AAVCLUB @ AFS Cinema

*$4 off with code: AAAFF$4

Applicable for additional showtimes of the films listed below as well. Check AFS Cinema schedule for most updated showtimes.

Blue Sun Palace

Directed by Constance Tsang | USA
2024, 1h 56min, DCP, In Mandarin with English Subtitles

“Tsang brings a perceptive subtlety to the story, creating a whole world inside the parlor and its inhabitants, while letting us discover along with them what lies beyond. Instead of leaning into trauma or misery, the filmmaker gives us complex characters who nonetheless speak very little — everything happens in their expressions, the quick flash of a twitch across a cheek when the other isn’t looking.”
—Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times (Critic’s Pick)

“By its final grace note, one that considers the reality that some wounds aren’t meant to heal, “Blue Sun Palace,” a soulful and passionate meditation on loss, shines as a new gem of slow cinema.”
—Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com

May. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 | Winner of the French Touch prize in the Critics’ Week lineup of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Within the confines of a massage parlor in Flushing, Queens, Amy (Wu Ke-Xi) and Didi (Haipeng Xu) navigate romance, happiness, and the obligations of family thousands of miles from home. Despite the physical and emotional toll their work extracts, the women who live at the parlor have fortified an impenetrable sisterhood.

When tragedy strikes on Lunar New Year, Amy is forced to consider her own destiny for the first time ever. Despite finding solace in the company of Cheung (Lee Kang-sheng), Amy must leave the city and prioritize her own spirit in order to survive.

In an unseen part of New York, BLUE SUN PALACE explores the lives of transient souls trying to find a sense of permanence.

Love and pop

Directed by Hideaki Anno | Japan
1998, 1h 50 min, DCP, In Japanese with English subtitles

May. 19, 21 | Mini DV cams, mini-skirts, and ‘90s Tokyo. Hiromi, a schoolgirl chasing cash for a topaz ring, dives into a whirlwind of dates with older men. Based on Ryū Murakami’s novel, LOVE & POP is a raw, unfiltered look at disillusioned youth navigating a rapidly shifting world from Hideaki Anno (NEON GENESIS EVANGELION).

Caught By the tides

Directed by Jia Zhangke | China
2024, 1h 53 min, DCP, In Mandarin with English Subtitles

“As emotionally effective as it is formally brilliant”
—Manohla Dargis, NY Times (Critic’s Pick)

“What Jia has captured here is the aging not of an individual but of a country… But CAUGHT BY THE TIDES cuts deeper still. Through the strange miracle of its existence, it shows us that the art of the motion picture is aging, too.”
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker

May. 22, 23, 24, 25 | Director Jia Zhangke (ASH IS PUREST WHITE, MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART) delivers a masterful portrait of romantic destiny, over 20 years in the making. CAUGHT BY THE TIDES follows its perennial heroine, Qiaoqiao (Zhao Tao), over decades as she traverses the profound social transformation and turbulent changes of contemporary China.

Ran

Directed by Akira Kurosawa | Japan/France
1985, 2h 42min, DCP, In Japanese with English subtitles

New 4K remaster of one of the greatest films ever made.

May. 24, 25, 26 | Akira Kurosawa’s late masterpiece RAN is an epic in the truest sense of the word. Not only was it Kurosawa’s highest budgeted film, it was the most expensive Japanese film ever made up to that point. As you would expect from Kurosawa, he uses the dramatically increased scale of the film to make something that is jaw-dropping in its effects. Kurosawa had hundreds of suits of armor and period weapons constructed and he filmed in ancient castles and even an active volcano. The story, based in part on King Lear, provides a rich emotional fabric for Kurosawa and his talented cast to work with. This is a film that must be experienced in a theater.

Saving face

Directed by Alice Wu | USA
2004, 1h 31 min, 35mm, In English, Mandarin, and Shanghainese with English subtitle

Jun 2, 4 | When her mother (Joan Chen) arrives at her doorstep pregnant and refusing to reveal the father’s identity, Wil takes her in. But when her mother’s presence begins to strain her budding relationship, Wil takes it upon herself to play matchmaker. A “fresh and charming” (Austin Chronicle) queer romantic comedy, SAVING FACE is an honorable break with tradition.
In 35mm.

Desert of Namibia

Directed by Yôko Yamanaka | Japan
2025, 2h 7min, DCP, In Japanese with English subtitles

“A formal exercise miles away from the clichés that abound about contemporary Japan.”
—Première

“Universal and impressive … Reminiscent of Pialat and Cassavetes.”
—Les Inrocks

Jun 5, 8 | In her second feature, Yôko Yamanaka delivers “a slap to the face of Japanese society” (L’Humanité). DESERT OF NAMIBIA follows Kana, a pathologically directionless 21-year-old navigating the emotional wasteland of modern Tokyo, flitting between unfulfilled dreams and unsteady relationships on a rocky path of self-discovery. Teeming with striking visuals and bold storytelling, this Cannes Directors’ Fortnight 2024 selection possesses the same reckless abandon as its lead.

Shall We Dance

Directed by Masayuki Suo | Japan
1996, 2h 16min, DCP, In Japanese with English Subtitles

“SHALL WE DANCE? combines the best elements of old-fashioned ‘gotta dance’ romance with the courage it takes to overcome strict behavioral boundaries, both self-imposed and societal.”
—Austin American-Statesman

Jun. 6, 7, 8 | Shohei Sugiyama (PERFECT DAYS star Kōji Yakusho) seems to have it all: a devoted wife, a loving daughter, and a picture-perfect life. But a fleeting glimpse of a beautiful woman inspires the overworked accountant to risk everything for his newfound passion — dance. A toe-tapping comedy that “will sweep you off your feet” (Austin Chronicle) from director Masayuki Suo. Presented in a stunning 4K restoration, the original 136-minute film is available uncut for the first time in North America.

Rampo Noir

Directed by Akio Jissoji, Atsushi Kaneko, Hisayasu Satō, and Suguru Takeuchi | Japan
2005, 2h 14 min, DCP, In Japanese with English subtitles

“Nothing short of invigorating … the vivid imagination of Japan’s literary master of the macabre has rarely been served better.”
—Midnight Eye

Jun. 13, 14 | Akio Jissoji (MANDARA), Atsushi Kaneko (manga artist of Search and Destroy), Hisayasu Satō (MUSCLE), Suguru Takeuchi (THE MARS CANON) — four visionary artists take on the works of Japan’s master of the macabre, Edogawa Rampo, in this eye-popping spectacle. Featuring Tadanobu Asano (ICHI THE KILLER), Ryuhei Matsuda (BLUE SPRING), Mikako Ichikawa (BLUE), and more.