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.

LOVE LETTER

2 X SHUNJI IWAI

Directed by Shunji Iwai | Japan
1995, 1h 57min, DCP, In Japanese with English subtitles.

“LOVE LETTER is sweepingly romantic, but not in the way one might expect. It’s not a film about falling in love in the traditional sense, but the quiet comfort of the moments that linger and the ways they shape the rest of our lives.”
—Beyond the Cinerama Dome

“The greatest sentimental story ever told.”
—Asian Movie Pulse

“A bittersweet meditation on love, loss, grief, and memory.”
—Windows on Worlds

July 2, 5 | Rocked by the death of her fiancé, Hiroko sends a letter to his former address. Surprisingly, she receives a reply from a woman who shares the same name as her beloved. As the pair exchange letters, their correspondence slowly uncovers memories of a man they each thought they knew. A box office hit in Japan and abroad, the film marks the feature film debut of Shunji Iwai (ALL ABOUT LILY CHOU-CHOU, SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLY).

ALL ABOUT LILY CHOU-CHOU

2 X SHUNJI IWAI

Directed by Shunji Iwai | Japan
2001, 2h 26min, DCP, In Japanese with English subtitles.

“ALL ABOUT LILY CHOU-CHOU hits teenage alienation dead center.”
—Empire

“An all-encompassing study of coming of age and coming to terms with your dreams that digs deep into the teenage soul and sticks to the ribs.”
—Variety

“Iwai fashions pensive cyber-lyricism out of a new generation’s instruments of introversion.”
—The Village Voice

Ju;y 4, 6 | Angst is a pop tune for the teenage fans of Lily Chou-Chou, a ‘Björk-like chanteuse’ whose loyal fandom lose themselves in cult-like chat rooms devoted to the mysterious goddess in this turn-of-the-millennium masterpiece from Shunji Iwai (HANA AND ALICE), now celebrating its 25th anniversary.

THE TASTE OF TEA

Directed by Katsuhito Ishii | Japan
2004, 2h 23min, DCP, In Japanese with English subtitles.

“A family portrait as painted by a moderately demented Cubist.”
—The New York Times

“A messy, heartfelt entanglement of tangential indulgences into the wild eccentricities of human behavior.”
—Slant

“While there are multiple characters and all manner of oddball excursions, everything is anchored in a gentle, affectionate view of a household whose members are ever so slowly finding themselves. The tea that everybody drinks is warm and restorative, and so is Ishii’s strange, sentimental film.”
—Little White Lies

July 10, 11 | This family is nothing like yours — they’re better. An eccentric artist mom, a hypnotherapist dad, a son with dating hangups, a daughter facing off with her doppelgänger, and an uncle haunted by the past. Giants, musical numbers, and an endless supply of whimsy (a train through the head, anyone?),  it’s — as one character puts it — “weird but cool.” Starring Tadanobu Asano (ICHI THE KILLER) and Tomokazu Miura (TYPHOON CLUB, SMALL, SLOW BUT STEADY) with appearances by Hideaki Anno (EVANGELION, LOVE & POP), Anna Tsuchiya (KAMIKAZE GIRLS), and more. Newly Remastered.

MACHO DANCER

Queer Cinema: Lost & Found

Directed by Lino Brocka | Philippines
1988, 2h 13min, DCP, In Filipino with English subtitles.

“MACHO DANCER exudes raw vitality and power … takes us into a world of sensuality and danger … and gets very steamy both in gay and straight situations.”
—Los Angeles Times

“A passionately analytical melodrama … Brocka builds scenes with incisive clarity, unfolding the intrepid maneuvers that make the difference between survival and disaster; the inevitable recourse to violence is tinged with a revolutionary defiance.”
—The New Yorker

July 12, 16 | From Lino Brocka (INSIANG, BONA) comes MACHO DANCER, the story of 18-year-old Pol as he navigates Manila’s underground gay club scene and, stripping to survive, discovers the world of pleasure is filled with corruption. A landmark of Filipino cinema, now restored in 4K and ripe for rediscovery.

EVERYBODY TO KENMURE STREET

Directed by Felipe Bustos Sierra | UK
2026, 1h 38min, DCP

“A vital and inspiring portrait of spontaneous collective action.”
—IndieWire

“In the age of ICE and MAGA, and the Trump-inspired nationalist movements in the UK, it’s an amazing story of a community triumph … a morale-boosting film.”
—The Guardian

July 20, 23 | This documentary is a vital record, captured on the phones of the participants and by news crews, of a remarkable event in 2021. In Glasgow’s most diverse neighborhood, a pair of men were picked up by police outside their mosque, where they had gone to commemorate Eid. As the van prepared to take the men away, a small act of passive resistance soon swelled to the entire quarter of the city as thousands of people joined the swelling, spontaneous movement. Free Member Monday — free admission for all AFS members on Monday, July 20.

MILLENNIUM ACTRESS

Directed by Satoshi Kon | Japan
2001, 1h 27min, DCP, In Japanese with English subtitles.

“A love poem to cinema itself.”
—Slant

“Outside of Satoshi Kon’s own filmography, there is nothing quite like MILLENNIUM ACTRESS. The director masterfully uses the malleability of animation to find new beauty … Kon paints film as almost spiritual in the way it prolongs life.”
—Little White Lies

“Boldly conceived … A roller-coaster ride that plays with memory and genre conventions.”
—Variety

July 25, 26, 29 | Freely inspired by the life of Setsuko Hara, Ozu muse and star of 101 films, Satoshi Kon (PERFECT BLUE and PAPRIKA) brings his elliptical style to the story of a documentarian whose investigation into the life of an actress sends him on an adventure through time and straight into the heart of cinema.

TWO SEASONS, TWO STRANGERS

Directed by Sho Miyake | Japan
Japan, 2025, 1h 29min, DCP, In Japanese and Korean with English subtitles.

“In every sense, a true masterpiece.”
—Shiguéhiko Hasumi

“A film of loose ends, structural surprises, and a general openness to the felicities of pouring rain and falling snow.”
—The New York Times

“TWO SEASONS, TWO STRANGERS captures its characters in the realm of the ineffable, making the mundane utterly sublime.”
—Slant Magazine

Aug. 10, 16 | Based on two manga by Yoshiharu Tsuge, this film‑within‑a‑film contrasts a summer romance between Yūmi Kawai and local Natsuo with the wintry story of screenwriter Li (Shim Eun-kyung), creatively blocked and searching for connection alongside innkeeper Benzo. A work as profound and delicate as snowfall from Sho Miyake (SMALL, SLOW BUT STEADY). Free Member Monday — free admission for all AFS members on Monday, August 10.

MY SASSY GIRL

Directed by Jae-young Kwak | South Korea
2001, 2h 3min, DCP, In Korean with English subtitles.

“A wild ride romance that’s by turns lovably goofy, heart-tuggingly sentimental, and stand-up-and-cheer rousing, MY SASSY GIRL is an unabashed crowd-pleaser that mixes genres with the audacious abandon that makes Korean cinema so much fun.”

—Film at Lincoln Center

“MY SASSY GIRL was an absolute phenomenon in Korea, and in much of Asia in general. The pinnacle of Korean rom-com movies and copied over and over, it never really invented the game in the first place. However, it did perfect it.”

—Asian Movie Pulse

“A timeless entry in the romantic comedy genre.”

—Film Inquiry

Aug. 20, 22, 23, 24 | A mild‑mannered engineering student’s life is hijacked by an unpredictable woman after a meet‑not-so-cute. Based on a blog of reportedly true stories about one guy’s life with his outrageous girlfriend, it’s the manic rom-com that became a box‑office sensation, one of the most beloved and influential Asian films of the century, and the inspiration for a Hollywood remake — but there’s truly only one: MY SASSY GIRL. New 4K Restoration.

VISITOR Q

Directed by Takashi Miike | Japan
2001, 1h 24min, DCP, In Japanese with English subtitles.

Aug. 21, 22 | Infamous and perverse, no taboo is left untouched in Takashi Miike’s VISITOR Q. When a stranger enters the life of the Yamazaki family, he discovers a home in disrepair, and as he uncovers their secrets, he comes to realize that patching the holes in this family will take far longer than repairing the walls. Featuring performances by Kenichi Endō and manga artist Shungicu Uchida, writer of Minami’s Lover. Newly remastered.

MYSTERIOUS SKIN

Directed by Gregg Araki | USA
2004, 1h 47min, DCP

“MYSTERIOUS SKIN is a helter-skelter ride of the soul, an unblinking, white-knuckle crash landing into the mushy mysteries of the subconscious.”
—The Washington Post

“MYSTERIOUS SKIN tells a story that is psychologically rich, emotionally haunting, and technically superior to anything Araki has ever done.”
—The Austin Chronicle

“This is a serious piece of work that’s even better the next day.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

Aug. 29, 30, Sep. 2 | Two boys experience traumatic events one summer that shape their lives in radically different ways. As a teen, Brian (future director Brady Corbet), convinced he was abducted by aliens, becomes obsessed with uncovering his memories, while Neil (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) turns to hustling. Years later, Brian seeks Neil out, hoping he holds the key to unlocking the past. Adapted from the novel by Scott Heim, “MYSTERIOUS SKIN is infused with remarkable tenderness and beauty” (The New York Times). Co-starring Michelle Trachtenberg and Elisabeth Shue. New 4K restoration.