20th Anniversary New York Asian Film Festival

Jul 15-31, 2022

FilmsGuestsTalks & EventsSchedule & TicketsProgram Book

Photo: © 2022 TSUBURAYA PRODUCTIONS CO., LTD. / TOHO CO., LTD. / khara, Inc. © TSUBURAYA PRODUCTIONS

U.S. Premiere

Shin Ultraman

シン・ウルトラマン

Japan's most successful tokusatsu-vs.-kaiju series of all time gets a shiny new reimagining from creative titans Hideaki Anno (writer-producer) and Shinji Higuchi (director), the dynamic duo behind Shin Godzilla. While they’ve updated SFX legend Eiji Tsuburaya’s creation and ramped up the visual thrill factor, they haven’t tampered with the franchise’s campy bravura, rapid-fire technobabble or odd camera framing. Headlined by today’s biggest stars, including Takumi Saitoh, Masami Nagasawa (NYAFF 2012 Rising Star honoree) and Hidetoshi Nishijima (Drive My Car), Shin Ultraman highlights human-ET collaboration, satirizes society, and consistently hits new heights of old-school entertainment.

Director: Shinji Higuchi
Cast: Takumi Saitoh, Masami Nagasawa, Hidetoshi Nishijima
Languages: Japanese with English subtitles
2022; 112 min.

SCHEDULE:

Saturday July 23, 1:00pm
Film at Lincoln Center

Director Shinji Higuchi and Producer Tomoya Nishino will attend the screening.

Monday July 25, 3:30pm
Film at Lincoln Center

Tomoya Nishino
西野智也

Producer Tomoya Nishino began his career with Japanese giant Toho in 2011, and has been involved in a variety of TV and film productions since 2013. A fan of Shinji Higuchi’s, he lobbied to be involved in the Shin Ultraman project, eventually becoming the film’s main producer. Among his other productions are My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday (2016), Killing for the Prosecution (2018), It Comes (2018), Fortuna's Eye (2019), and Brave: Gunjyo Senki (2021).

Shinji Higuchi
樋口真嗣

Shinji Higuchi began his career in special effects for Godzilla (1984) and for Shusuke Kaneko's Gamera Heisei trilogy. He made his directorial debut in 2005 with Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean, followed by Japan Sinks (2006) and The Floating Castle (2012, co-directed with Isshin Inudo), and received the Japan Academy Prize for Best Director for Shin Godzilla (2016). Shin Ultraman was written and produced by Hideaki Anno, his collaborator on the “Neon Genesis Evangelion” series.