning her charming brow, he surmises that he might have a (sexual) future with this Half Virgin who regularly stops by his koban (police box)… then again, maybe he’s getting all this completely mixed up. Sakuragi’s onanism-filled/fuelled quest has just begun! GOKE, BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL (????????, Kyuketsuki Gokemidoro, 1968) Saturday, June 30, 12:00AM
78 minutes, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Hajime Sato. Starring Teruo Yoshida, Tomoi Sato and Eizo Kitamura. The cult classic GOKE will screen at midnight the night of June 30th. Heavily influenced by Mario Bava, director Hajime Sato created a movie that haunted cinema screens, and defenseless brains, like a restless ghost. A jet liner cuts through blood-red skies (a shot Quentin Tarantion admits he lifted for Kill Bil VOL. 1). Inside are the dregs of humanity: a nasty shrink, an arms dealer, a crooked politician, a hitman, a widow, and a terrorist. In a confluence of unhappy accidents -- suicide birds crash into the plane, a terrorist hijacks it, a UFO attacks it -- they crash into a rocky landscape that looks less like Japan and more like the Ninth Circle of Hell. Item #1 on the agenda: everyone turns on each other like a bunch of rabid dogs. Item #2: check out where that killer UFO landed. Big mistake. Inside the UFO is a bit of extraterrestrial snot that opens up a juicy, red, Cronenbergian slit in nearby foreheads, and slides inside to hide. In GOKE the world seems to be ending but no one’s sure why. At a time when Japan was trying to prove to its neighbors that it was a happy shiny country, where the economy was strong and kids could have fun, fun, fun all day long and no one was going to commit war crimes again, GOKE somehow slipped out. Carved onto the screen in bold blocks of eye-crushing primary colors, all acid oranges, atomic yellows, and chlorine blues, it’s as nihilisitc and sharp-edged as something Rod Serling would have written right before stubbing out his last cigarette and slipping a noose around his neck.
OFFICIAL CONTEST RULES and INFORMATION
Prize: A. The prize consists of one (1) pair of passes to see GOKE, BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL on Saturday, June 30th and one (1) pair of passes to see ZERO MAN VS THE HALF VIRGIN on Saturday, July 7th. B. Passes will be available just before the shows at Will Call in the Walter Reade Theater. The winner must present a photo ID in order to claim their prize. Walter Reade Theater is part of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, located at 165 West 65th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues in New York City. For more information, call 212-875-5601 or visit filmlinc.com. C. In the event that a winner chooses not to (or cannot) accept a prize, he or she forfeits all claim to that prize. D. One entry per person. Prizes are non-transferable. No substitution of prizes allowed. E. These passes are for admission to the ZERO MAN VS THE HALF VIRGIN and GOKE, BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL screenings only. New York Asian Film Festival is providing complimentary admission with the condition that no other benefits are implied. Winners understand and acknowledge that they are responsible for all other expenses including transportation, food (you`ll have to buy your own snacks, sorry!), and lodging. Furthermore, winners and their guests understand and acknowledge that New York Asian Film Festival and SciFi Japan are in no way liable for any injuries or other losses incurred by accepting the passes. Duration of contest: The contest runs from June 13 until 11:59 pm on June 23, 2012. How to enter: A. Submit your name and email address for the random drawing. Determination of winners: A. Only contestants who have submitted the requested information will be entered in the final drawing. The first randomly drawn eligible entry will be judged the winner. B. SciFi Japan is not responsible for typographical, electronic or other errors in Internet operation affecting the offering, outcome, administration of the contest or the announcement of prizes. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. C. The decision of the New York Asian Film Festival and SciFi Japan is final. Entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and by the decisions of the SciFi Japan judges, which are final and binding in all respects. Just email the following information to "NYAFF 2012" at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Good luck! Name: Email address: Phone number:
ABOUT NYAFF
Subway Cinema is a New York-based film programming, exhibition, and marketing collective, committed to increasing exposure and appreciation for Asia`s popular cinema with year-round events and screenings. Its flagship event is the New York Asian Film Festival which the New York Times has called "...one of the city`s most valuable events..." Launched in 2002, the NYAFF is America`s leading and most influential showcase for popular Asian cinema. Each year, the Festival selects over 40 feature films, and only the best, the strangest, and the most entertaining make the cut. The NYAFF was the first North American film festival to put a spotlight on Johnnie To, Bong Joon-Ho and Park Chan-Wook and it also held the largest retrospective of Tsui Hark`s work outside of Hong Kong. It is widely considered invincible.