The Asian Film Festival of Dallas, July 12-19 – schedule of events and trailers

The Asian Film Festival of Dallas, July 12-19 – schedule of events and trailers

Dallas has its share of film-related activities throughout the year, with the Dallas International Film Festival, The USA Film Festival, and the brand new Oak Cliff Film Festival, but if you more into Asian cinema culture there’s only one game in town. The 11th Annual Asian Film Festival of Dallas starts this week on July 12, and runs through July 19, and they’ve got another impressive lineup of films to boast. It all starts this Thursday night with ACE ATTORNEY, a film by the great Takashi Miike. See the trailer for that and LET’S GO! below. Lots of Southwest premieres going on, so don’t miss out. Under the preliminary info and trailers, you’ll find a complete schedule of films playing. Be sure to tell them Bigfanboy.com sent ya, and we might even bump into you out there!

11th ANNUAL ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL OF DALLAS
PRESENTED BY MCDONALD’S & WELL GO USA ENTERTAINMENT
THURSDAY, JULY 12th THROUGH THURSDAY, JULY 19th

LANDMARK’S MAGNOLIA THEATRE in the WEST VILLAGE
3699 MCKINNEY AVE. SUITE 100, DALLAS, TX 75204

The Asian Film Festival of Dallas celebrates its 11th year with returning presenting sponsors McDonald’s & Well Go USA Entertainment, from Thursday, July 12 through Thursday, July 19, 2012 at the Landmark’s Magnolia Theatre in the West Village. The festival begins with the Texas Premiere of Opening Night Film ACE ATTORNEY, from fabled director Takashi Miike. Adapted from the popular videogame series, the film pits an untested lawyer against his most powerful adversaries while trying to solve a decades-old murder. “Filled with mystery, comedy and lots of fantastic hair, ACE ATTORNEY starts the 11th annual Asian Film Festival of Dallas off right…with no objections!”
– Director of Programming Steve Norwood

The Southwest Premiere of Centerpiece Film SAYA-ZAMURAI (SCABBARD SAMURAI) comes from the unique mind and talent of Director Hitoshi Matsumoto (BIG MAN JAPAN, SYMBOL) mixes offbeat humor with touching drama. This period tale follows a disgraced samurai who faces death in 30-days unless he can make the grieving son of a clan leader laugh. Matsumoto’s antics are given a delicate treatment as his character dreams up wildly imaginative ways to cheer the young lord. As the days pass, the local citizens soon rally behind him. Another Southwest Premiere, the Closing Night Film is the much anticipated South Korean science-fiction anthology DOOMSDAY BOOK, co-directed by Kim Ji-woon (I SAW THE DEVIL) and Yim Pil-sung (HANSEL AND GRETEL, ANTARCTIC JOURNAL). The film has three distinctly different chapters, including: a zombie apocalypse brought about by a single piece of trash; a meditation on being and existence thanks to a robot that has a surprising case of enlightenment; and the end of the world, due largely to a young girl’s internet activity. One of the most soughtafter Asian films this year, DOOMSDAY BOOK promises to surprise and even charm you as it shows the Mayans how things really work.

This year’s non-competition highlights include several of the AFFD’s exclusive North American Premieres: Derek Yee’s THE GREAT MAGICIAN, a period mystery that pits warlords, revolutionaries and a shady businessman against a visiting magician with a secret. The Simon Yam/Nick Cheung thriller NIGHTFALL, presented by Well Go USA Entertainment, offers up a catand-mouse game between a seasoned detective and a paroled murderer. LET’S GO! combines gritty crime thriller with wild action and superhero worship makes what could be one of the coolest hybrids in AFFD history. And, the debut feature from Jiayi Du, ONE MILE ABOVE, is the heartwarming and inspiring (true) tale of a young man’s trek to the highest point in Tibet on a bicycle.

Amidst the primetime screenings, midnights, feature competition categories, short film blocks and a new student short program, the AFFD has not forgotten about the classics and brings a trio of Japanese masterpieces from Janus Films to the big screen. Celebrating their 50th anniversaries are both Akira Kurosawa’s SANJURO and Masaki Kobayashi’s HARA KIRI; but also the 1968 horror/fantasy KURONEKO, brought to the AFFD in a new 35mm print that stunningly highlights the film’s brilliant artistic achievement.

About the Asian Film Festival of Dallas
Since its creation in 2002, the annual film festival has grown to become the South’s largest showcase of Asian and Asian-American cinema. Over the past 10 years, the festival has provided opportunities for nearly 500 Asian and Asian-American filmmakers and documentarians to share their vision, often providing the only venue for their films to be shown in Dallas. The films have also allowed festival goers a chance to experience other lives and cultures without leaving their seats. The Asian Film Festival of Dallas is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating and supporting emerging and established Asian and Asian-American filmmakers and sharing the rich diversity of Asian culture through the medium of cinema.

For more information about AFFD or to purchase tickets, please visit their OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Find out more information about the Asian Film Festival Dallas by going to their OFFICIAL WEBSITE. Check out the complete film schedule below. Takashi Miike’s ACE ATTORNEY will open and close the festival:

JUL 12
8:30 ACE ATTORNEY(135m) A film by Takashi Miike (13 Assassins, Ichi the Killer) Texas Premiere – Opening Night Film

JUL 13
12:00 DANGEROUSLY EXCITED (101m)
2:00 LOVE FICTION (125m)
4:30 OVERHEARD 2 (121m)
7:00 DRAGON (WU XIA) (114m)
9:30 NIGHTFALL (108m)
11:59 GYO (70m) A film by Takayuki Hirao – Animation, Horror – U.S. Premiere

JUL 14
12:00 STUDENT SHORTS SHOWCASE (60m)
2:00 LET’S GO! (96m)
4:00 GIVE UP TOMORROW (95m)
6:30 THE GREAT MAGICIAN (128m)
9:00 HEADSHOT (105m)
11:15 DARK SHORTS (93m) Anthology, Horror, Short, Thriller

JUL 15
12:00 EXPERIMENTAL SHORTS (47m)
1:35 SANJURO (1962) (100m)
3:35 GUNS N’ ROSES (108m)
5:40 DAYLIGHT SAVINGS (73m)
7:45 SAYA-ZAMURAI (SCABBARD SAMURAI) (105m)
10:00 MONSTERS CLUB (75m) A film by Toshiaki Toyoda (9 Souls, Hanging Garden) Southwest Premiere

JUL 16
12:00 DRAMATIC SHORTS (71m)
1:30 LOVABLE (86m)
3:15 ONE MILE ABOVE (90m)
5:00 PEARLS OF THE FAR EAST (103m)
7:30 YES OR NO (102m)
9:45 I AM A GHOST (75M) A film by H.P. Mendoza – Southwest Premiere – Director in Attendance, Q&A to Follow

JUL 17
12:00 GOLDEN SLUMBERS (96m)
2:00 AFFRONTED SHORTS (64m)
4:00 DEATH OF A CEMETERY (75m)
6:00 TOO MANY VILLAINS (75m)
8:00 KURONEKO (1968) (100m)
10:00 AMOK (80m) A film by Lawrence Fajardo – Southwest Premiere – Director/Producer, Q&A to Follow

JUL 18
12:00 CHINA HEAVYWEIGHT (89m)
1:45 HARA KIRI (135m)
4:15 WHERE HEAVEN MEETS HELL (80m)
6:30 10 + 10 (115m)
8:45 VIETTE (90m) A film by Mye Hoang – SouthWest Premiere – Director in Attendance with Q&A to follow film

JUL 19
12:00 THE GREAT MAGICIAN(128m)
2:30 SAYA-ZAMURAI (SCABBARD SAMURAI) (105m)
4:45 GUNS N’ ROSES (108m)
7:00 DOOMSDAY BOOK (115m)
9:30 ACE ATTORNEY (135m)

Find out more information about the Asian Film Festival Dallas by going to their OFFICIAL WEBSITE

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About the Author

Born and raised in Dallas, Mark has been a movie critic since 1994, with reviews featured in print, radio and National TV. In 2001 he started the Entertainment section of the Herorealm website, where he contributed film reviews and celebrity interviews until 2004. After three years of service there, he started Bigfanboy.com, which has become one of the Dallas film community's leading information websites. Bigfanboy hosts several movie screenings in the Texas area, and works closely with film and TV studios and promotional partners to host exciting events and contests. The site also features a variety of rare celebrity and filmmaker interviews, and Bigfanboy.com regularly covers the film festival circuit as well. In addition to Hollywood reporting, Mark has worked for many years as an advertising and sci-fi/comic book artist. Clients have included Lucasfilm Ltd., Topps Trading Cards, The Dallas Mavericks and The Dallas Stars. From 2002 until 2015 he managed the Dallas Comic Con, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days events in the DFW area. He currently catalogs rare comic books and movie memorabilia for Heritage Auctions, and runs the Dallas Comic Show conventions, but remains an avid moviegoer and cinema buff.