23rd New York Asian Film Festival

July 12-28, 2024

FilmsGuestsTalks & EventsSchedule & Tickets

Photo: ©2024 "BABY ASSASSINS NICE DAYS" Film Partners

World Premiere

Baby Assassins: Nice Days

ベイビーわるきゅーれ ナイスデイズ

Buckle up, folks, because director Yugo Sakamoto and action director Kensuke Sonomura, the mad geniuses behind the teen contract-killer series, are back and they're ready to blow your mind with Nice Days. The dynamic duo practically invented the hitman-comedy genre in Japan and turned the world of stuntwomen on its head, and now they're taking things to a whole new level of butt-kicking, fist-pummeling, knife-wielding, gun-slinging insanity. We've watched Chisato and Mahiro grow up and go pro, and this time, these BFFs and roomies are heading to a resort town for a little work and play. But their vacation plans go out the window when a lone-wolf assassin with a serious case of bloodlust shows up, looking to notch his 150th kill. And if that wasn't enough, two major movie icons are joining the party, making their debuts as lean, mean fighting machines and injecting some serious star power into the mix.

Director: Yugo Sakamoto
Producers: Yusuke Suzuki, Seiyo Uchino
Screenwriter: Yugo Sakamoto
Cast: Akari Takaishi, Saori Izawa, Sosuke Ikematsu, Atsuko Maeda
Languages: Japanese with English subtitles
2024; 103 min.

SCHEDULE:

Saturday July 27, 1:00pm
SVA Theatre

Intro and Q&A with director Yugo Sakamoto (Daniel A. Craft Award For Excellence In Action Cinema Awardee) and producer Yusuke Suzuki

©JUMPEI TAINAKA
Daniel A. Craft Award For Excellence In Action Cinema
Yugo Sakamoto
坂元裕吾

Yugo Sakamoto is acclaimed for his comedy-action films. He won numerous prizes for his short films before making his first full-fledged actioner with A Janitor in 2021. The same year, he won the 31st Japan Film Critics Award for Best New Director for Baby Assassins, which was screened at numerous film festivals overseas, and essentially invented the hitman/woman-comedy genre in Japan. He has since released Yellow Dragon's Village (2021), Green Bullet (2022), Baby Assassins 2 Babies (2023) and Baby Assassins: Nice Days (2024), for which he is receiving the NYAFF 2024 Daniel A. Craft Award for Excellence in Action Cinema. He describes his philosophy about filmmaking as "Weekly Shonen Jump, not Hollywood."

Yusuke Suzuki
鈴木祐介

Yusuke Suzuki is Chief Operating Officer of Rights Cube Inc., which produces, sells and distributes films and dramas. As an executive producer, he has participated in a wide range of films from new directors and veteran directors. Some of the films he has been involved in are Road to King Series Y-team: Road to King and Renji Himuro, which were released theatrically as spin-off series of the Road to King series. He has also worked on Baby Assassins, No Place to Go, Downtown Doctor, Dependence, and Fearless, among others. He is also active as a film buyer, focusing on Korean and Taiwanese films.