The New York Asian Film Festival 2006 ended last week, and we've been feverishly counting up the Audience Award ballots. And now, it's with great pleasure that we present the winner of the New York Asian Film Festival's 2006 Audience Award:

ALWAYS (Japan, 2005)
Takashi Yamazaki's sprawling drama about the citizens of a beat-down neighborhood in Tokyo during the 1950's boom years sent audiences out into the lobby smiling and crying and it now joins the ranks of MY SASSY GIRL, PING PONG, PLEASE TEACH ME ENGLISH and THE TASTE OF TEA as a winner of the New York Asian Film Festival's Audience Award.
Read more about the movie:
http://www.subwaycinema.com/frames/nyaff06_always.htm

Second and third place for the Audience Award are held by:

WELCOME TO DONGMAKOL (Korea, 2005)
Another epic film, this time it was Korea's word-of-mouth hit of 2005 about an isolated mountain village in the 1950's that has no clue the Korean War is raging just down the hill. It came in just a few clicks below ALWAYS in terms of popularity and we suspected a tie until ALWAYS poured on the steam in the final few votes and took the lead.
Read more about the movie:
http://www.subwaycinema.com/frames/nyaff06_welcome.htm

FUNKY FOREST: THE FIRST CONTACT (Japan, 2005)
This head-scratching whatzit from directors Katsuhito Ishii (whose THE TASTE OF TEA won last year's Audience Award) Hajime Ishimine and Shin'ichiro Miki started life as a Snickers ad, but mutated into a planet-shaking alien fiesta full of sticky TVs, dance numbers, animation and grumpy, armpit-sucking tennis leeches. The audience loved it, and so it arrives in third place.
Read more about the movie:
http://www.subwaycinema.com/frames/nyaff06_funkyforest.htm