"Sad Vacation" takes home top prize at NYAFF 2008

by Chris MaGee

Well, another year, another New York Asian Film Festival. The annual influx of Asian cinema into the Big Apple tied up this weekend, but this year was a bit of a landmark for the fest. This was the first year that they had a jury, inlcuding Time Out New Yortk film critic Dave Fear and TV Guide film critic and author Maitland McDonagh, and awards were handed out last week with Shinji Aoyama taking home the New York Asian Film Festival Grand Prize for his 2007 film "Sad Vacation" starring Tadanobu Asano, Jo Odagiri and Meiko Kaji.

The Best Debut Feature Award went to former hikikomori Ryo Nakajima's "This World of Ours", the brutal story of high school bullying, rape, and self-mutiliation set in our post-911 world.

For a complete list of the NYAFF 2008 winners head on over to the Subway Cinema blog.