2021 New York Asian Film Festival 20th Edition Closed August 22

After screening a record 75 films over 16 days in person and virtually, the 20th Edition closed out an epic run Sunday, August 22, with back-to-back screenings of three thrilling titles: Evan Jackson Leong’s Chinatown-set crime thriller Snakehead; Yoon Jae-Keun’s head-spinning Spiritwalker, winner of the NYAFF 2021 Daniel A. Craft Award for Excellence in Action Cinema; and the NYAFF Closing Film, Kim Ji-hoon’s blockbuster disaster comedy Sinkhole. – By Gregg W. Morris

2021 72 Hour Shootout Premiere Dedicated to Actor, Writer Howard Fong

The Film Lab’s 17th annual 72 Hour Shootout filmmaking competition premiered its winning films at the Asian American International Film Festival, celebrating and empowering voices and stories too often marginalized by mainstream media. For the first time in its history, the premiere was dedicated to an individual: Actor, Writer Howard Fong. By Gregg W. Morris

Main Slate Selections for 59th New York Film Festival (September 29 to October 10) – Part 1

Thirty features including new films from Pedro Almodóvar, Jane Campion, Jonas Carpignano, Joel Coen, Julia Ducournau, Bruno Dumont, Michelangelo Frammartino, Rebecca Hall, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Mia Hansen-Løve, Todd Haynes, Joanna Hogg, Hong Sangsoo, Tatiana Huezo, Radu Jude, Alexandre Koberidze, Kira Kovalenko, Nadav Lapid, Pietro Marcello, Avi Mograbi, Radu Muntean, Francesco Munzi, Gaspar Noé, Panah Panahi, Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Alice Rohrwacher, Céline Sciamma, Joachim Trier, Anisia Uzeyman, Paul Verhoeven, Apichatpong Weerasethaukul, Saul Williams, and Ramon and Silvan Zürcher.
By Gregg W. Morris, WORD Editor, Publisher

Damn the Pandemic, Full Speed Ahead Film Review
THE MEANING OF HITLER – An Inquiry into Decades of Cultural Fascination with the Nazi Leader and the Ramifications of Such a Fascination on Present Day Politics

THE MEANING OF HITLER’s bravura cinematography and deft use of visuals – such as animation, graphics, vintage news reels, Hollywood and foreign movie footage, social media visuals – as well as interviews with historians and writers speaking with a believe-it-or-not-if-you-dare tempo about a truth, a whole truth and nothing but that truth – resulted in a sweeping panoramic documentary with prophetic and apocalyptic tones about the Who, What, Where, When, Why & How of the never-ending macabre fascination with Hitler.
By Gregg W. Morris