Park Ji-hyun, Choi Si-won and Sung Dong Il star in ‘Forbidden Fairy Tale.’
The theme of this year’s New York Asian Film Festival is Cinema as Disruption, spotlighting films that challenge, provoke and reimagine. The collection of films—from unsettling horror and feminist thrillers to cosmic punk epics and political allegories— celebrates the ways Asian cinema defies convention. With over 75 premieres—including eight world premieres—and 17 directorial debuts from Asia, the 2025 program showcases its largest slate of premieres to date.
“This year’s lineup dares to confront, question, and dream—exactly what cinema should do,” says Samuel Jamier, NYAFF Executive Director. “With 19 Southeast Asian films—our strongest regional representation ever—we’re witnessing a generational shift. Beyond the curation of films, we’re redrawing a cultural map that urgently needs expansion. Many festivals treat Asian cinema like it ends at the Korean border—we’re here to blow up that thinking. We mean business. Or chaos. Probably both.”
Two Korean films have been included in the lineup so far. Korea’s Lee Jong-seok (The Negotiation) detonates social mores in Forbidden Fairytale, a fearless satire on sex, porn and censorship. The film stars Park Ji-hyun (Reborn Rich), Sung Dong-il (The Tale of Lady Ok) and Choi Si-won (She Was Pretty).
Kim Min-ha stars in ‘Girl With Closed Eyes.’
Seventeen first-time filmmakers—nearly half of them women—are featured this year, including Korean filmmaker Chun Song-young for her film A Girl with Closed Eyes. The murder mystery stars Kim Min-ha (Pachinko), Lee Ki-woo (Miraculous Brothers), and Choi Hee-seo (Now We Are Breaking Up). Both Korean films will screen at Lincoln Center.
Celebrating its 24th edition in 2025, NYAFF showcases a diverse lineup of titles each year, ranging from mainstream blockbusters and art-house eccentricities to genre and cult classics. It was the first North American film festival to champion the works of Johnnie To, Bong Joon-ho, Park Chan-wook, Takashi Miike, and other auteurs of contemporary Asian cinema. Notable festival guests have included Lee Byung-hun, Ryoo Seung-wan, Masami Nagasawa, Sammo Hung, Lee Jung-jae, and Jackie Chan.
The New York Asian Film Foundation Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the exhibition and appreciation of Asian film culture in all its forms, with year-round festivals and programs, and a view to building bridges between Asia and America. NYAFF is the New York Asian Film Foundation’s flagship event. It has been presented in collaboration with Film at Lincoln Center since 2010.
Film at Lincoln Center is a nonprofit organization that celebrates cinema as an essential art form and fosters a vibrant home for film culture to thrive. FLC presents premier film festivals, retrospectives, new releases, and restorations year-round at New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
The New York Asian Film Festival runs from July 11 to 27. The festival will present a selection of films from Asia at Film at Lincoln Center, SVA Theatre, LOOK Cinemas W57, and the Korean Cultural Center NY.
