24th New York Asian Film Festival

July 11-27, 2025

FilmsGuestsTalks & EventsSchedule & Tickets
North American Premiere

Pavane for an Infant

搖籃凡世

Beneath Kuala Lumpur’s neon hush, Lai Sum (Fish Liew) tends a clandestine baby-hatch where heartbreak flickers into hope. When she shelters schoolgirl Siew Man (Natalie Hsu), their fragile alliance collides with Malaysia’s moral vigilantes, driving them through back-alleys and bureaucratic labyrinths. Golden Horse winner Chong Keat Aun (The Story of Southern Islet) directs a polyglot cradle song, Cantonese, Malay, Mandarin, English, whose 117-minute rhythm shifts from lullaby to alarm. Fresh from electrifying Tokyo’s Asian Future competition and winning Fribourg’s Youth Jury Prize, this Malaysia–Hong Kong triumph arrives urgent, tender, unforgettable. Experience its haunting grace on the finest arthouse screen in town, and share a journey of life-saving courage with everyone you care about.

Director: Chong Keat Aun
Producers: Wong Kew Soon, Zoey Teng Siaw Ping
Cast: Fish Liew, Natalie Hsu, Ben Yuen, Pearlly Chua, Yuan Teng
Languages: Malay, Cantonese, English, Mandarin with English
2024; 117 min.; DCP
Countries: Malaysia, Hong Kong

SCHEDULE:

Saturday July 12, 3:00pm
Film at Lincoln Center

Intro and Q&A with director Chong Keat Aun, actress Natalie Hsu, and producers Wong Kew Soon and Zoey Teng

Chong Keat Aun
張吉安

Chong Keat Aun is a multi-award-winning Malaysian writer-director. His first short, Cemetery of Courtesy (2017), was shortlisted for the 22nd Busan International Film Festival. His directorial debut, The Story of Southern Islet (2020), earned him the award for Best New Director and the FIPRESCI Prize and NETPAC Prize at the Taipei Golden Horse Awards. His sophomore feature, Snow in Midsummer, premiered at the 2023 Venice International Film Festival and received the Uncaged Award for Best Feature Film at last year's NYAFF. Pavane for an Infant is his third feature film.

Screen International Rising Star Asia Award
Natalie Hsu
許恩怡

Hong Kong actress Natalie Hsu will receive the Screen International Rising Star Award at NYAFF 2025 for her brief but astonishing career, which immediately established her as a talent to watch. Natalie made her film debut in the musical comedy The Day We Lit Up the Sky in 2021, and went on to appear in such commercially and critically acclaimed titles as Sasha Chuk’s Fly Me to the Moon (NYAFF 2024), the Andy Lau-starring _Cesium Fallou_t, Nick Cheung’s Peg O’ My Heart, and Dante Lam’s Bursting Point. She will present two very special new films at NYAFF 2025: Chong Keat Aun’s Pavane for an Infant and Jill Leung’s Last Song for You, for which she received a Best Actress nomination at the Hong Kong Film Awards. She will reunite with Chong Keat Aun for the upcoming drama Mother Bhumi, which stars Fan Bingbing.