Opening tonight: Brocka's Macho Dancer in 4K
Coming to IFC Center in NYC, expanding nation-wide + more news on July releases
Lino Brocka’s queer masterpiece Macho Dancer opens tonight in New York at IFC Center, with James Factora of Barkada NYC introducing, and in Seattle at Beacon Cinema!
One of Lino Brocka’s lasting successes, 1988’s Macho Dancer admirably blends the maestro’s flair for socially conscious melodrama with pulp provocation — as well as setting the template for what would become Viva Films’ erotic niche to this day. Upon losing a reliable American client, 18-year-old gigolo Pol (Allan Paule) leaves his native province to try his luck in the soapy gay clubs of Manila. As Pol learns the ropes alongside fellow stripper Noel (Daniel Fernando) and savvy prostitute Bambi (Jaclyn Jose), he discovers more than his young mind bargained for: an underbelly of protection rackets, human trafficking and political corruption. Underlying the film’s astutely cynical outlook on systemic, class-based exploitation in the Filipino context is a neon-lit tale of sexual self-discovery gyrating between queer desire and heteronormative strictures, sensuality and grit, tenderness and violence. Heavily censored upon release and hugely successful overseas, Macho Dancer follows the recent re-discovery of Lino Brocka’s Bona and is presented here in a new 4K restoration from Viva Film’s original film elements.
This gorgeous new restoration is coming later this week to Chicago (Gene Siskel Film Center), Washington DC (Suns Cinema), Austin (Austin Film Society) and Canada in Toronto (TIFF Lightbox), and Halifax (Carbon Arc). More screenings as it expands with Alamo Drafthouse next week in Denver, New York, LA, Chicago, Raleigh, Austin, and San Francisco. Screenings in Montreal in August (Cinema Public) and more to come. Don’t see your city? Let us know or let your local cinema know!
And if it’s not coming to you, fret not; the home video release is on its way!
Also tonight in NYC: Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story screens July 10 as part of Japan Cuts 2026 at Japan Society!
Stay tuned for further theatrical screenings this holiday season.
Take Care of my Cat opens next week! ⚞^◕⩊◕^⚟
Grab your girlfriends and go!
A sleeper hit at the time of its release, Jeong Jae-eun’s perceptive debut Take Care of My Cat chronicles the lives of five graduating friends whose bonds begin to fracture as they contend with their share of squashed dreams and unequal opportunities. Director Jeong sets the lives of her protagonists (among them Bae Doona and Lee Yo-won in breakout roles) against the industrial backdrop of Incheon, a port city adjacent to Seoul and bearing the brunt of South Korea’s ruthless globalization efforts. In the doing, her film expands to accommodate notions of class, solidarity and privilege – in what is now a timeless snapshot of a rapidly evolving society. Alternately bleak and sunny, realistic and effortlessly cool, suffused with the joys of girlhood yet clear-eyed about the uneasy transition into adulthood, Take Care of My Cat offers a tender and a multi-faceted portrait of young women at the turn of the new millennium.
Screens July 17th at Metrograph with an introduction by film writer, translator and filmmaker Jawni Han and on July 21st with a special post-screening discussion with local members of Nodutdol, an organization for Korean community development, which will provide the historical context behind the film. There will be a special giveaway at the New York screenings; first come first served.
Also coming to Toronto (Paradise Theater), Olympia (Olympia Film Society), Halifax (Carbon Arc Cinema), and Montreal (Cinema Moderne). Stay tuned for more screening announcements!
July 18 - Special screening of My Name Ain’t Suzie
Our screening of My Name Ain’t Suzie at Il Cinema Ritrovato with director Angie Chen in attendance was magical—to go from the studio burying it forty years ago, not allowing the film to travel to festivals, to a standing ovation in Bologna with a full house who understood the film, was thrilling. The Letterboxd reviews have been a delight to read, and we’re so excited to have been able to arrange one more theatrical screening of the film in New York. While Angie won’t be there, the wonderful scholar Xueli Wang will be introducing the screening on our behalf. Don’t miss this special opportunity to see the film on the big screen!
New Blu-ray Release: The House of 72 Tenants
Our decision to release this film was influenced by its significance in the history of Cantonese cinema. Producers had given up on Cantonese cinema in the beginning of the 1970s, with no films released in the dialect for almost two years prior to The House of 72 Tenants, which made rambunctious use of the vernacular. And even though Chor Yuen directed over a hundred films, he’s not as well known for his non-genre work, perhaps because his versatility and prolific output made his style hard to pin down.
But his importance to Hong Kong cinema goes beyond his output; he was a conduit between the old and the new popular culture—bridging Cantonese opera, literature, and theatre towards the establishment of the Hong Kong film language. Chor Yuen was the go-between; he was well-versed in different mediums of storytelling.
The House of 72 Tenants sees him adapt a Cantonese rendition of a Shanghainese play —itself adapted from one-person skits from the early 20th Century (Film historian Linda Pun lays out the history of its adaptations in her contribution to the booklet). It follows a colorful cast of renters banding together to resist the abusive landlord looming over the town square. This comedic Hong Kong miniature, featuring a cast of beloved TVB actors, became the highest-grossing film of 1973, outpacing even Bruce Lee’s Enter The Dragon, with a tale of community building and everyday solidarity. Remembered today for its trove of star cameos, expert set-bound mise-en-scène and influence on Stephen Chow’s 2004 Kung Fu Hustle, The House of 72 Tenants, proved to be a landmark film for Shaw Brothers Studio, helping change the course of Hong Kong cinema by reintroducing Cantonese to its Mandarin-dominated market.
Thank you and enjoy the screenings!