Magnify, the International sales arm of Magnolia Pictures, has acquired global and U.S. sales rights to Taiwanese thriller “Pierce” from first-time feature filmmaker Nelicia Low. An official teaser has now been released for the title ahead of its sales launch at the upcoming Marche du Film in Cannes.
“Pierce” follows Jie, a young fencer reconnecting with his estranged older brother Han, who mysteriously returns after seven years in juvenile prison for killing an opponent during a fencing competition. Jie believes Han’s insistence that he is innocent and decides to help him, defying his mother’s efforts to erase Han from their lives. Han grows close to Jie in training him for the national championships, but his hostile past is triggered after an argument, leaving Jie to begin to question whether his beloved brother might be a violent sociopath after all.
The film stars Ding Ning (who won a...
“Pierce” follows Jie, a young fencer reconnecting with his estranged older brother Han, who mysteriously returns after seven years in juvenile prison for killing an opponent during a fencing competition. Jie believes Han’s insistence that he is innocent and decides to help him, defying his mother’s efforts to erase Han from their lives. Han grows close to Jie in training him for the national championships, but his hostile past is triggered after an argument, leaving Jie to begin to question whether his beloved brother might be a violent sociopath after all.
The film stars Ding Ning (who won a...
- 5/1/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV
Hong Kong’s Eye Catcher Global (Ecg) will expand into industry screenings and add Asian new director awards for its 2024 edition, following last year’s inaugural event that focused on international pitching.
The second edition is scheduled to run June 20-23 at Soho House in Hong Kong. The new Industry Screening programme will curate up to eight independent film projects from Asia. All will be works-in-progress, with at least a first-cut available for international and local industry delegates to view.
Julien Rejl, artistic director of Cannes’ Directors Fortnight, will attend the event as jury president of two new awards created...
The second edition is scheduled to run June 20-23 at Soho House in Hong Kong. The new Industry Screening programme will curate up to eight independent film projects from Asia. All will be works-in-progress, with at least a first-cut available for international and local industry delegates to view.
Julien Rejl, artistic director of Cannes’ Directors Fortnight, will attend the event as jury president of two new awards created...
- 3/27/2024
- ScreenDaily
The fact that both Asia and Europe are finding it more difficult to finance movies following the pandemic may drive the two regions to start working together more closely, despite the huge differences in their funding systems, said a group of leading producers on a two-session Filmart panel.
In the first session, the heads of major European funds including France’s Cnc, the Austrian Film Institute and Berlin Brandenburg Film Commission explained Europe’s complex web of subsidy funding, while Gary Mak, Secretary General of the Hong Kong Film Development Council (Hkfdc) introduced Hong Kong’s new co-production funding scheme.
Called the ‘Hong Kong-Europe-Asian Film Collaboration Funding Scheme’ the new programme offers grants of up to $1.15M (Hk$9M) to feature film projects that combine Hong Kong and other Asian and/or European talent. The projects don’t have to shoot in Hong Kong or be filmed in one of the city’s official languages,...
In the first session, the heads of major European funds including France’s Cnc, the Austrian Film Institute and Berlin Brandenburg Film Commission explained Europe’s complex web of subsidy funding, while Gary Mak, Secretary General of the Hong Kong Film Development Council (Hkfdc) introduced Hong Kong’s new co-production funding scheme.
Called the ‘Hong Kong-Europe-Asian Film Collaboration Funding Scheme’ the new programme offers grants of up to $1.15M (Hk$9M) to feature film projects that combine Hong Kong and other Asian and/or European talent. The projects don’t have to shoot in Hong Kong or be filmed in one of the city’s official languages,...
- 3/13/2024
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Zdf Latest To ‘Race Across The World’
A six-part series based on Studio Lambert’s Race Across the World is set to air on German pubcaster Zdf in spring 2025. Planning is underway for casting and filming is set for the fall, with All3Media’s German producer, Tower, attached to make the show. Kirstin Benthaus-Gebauer will be the producer with Friederike Haedecke, Johannes Geiger, Thorsten Haas and Daniel Nemetschek the editors. The original BBC show has run to strong ratings in the UK for three seasons and one celebrity series. New seasons of both versions have been commissioned after the the first ep of the celebrity run drew 6.2 million viewers, consolidating the format’s position among the BBC’s top factual programs. The German deal, struck with distributor All3Media International, marks the fifth international version of the show, coming after three seasons on TV2 in Denmark, an upcoming production on MTV Katsomo and MTV3 in Finland,...
A six-part series based on Studio Lambert’s Race Across the World is set to air on German pubcaster Zdf in spring 2025. Planning is underway for casting and filming is set for the fall, with All3Media’s German producer, Tower, attached to make the show. Kirstin Benthaus-Gebauer will be the producer with Friederike Haedecke, Johannes Geiger, Thorsten Haas and Daniel Nemetschek the editors. The original BBC show has run to strong ratings in the UK for three seasons and one celebrity series. New seasons of both versions have been commissioned after the the first ep of the celebrity run drew 6.2 million viewers, consolidating the format’s position among the BBC’s top factual programs. The German deal, struck with distributor All3Media International, marks the fifth international version of the show, coming after three seasons on TV2 in Denmark, an upcoming production on MTV Katsomo and MTV3 in Finland,...
- 3/11/2024
- by Jesse Whittock and Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Nepali filmmaker Min Bahadur Bham’s journey to make Berlin competition title “Shambhala” was arduous but an ultimately rewarding one.
Bham’s 2012 short “Bhansulli” debuted at Venice. His debut feature “Kalo Pothi” won the Fedeora best film award at Venice Critics’ Week and became Nepal’s official Oscar entry. It has been a nine-year process to bring “Shambhala” to fruition since then.
The filmmaker says that after “Kalo Pothi,” it took him a long time to write the script of “Shambhala,” which went through 45 drafts. He also wanted to experience the global labs, markets and residencies that he hadn’t on his first feature. These included Busan’s Asian Film Market, Cannes Cinefondation Residence and Locarno’s Open Doors. When those were done, finding the right cast and locations took a while and once those were finalized, Covid-19 struck.
“Shambhala” – a mystic, sacred realm in Tibetan Buddhism, also an area of significance in Hinduism,...
Bham’s 2012 short “Bhansulli” debuted at Venice. His debut feature “Kalo Pothi” won the Fedeora best film award at Venice Critics’ Week and became Nepal’s official Oscar entry. It has been a nine-year process to bring “Shambhala” to fruition since then.
The filmmaker says that after “Kalo Pothi,” it took him a long time to write the script of “Shambhala,” which went through 45 drafts. He also wanted to experience the global labs, markets and residencies that he hadn’t on his first feature. These included Busan’s Asian Film Market, Cannes Cinefondation Residence and Locarno’s Open Doors. When those were done, finding the right cast and locations took a while and once those were finalized, Covid-19 struck.
“Shambhala” – a mystic, sacred realm in Tibetan Buddhism, also an area of significance in Hinduism,...
- 2/22/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Magnify and Film4 are teaming up to launch Filipiñana, a Philippines-set feature that will shoot in spring 2024.
It is the debut feature of Filipino filimmaker Rafael Manuel, adapted from Manuel’s short of the same name that won the Silver Bear jury prize at the 2020 Berlinale, and was nominated for a British Independent Film Award.
Film4 has developed the feature and will executive produce and co-finance. Producers are Jeremy Chua and Sam Chua Weishi of Singapore’s Potocol, with Bradley Liew of Epicmedia Productions Inc and Alex Polunin.
Magnify – formerly Magnolia Pictures International - has acquired global and US sales rights on the title,...
It is the debut feature of Filipino filimmaker Rafael Manuel, adapted from Manuel’s short of the same name that won the Silver Bear jury prize at the 2020 Berlinale, and was nominated for a British Independent Film Award.
Film4 has developed the feature and will executive produce and co-finance. Producers are Jeremy Chua and Sam Chua Weishi of Singapore’s Potocol, with Bradley Liew of Epicmedia Productions Inc and Alex Polunin.
Magnify – formerly Magnolia Pictures International - has acquired global and US sales rights on the title,...
- 2/16/2024
- ScreenDaily
A prize ceremony attended by Hamaguchi Ryusuke (“Drive My Car”), Vinod Vidhu Chopra (“3 Idiots”), Amir Naderi and Yonfan on Thursday wrapped up the final event of the debut edition of the Festival of Young Cinema in Macau.
Following a week (Jan. 6-11) of industry-only screenings and presentations of 17 partly-completed films by emerging directors and producers from the region, the prizes went to four work-in-progress films from mainland China and one from Macau.
A jury consisting of producer Jeremy Chua, the Jio Mami Mumbai festival’s artistic director Deepti DCunha, Chinese producer Wang Yang, Chinese screenwriter Wang Yixin and Hong Kong-based executive Esther Yeung determined the in-kind prizes according to the needs of the productions.
“Macau is a very small place, but people here have a big heart,” said Weng Tingting, director of “Revisit,” the tale of a reluctant care-giver which earned a special mention. “I used all the money...
Following a week (Jan. 6-11) of industry-only screenings and presentations of 17 partly-completed films by emerging directors and producers from the region, the prizes went to four work-in-progress films from mainland China and one from Macau.
A jury consisting of producer Jeremy Chua, the Jio Mami Mumbai festival’s artistic director Deepti DCunha, Chinese producer Wang Yang, Chinese screenwriter Wang Yixin and Hong Kong-based executive Esther Yeung determined the in-kind prizes according to the needs of the productions.
“Macau is a very small place, but people here have a big heart,” said Weng Tingting, director of “Revisit,” the tale of a reluctant care-giver which earned a special mention. “I used all the money...
- 1/11/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Some 15 projects will be featured at the festival’s first works in progress lab.
Upcoming projects by Chinese filmmaker Li Dongmei and Taiwan’s Lee Hong-chi are among 15 work-in-progress titles selected for the inaugural Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe) in Macau, which will open with Ning Hao’s The Movie Emperor.
The WiP Lab will comprise 11 projects from mainland Chinese filmmakers and four international Chinese-language projects and will be screened in Macau and nearby Zhuhai from January 8-10.
A five-strong jury, who will grant awards in post-production services, include producers Jeremy Chua and Wang Yang, Mumbai Film Festival artistic director Deepti Dcunha,...
Upcoming projects by Chinese filmmaker Li Dongmei and Taiwan’s Lee Hong-chi are among 15 work-in-progress titles selected for the inaugural Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe) in Macau, which will open with Ning Hao’s The Movie Emperor.
The WiP Lab will comprise 11 projects from mainland Chinese filmmakers and four international Chinese-language projects and will be screened in Macau and nearby Zhuhai from January 8-10.
A five-strong jury, who will grant awards in post-production services, include producers Jeremy Chua and Wang Yang, Mumbai Film Festival artistic director Deepti Dcunha,...
- 1/4/2024
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Chinese director Huo Meng, Taiwanese actor Lee Hong-chi and Macau-based Maxim Bessmertny are among a dozen emerging East Asian talent who will present feature film projects and works in progress at the Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe).
The inaugural edition of the festival, running Jan. 5-11, 2024, will operate as a bridge between the mainland China markets and audiences on one hand and the production and sales industries behind art-house cinema from Europe and other parts of Asia.
The festival opens Friday with a gala screening of Ning Hao’s “The Movie Emperor” and a later showing of the restored version of Yonfan’s “Bugis Street.”
The festival initiative is spearheaded by Marco Mueller, whose track record includes leading creative positions at festivals in Locarno, Rome, Venice and Beijing. He was also previously among the founders of the International Film Festival & Awards Macao (IFFAM) that debuted in 2016.
The project market jury includes: Singapore-based producer Jeremy Chua,...
The inaugural edition of the festival, running Jan. 5-11, 2024, will operate as a bridge between the mainland China markets and audiences on one hand and the production and sales industries behind art-house cinema from Europe and other parts of Asia.
The festival opens Friday with a gala screening of Ning Hao’s “The Movie Emperor” and a later showing of the restored version of Yonfan’s “Bugis Street.”
The festival initiative is spearheaded by Marco Mueller, whose track record includes leading creative positions at festivals in Locarno, Rome, Venice and Beijing. He was also previously among the founders of the International Film Festival & Awards Macao (IFFAM) that debuted in 2016.
The project market jury includes: Singapore-based producer Jeremy Chua,...
- 1/4/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Ning Hao’s The Movie Emperor will screen as the opening film of Macau’s Asia-Europe Young Cinema Film Festival, which is holding its inaugural edition from January 5-11. Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail, recently a hit in India, will screen as the closing film.
The event has two major sections – a programme of masterclasses and screenings aimed at young directors, film students and local audiences, and a Works-in-Progress (WiP) Lab, which will be attended by international sales agents, distributors and festival programmers.
The masterclasses will be held by leading international filmmakers including several from the Chinese-speaking world – Ning Hao, Li Dongmei, Johnnie To, Yon Fan and Lee Hong-chi – along with Japanese filmmakers Ryosuke Hamaguchi and Shinya Tsukamoto, Russia’s Aleksey German Jr, Italy’s Gabriel Menetti, India’s Anurag Kashyap, Lav Diaz from the Philippines and Iranian filmmaker Amir Naderi.
China Film Directors Association is actively involved in...
The event has two major sections – a programme of masterclasses and screenings aimed at young directors, film students and local audiences, and a Works-in-Progress (WiP) Lab, which will be attended by international sales agents, distributors and festival programmers.
The masterclasses will be held by leading international filmmakers including several from the Chinese-speaking world – Ning Hao, Li Dongmei, Johnnie To, Yon Fan and Lee Hong-chi – along with Japanese filmmakers Ryosuke Hamaguchi and Shinya Tsukamoto, Russia’s Aleksey German Jr, Italy’s Gabriel Menetti, India’s Anurag Kashyap, Lav Diaz from the Philippines and Iranian filmmaker Amir Naderi.
China Film Directors Association is actively involved in...
- 1/4/2024
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Singapore producer Jeremy Chua, who produced this year’s Cannes Camera d’Or winner Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell, has been appointed general manager of the Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff).
Chua takes up the post on January 1, 2024, and will jointly lead the festival with Programme Director Thong Kay Wee. Emily J Hoe is stepping down after delivering four editions of the festival, including two that were severely impacted by the pandemic.
Founder of Singapore-based production outfit Potocol, Chua also produced or co-produced Nicole Midori Woodford’s Last Shadow At First Light, Jow Zhi Wei’s Tomorrow Is A Long Time, Makbul Mubarak’s Autobiography and Bui Thac Chuyen’s Glorious Ashes.
He was presented with the Fiapf Award for outstanding contribution to Asia Pacific Cinema at this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Australia.
Sgiff wrapped on December 10 with Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell, directed by Vietnam’s Pham Thien An,...
Chua takes up the post on January 1, 2024, and will jointly lead the festival with Programme Director Thong Kay Wee. Emily J Hoe is stepping down after delivering four editions of the festival, including two that were severely impacted by the pandemic.
Founder of Singapore-based production outfit Potocol, Chua also produced or co-produced Nicole Midori Woodford’s Last Shadow At First Light, Jow Zhi Wei’s Tomorrow Is A Long Time, Makbul Mubarak’s Autobiography and Bui Thac Chuyen’s Glorious Ashes.
He was presented with the Fiapf Award for outstanding contribution to Asia Pacific Cinema at this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Australia.
Sgiff wrapped on December 10 with Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell, directed by Vietnam’s Pham Thien An,...
- 12/13/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Prominent local producer Jeremy Chua has been appointed as general manager of the Singapore International Film Festival. He takes up the post from Jan. 1, 2024.
Emily J. Hoe, who led the festival for the past four years as its executive director, is stepping down and is understood to be relocating to Australia.
Thong Kay Wee will remain in place as the Sgiff’s programming director.
Chua is the founder of production firm Potocol and is among a small group of Singaporean producers who are using Asia’s burgeoning project market and development labs and dollops of grant in aid funding from Singapore authorities to turn the wealthy Southeast Asian state into a hub for regional co-productions.
Potocol was co-producer of “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” the Vietnamese debut feature that won the best film prize at Sgiff’s closing event on Sunday. Earlier, the film won the Camera d’Or for...
Emily J. Hoe, who led the festival for the past four years as its executive director, is stepping down and is understood to be relocating to Australia.
Thong Kay Wee will remain in place as the Sgiff’s programming director.
Chua is the founder of production firm Potocol and is among a small group of Singaporean producers who are using Asia’s burgeoning project market and development labs and dollops of grant in aid funding from Singapore authorities to turn the wealthy Southeast Asian state into a hub for regional co-productions.
Potocol was co-producer of “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” the Vietnamese debut feature that won the best film prize at Sgiff’s closing event on Sunday. Earlier, the film won the Camera d’Or for...
- 12/13/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Chua was lead producer on ‘Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell’.
Jeremy Chua, producer of Cannes award-winning feature Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell, has been appointed general manager of the Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff).
The announcement coincided with the closing of a bumper edition of Sgiff, where Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell was named best Asian feature film at the Silver Screen Awards.
Chua will assume the role on January 1 and jointly lead the festival with Thong Kay Wee, who has been programme director since 2021. Emily J Hoe is stepping down as executive director after delivering four editions since 2020.
Chua...
Jeremy Chua, producer of Cannes award-winning feature Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell, has been appointed general manager of the Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff).
The announcement coincided with the closing of a bumper edition of Sgiff, where Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell was named best Asian feature film at the Silver Screen Awards.
Chua will assume the role on January 1 and jointly lead the festival with Thong Kay Wee, who has been programme director since 2021. Emily J Hoe is stepping down as executive director after delivering four editions since 2020.
Chua...
- 12/12/2023
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
“Tiger Stripes”, the opening film of this year’s Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff), was “kind of a joke that became something very, very close to me and ended up being this film,” Malaysian filmmaker, Amanda Nell Eu, said during Thursday night’s opening ceremony.
Speaking to a packed theatre before the screening, Eu said her inspiration had been puberty mixed with her sense of humor.
“I love playing with horror. I love playing with comedy and I was like, I want to make a film about a girl who literally turns into a monster because I felt like a monster as a kid,” she said. “ ‘Tiger Stripes’ is really a story that fights for the people who feel like they don’t fit in society.”
Opening the festival, Singapore filmmaker and Sgiff chairperson, Boo Junfeng, talked about the event’s “sense of community” and a “collective sense of purpose.
Speaking to a packed theatre before the screening, Eu said her inspiration had been puberty mixed with her sense of humor.
“I love playing with horror. I love playing with comedy and I was like, I want to make a film about a girl who literally turns into a monster because I felt like a monster as a kid,” she said. “ ‘Tiger Stripes’ is really a story that fights for the people who feel like they don’t fit in society.”
Opening the festival, Singapore filmmaker and Sgiff chairperson, Boo Junfeng, talked about the event’s “sense of community” and a “collective sense of purpose.
- 11/30/2023
- by Janine Stein
- Variety Film + TV
Festival veteran Marco Mueller will oversee the new festival, which is set to launch in January.
Veteran festival director Marco Mueller is set to launch a new festival in Macau, with an industry strand led by former Cannes Marche du Film executive director Jerome Paillard.
The Asia-Europe Festival of Young Cinema will run from January 5-11 and aims to serve audiences from Macau, Hong Kong and mainland China while bringing together film industry professionals from East and West.
The opening weekend will be focussed on the public-facing screenings of between 35 and 40 films, built around 15 masterclasses with filmmakers including Japan’s Hamaguchi Ryusuke,...
Veteran festival director Marco Mueller is set to launch a new festival in Macau, with an industry strand led by former Cannes Marche du Film executive director Jerome Paillard.
The Asia-Europe Festival of Young Cinema will run from January 5-11 and aims to serve audiences from Macau, Hong Kong and mainland China while bringing together film industry professionals from East and West.
The opening weekend will be focussed on the public-facing screenings of between 35 and 40 films, built around 15 masterclasses with filmmakers including Japan’s Hamaguchi Ryusuke,...
- 11/23/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Taiwan’s Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (Fpp) has wrapped with Lee Yi-shan’s debut feature Chewing Gum winning the Grand Prize, which comes with a cash award of $32,000 (TWD1M).
The project is about a young boxer from the lower rungs of society who redefines herself through the struggles of her spiritual journey.
The prize was presented by a three-person jury comprising Taiwanese actor and director Chen Yi-wen; Taipei-based, Hong Kong-born producer Jeffrey Chan and Hong Kong producer and distributor Winnie Tsang.
The three judges praised Chewing Gum for its “wonderful character depictions, including their relationships, attitudes, and various aspects of their lives, which feel absurd but also very real.”
Golden Horse Fpp has separate sections for in development features, works-in-progress and in development series. In the series section, Netflix presented...
The project is about a young boxer from the lower rungs of society who redefines herself through the struggles of her spiritual journey.
The prize was presented by a three-person jury comprising Taiwanese actor and director Chen Yi-wen; Taipei-based, Hong Kong-born producer Jeffrey Chan and Hong Kong producer and distributor Winnie Tsang.
The three judges praised Chewing Gum for its “wonderful character depictions, including their relationships, attitudes, and various aspects of their lives, which feel absurd but also very real.”
Golden Horse Fpp has separate sections for in development features, works-in-progress and in development series. In the series section, Netflix presented...
- 11/23/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Full list of winners at the Film Project Promotion (Fpp) project market revealed.
Chewing Gum, the upcoming feature directorial debut of Taiwan’s Lee Yi-shan, has won the Nt$1m grand prize at the Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (Fpp) project market.
It was one of 17 awards announced at a ceremony that marked the end of this year’s Fpp, which focuses on Chinese-language projects and ran from November 20-22 at the Grand Hyatt Taipei in Taiwan.
Scroll down for full list of winners
Chewing Gum centres on a young boxer from the lower rungs of society who redefines herself...
Chewing Gum, the upcoming feature directorial debut of Taiwan’s Lee Yi-shan, has won the Nt$1m grand prize at the Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (Fpp) project market.
It was one of 17 awards announced at a ceremony that marked the end of this year’s Fpp, which focuses on Chinese-language projects and ran from November 20-22 at the Grand Hyatt Taipei in Taiwan.
Scroll down for full list of winners
Chewing Gum centres on a young boxer from the lower rungs of society who redefines herself...
- 11/22/2023
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
“Chewing Gum” was named winner of the Nt$1 million Grand Prize, the top award at the 2023 Golden Horse Film Project Promotion production event.
Other prizes were awarded for works in progress and for TV series. The winners were announced at a ceremony on Wednesday at the New Horizon Event Space in Taipei, Taiwan.
“Chewing Gum” is the debut feature film of Lee Yi-shan, a previous winner of the Golden Horse Film Award for best short film.
The project portrays a young boxer from the lower rungs of society who redefines herself through the struggles of her spiritual journey. The female protagonist accepts the messed-up lives of the adults around her with a nonchalant attitude, not catering to political correctness but instead being true to herself.
The Fpp jury, comprising Jeffrey Chan, Winnie Tsang and Chen Yi-wen, praised “Chewing Gum” for its character depictions, relationships, attitudes and aspects of the characters’ lives which felt absurd,...
Other prizes were awarded for works in progress and for TV series. The winners were announced at a ceremony on Wednesday at the New Horizon Event Space in Taipei, Taiwan.
“Chewing Gum” is the debut feature film of Lee Yi-shan, a previous winner of the Golden Horse Film Award for best short film.
The project portrays a young boxer from the lower rungs of society who redefines herself through the struggles of her spiritual journey. The female protagonist accepts the messed-up lives of the adults around her with a nonchalant attitude, not catering to political correctness but instead being true to herself.
The Fpp jury, comprising Jeffrey Chan, Winnie Tsang and Chen Yi-wen, praised “Chewing Gum” for its character depictions, relationships, attitudes and aspects of the characters’ lives which felt absurd,...
- 11/22/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Two Japanese films take top honours, while Korean films ’Past Lives’ and ’Riceboy Sleeps’ are also awarded.
Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days took the best film prize at the 16th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) today (November 3), while Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist won the jury grand prize.
The two Japanese films were honoured in a ceremony held for 250 people from 20 countries at the Home of the Arts on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Perfect Days, which debuted in competition at Cannes this year, is Japan’s submission to the 2024 Academy Awards. The film, about finding beauty in the everyday world around us,...
Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days took the best film prize at the 16th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) today (November 3), while Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist won the jury grand prize.
The two Japanese films were honoured in a ceremony held for 250 people from 20 countries at the Home of the Arts on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Perfect Days, which debuted in competition at Cannes this year, is Japan’s submission to the 2024 Academy Awards. The film, about finding beauty in the everyday world around us,...
- 11/3/2023
- by Sandy George
- ScreenDaily
Singaporean writer-director Nicole Midori Woodford is on a roll with her debut feature, Last Shadow At First Light, which premiered in New Directors at San Sebastian film festival and has two nominations at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSAs) for best screenplay and best performance (Mihaya Shirata).
Filmed in Singapore and Japan, the film follows a Singaporean teenage girl with a special connection to the spiritual world who goes on a road trip to uncover the mystery of her Japanese mother’s supposed death. She has been told her mother died by suicide during the recovery effort following the Japan 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed her maternal grandparents. But she doesn’t believe this to be true.
Meeting up with an uncle in Tokyo, they travel together to a town that was swept away by the tsunami although her uncle is more interested in the local pachinko parlour than helping with the quest.
Filmed in Singapore and Japan, the film follows a Singaporean teenage girl with a special connection to the spiritual world who goes on a road trip to uncover the mystery of her Japanese mother’s supposed death. She has been told her mother died by suicide during the recovery effort following the Japan 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed her maternal grandparents. But she doesn’t believe this to be true.
Meeting up with an uncle in Tokyo, they travel together to a town that was swept away by the tsunami although her uncle is more interested in the local pachinko parlour than helping with the quest.
- 11/2/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Bangkok-based film fund Purin Pictures will disburse $140,000 to three Philippines and one Indonesian film as part of its fall grants.
The Purin committee has chosen three fiction and one documentary projects for production support and one documentary project for post-production support.
“The Remotes” is John Torres’ first fiction film after two decades of making documentaries. “Filipinana” by Rafael Manuel is expanded from a short film and was recently awarded at the Asian Project Market in Busan. “Jaguar” by Dean Colin Marcial is an urban thriller that straddles the gap between independent and mainstream genre cinema. Rounding out the selection are two documentaries, “Bariles” by Sheryl Rose Andes and “Planet of Love” by Ika Wulandari, that examine marginalized livelihoods in the Philippines and Indonesia respectively.
Production Grants
“The Remotes.” Director: John Torres. Producer: John Torres. Production Company: Los Otros (Philippines). Two sisters with superpowers race against time to track a voice that controls human avatars,...
The Purin committee has chosen three fiction and one documentary projects for production support and one documentary project for post-production support.
“The Remotes” is John Torres’ first fiction film after two decades of making documentaries. “Filipinana” by Rafael Manuel is expanded from a short film and was recently awarded at the Asian Project Market in Busan. “Jaguar” by Dean Colin Marcial is an urban thriller that straddles the gap between independent and mainstream genre cinema. Rounding out the selection are two documentaries, “Bariles” by Sheryl Rose Andes and “Planet of Love” by Ika Wulandari, that examine marginalized livelihoods in the Philippines and Indonesia respectively.
Production Grants
“The Remotes.” Director: John Torres. Producer: John Torres. Production Company: Los Otros (Philippines). Two sisters with superpowers race against time to track a voice that controls human avatars,...
- 11/1/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The projects will receive a combined $140,000 in production and post-production grants.
The Philippines dominates the autumn 2023 selection of Bangkok-based film fund Purin Pictures, which will give a combined $140,000 in production grants to five upcoming projects.
The titles from Southeast Asia comprise John Torres’ The Remotes, Rafael Manuel’s Filipinana, Dean Colin Marcial’s Jaguar and documentaries Bariles by Sheryl Rose Andes and Planet Of Love by Ika Wulandari.
“This session, half of all the submissions we received were from the Philippines,” said Purin Pictures co-director Anocha Suwichakornpong. “Because of various local support schemes and a just-do-it mentality, Filipino filmmakers continue...
The Philippines dominates the autumn 2023 selection of Bangkok-based film fund Purin Pictures, which will give a combined $140,000 in production grants to five upcoming projects.
The titles from Southeast Asia comprise John Torres’ The Remotes, Rafael Manuel’s Filipinana, Dean Colin Marcial’s Jaguar and documentaries Bariles by Sheryl Rose Andes and Planet Of Love by Ika Wulandari.
“This session, half of all the submissions we received were from the Philippines,” said Purin Pictures co-director Anocha Suwichakornpong. “Because of various local support schemes and a just-do-it mentality, Filipino filmmakers continue...
- 11/1/2023
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
Co-production Protocol
Dynamic Singaporean producer Jeremy Chua is to receive the Fiapf Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asia Pacific Cinema, at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) on Nov. 3 on Australia’s Gold Coast. In the nine years since founding his company Potocol, Chua has focused on international co-production of Asian films and telling Asia stories.
Two of his most recent films, Indonesian director Makbul Mubarak’s “Autobiography” and Vietnamese feature debutant Thien An Pham’s “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” are their country’s respective Oscar contenders. In 2021 Chua produced Bangladesh’s first film in Cannes “Rehana,” while at the most recent Busan International Film Festival he premiered Singapore-Japan co-venture “Last Shadow at First Light” and Thailand’s “Doi Boy.” At Busan’s Asian Project Market, his Philippines-set “Filipinana” was the outstanding development work, walking away with three prizes.
At Apsa, Chua will take part in a producers’ round...
Dynamic Singaporean producer Jeremy Chua is to receive the Fiapf Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asia Pacific Cinema, at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) on Nov. 3 on Australia’s Gold Coast. In the nine years since founding his company Potocol, Chua has focused on international co-production of Asian films and telling Asia stories.
Two of his most recent films, Indonesian director Makbul Mubarak’s “Autobiography” and Vietnamese feature debutant Thien An Pham’s “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” are their country’s respective Oscar contenders. In 2021 Chua produced Bangladesh’s first film in Cannes “Rehana,” while at the most recent Busan International Film Festival he premiered Singapore-Japan co-venture “Last Shadow at First Light” and Thailand’s “Doi Boy.” At Busan’s Asian Project Market, his Philippines-set “Filipinana” was the outstanding development work, walking away with three prizes.
At Apsa, Chua will take part in a producers’ round...
- 10/17/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Singaporean producer Jeremy Chua is the recipient of the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (Fiapf) Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asia Pacific Cinema, to be presented at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) Ceremony on the Gold Coast next month.
The post Jeremy Chua to receive Fiapf Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asia Pacific Cinema appeared first on If Magazine.
The post Jeremy Chua to receive Fiapf Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asia Pacific Cinema appeared first on If Magazine.
- 10/17/2023
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
The 26th edition of the project market wrapped ram for four days from October 7-10.
Rafael Manuel’s Filipinana and Jiang Xiaoxuan’s To Kill A Mongolian Horse won multiple prizes at the Asian Project Market (Apm), while the top Busan Award went to Ahmed Yassin Al Daradj’s Madness And Honey Days.
The 26th edition of the project market wrapped yesterday after running for four days from October 7-10 alongside the Asian Contents & Film Market (Afcm).
Filipinana was presented with a trio of awards at the closing ceremony of Apm: the Taicca Award, ArteKino International Award and Kongchak Studio Award.
Rafael Manuel’s Filipinana and Jiang Xiaoxuan’s To Kill A Mongolian Horse won multiple prizes at the Asian Project Market (Apm), while the top Busan Award went to Ahmed Yassin Al Daradj’s Madness And Honey Days.
The 26th edition of the project market wrapped yesterday after running for four days from October 7-10 alongside the Asian Contents & Film Market (Afcm).
Filipinana was presented with a trio of awards at the closing ceremony of Apm: the Taicca Award, ArteKino International Award and Kongchak Studio Award.
- 10/11/2023
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
Some twenty aspiring film projects have been selected to participate in the inaugural edition of the Qcinema Project Market (Nov. 18-19) that this year represents and expansion of the QCinema Film Festival in The Philippines’ Quezon City.
The selected titles include development projects by several of East Asia’s better known independent and art-house directors and projects. Among them is “Filipinana,” which on Tuesday collected three prizes at Busan’s Asian Project Market. Another is “Fox King,” by well-established Malaysian filmmaker Woo Ming Jing, which will also travel to the Tokyo Gap Financing Market. Also lining up is established Singapore filmmaker Boo Junfeng and producer partner Raymond Phathanavirangoon with “Trinity.”
The 20 selected projects are vying for over $400,000 in grants and prizes, including a $35,000 co-production grants for Southeast Asian projects and $50,000 for Filipino projects.
“From an impressive submission of sixty five projects from all over the region, these selected projects really...
The selected titles include development projects by several of East Asia’s better known independent and art-house directors and projects. Among them is “Filipinana,” which on Tuesday collected three prizes at Busan’s Asian Project Market. Another is “Fox King,” by well-established Malaysian filmmaker Woo Ming Jing, which will also travel to the Tokyo Gap Financing Market. Also lining up is established Singapore filmmaker Boo Junfeng and producer partner Raymond Phathanavirangoon with “Trinity.”
The 20 selected projects are vying for over $400,000 in grants and prizes, including a $35,000 co-production grants for Southeast Asian projects and $50,000 for Filipino projects.
“From an impressive submission of sixty five projects from all over the region, these selected projects really...
- 10/11/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
“Madness and Honey Days,” to be directed by Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji, was Tuesday named the winner of the top-ranking Busan Award at the Asian Project Market, an offshoot of the Busan International Film Festival. But “Filipinana” was the numerical winner. To be directed by Rafael Manuel, the project won three prizes.
Other projects to claim multiple awards were: “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” to be directed by Japan’s Hirose Nanako; and “To Kill a Mongolian Horse” to be directed by mainland China’s Jiang Xiaoxuan.
Seeking a $1.1 million budget, “Madness and Honey Days” is a tragicomedy in which a man, after unintentionally cursing at President Saddam Hussein, must convince a Baathist court that he is insane if he hopes to escape the death penalty. During the last months before the fall of Saddam, he must live in a Baghdad psychiatric hospital and struggle to maintain his sanity,...
Other projects to claim multiple awards were: “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” to be directed by Japan’s Hirose Nanako; and “To Kill a Mongolian Horse” to be directed by mainland China’s Jiang Xiaoxuan.
Seeking a $1.1 million budget, “Madness and Honey Days” is a tragicomedy in which a man, after unintentionally cursing at President Saddam Hussein, must convince a Baathist court that he is insane if he hopes to escape the death penalty. During the last months before the fall of Saddam, he must live in a Baghdad psychiatric hospital and struggle to maintain his sanity,...
- 10/10/2023
- by Patrick Frater and Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Celebrated Singaporean producer Jeremy Chua and emerging Philippines talent Rafael Manuel have teamed on “Filipinana,” a selection at the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Project Market this year.
The film will follow 17-year-old girl Isabel, who spends her whole day teeing-up balls for golfers at a country club. She feels strangely drawn to club president Dr. Palanca, but as she starts to piece together a more violent picture of what lies behind the club’s pristine facade, she comes to realize that what began as an innocent infatuation is rooted in a more sinister, shared history.
“Filipinana” is based on the short film of the same name that won the Silver Bear for best short at the 2020 Berlinale. The project began life as a feature film script that Manuel wrote when he was at film school in London in 2018. Manuel ultimately decided it would be better to build a...
The film will follow 17-year-old girl Isabel, who spends her whole day teeing-up balls for golfers at a country club. She feels strangely drawn to club president Dr. Palanca, but as she starts to piece together a more violent picture of what lies behind the club’s pristine facade, she comes to realize that what began as an innocent infatuation is rooted in a more sinister, shared history.
“Filipinana” is based on the short film of the same name that won the Silver Bear for best short at the 2020 Berlinale. The project began life as a feature film script that Manuel wrote when he was at film school in London in 2018. Manuel ultimately decided it would be better to build a...
- 10/6/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
A first trailer has been unveiled for Nicole Midori Woodford’s feature debut “Last Shadow at First Light,” which world premieres at the New Directors strand of the San Sebastian Film Festival.
The film is in competition for the New Directors Award. Starring acclaimed Japanese actor Nagase Masatoshi (“Sweet Bean”) and newcomer Shirata Mihaya, the film follows a teenage girl (Shirata) with a special ability to communicate with the spiritual world as she goes on a road trip from Singapore to Japan. On arrival, she is chaperoned by a cynical uncle (Nagase) to uncover the mystery of her strange dreams and her mother’s disappearance years ago. Tsutsui Mariko, Peter Yu (“A Land Imagined”) feature in supporting roles.
The feature is presented by Jeremy Chua’s Potocol (Singapore), Shozo Ichiyama’s Fourier Films (Japan), Studio Virc (Slovenia) and Happy Infinite Productions (Philippines), executive produced by Jermyn Wong and Sally Ng...
The film is in competition for the New Directors Award. Starring acclaimed Japanese actor Nagase Masatoshi (“Sweet Bean”) and newcomer Shirata Mihaya, the film follows a teenage girl (Shirata) with a special ability to communicate with the spiritual world as she goes on a road trip from Singapore to Japan. On arrival, she is chaperoned by a cynical uncle (Nagase) to uncover the mystery of her strange dreams and her mother’s disappearance years ago. Tsutsui Mariko, Peter Yu (“A Land Imagined”) feature in supporting roles.
The feature is presented by Jeremy Chua’s Potocol (Singapore), Shozo Ichiyama’s Fourier Films (Japan), Studio Virc (Slovenia) and Happy Infinite Productions (Philippines), executive produced by Jermyn Wong and Sally Ng...
- 9/23/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran and Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Projects by Rima Das and Emma Kawawada also among 30 titles set to be pitched.
South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival (Biff) has unveiled the 30 titles selected for the 2023 Asian Project Market (Apm), including new works by Makbul Mubarak, Koji Fukada, Rima Das and Emma Kawawada.
The film financing event, which runs as part of Biff’s Asian Contents and Film Market, will take place from October 7-10 and comprises projects by directors who have made at least one short or full-length feature as well as producers who have been involved with at least one feature. They will conduct four...
South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival (Biff) has unveiled the 30 titles selected for the 2023 Asian Project Market (Apm), including new works by Makbul Mubarak, Koji Fukada, Rima Das and Emma Kawawada.
The film financing event, which runs as part of Biff’s Asian Contents and Film Market, will take place from October 7-10 and comprises projects by directors who have made at least one short or full-length feature as well as producers who have been involved with at least one feature. They will conduct four...
- 8/3/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Busan International Film Festival has announced the 30 projects selected for this year’s Asian Project Market (Apm), including new works from leading Asian filmmakers such as Japan’s Koji Fukada, Indonesia’s Makbul Mubarak and India’s Rima Das.
Fukada, whose previous films have premiered at Cannes and Venice (Love Life), will present Japan-France co-production Nagi Notes, produced by Osanai Terutaro.
Mubarak, whose Autobiography premiered at last year’s Venice before embarking on an awards haul across Asia, is bringing Watch It Burn, produced by Indonesia’s Yulia Evina Bhara, one of the producers on this year’s Cannes Critics Week winner Tiger Stripes.
Das is a Busan regular who has also had films play in Toronto and Berlin (Bulbul Can Sing). She will present Malti My Love, which the self-taught filmmaker will also produce, just as she has produced, written,...
Fukada, whose previous films have premiered at Cannes and Venice (Love Life), will present Japan-France co-production Nagi Notes, produced by Osanai Terutaro.
Mubarak, whose Autobiography premiered at last year’s Venice before embarking on an awards haul across Asia, is bringing Watch It Burn, produced by Indonesia’s Yulia Evina Bhara, one of the producers on this year’s Cannes Critics Week winner Tiger Stripes.
Das is a Busan regular who has also had films play in Toronto and Berlin (Bulbul Can Sing). She will present Malti My Love, which the self-taught filmmaker will also produce, just as she has produced, written,...
- 8/3/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
The Busan film festival’s Asian Project Market is set to welcome several of the region’s top auteurs either as producers or prospective directors at its next edition in October.
Apm organizers Thursday unveiled 30 projects to be presented during a four-day round of one-on-one meetings and pitching sessions.
India’s Rima Das (“Tora’s Husband”) will pitch “Malti My Love.” Japan’s Fukada Koji will pitch “Nagi Notes.” Indonesia’s Makbul Mubarak (“Autobiography”) will pitch “Watch It Burn.”
Among the successful producers adding their weight to Apm contenders are: Patrick Mao Huang selling Peter Ho’s project “Appetite for Desire”; Jeremy Chua, pitching Rafael Manuel’s “Filipinana”; Ichiyama Shozo (“Ash Is Puirest White”) pitching Song Fang’s Japan-China collaboration “Full Moon”; Fran Borgia pitching Aakash Chhabra’s “I’ll Smile in September”; and Tan Chui Mui (“Barbarian Invasion”) pitching Jian Xiaoshuan’s “To Kill A Mongolian Horse.”
The project...
Apm organizers Thursday unveiled 30 projects to be presented during a four-day round of one-on-one meetings and pitching sessions.
India’s Rima Das (“Tora’s Husband”) will pitch “Malti My Love.” Japan’s Fukada Koji will pitch “Nagi Notes.” Indonesia’s Makbul Mubarak (“Autobiography”) will pitch “Watch It Burn.”
Among the successful producers adding their weight to Apm contenders are: Patrick Mao Huang selling Peter Ho’s project “Appetite for Desire”; Jeremy Chua, pitching Rafael Manuel’s “Filipinana”; Ichiyama Shozo (“Ash Is Puirest White”) pitching Song Fang’s Japan-China collaboration “Full Moon”; Fran Borgia pitching Aakash Chhabra’s “I’ll Smile in September”; and Tan Chui Mui (“Barbarian Invasion”) pitching Jian Xiaoshuan’s “To Kill A Mongolian Horse.”
The project...
- 8/3/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Kino Lorber has snatched up North American rights to Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell, the mesmerizing first feature from Vietnamese director Pham Thien An, which premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section in Cannes this year, where it won the Camera d’Or for best directorial debut.
The film fulfills the promise shown in Pham’s acclaimed shorts, including 2019 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight winner Stay Awake, Be Ready, which was the inspiration for Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell.
The film follows Thien (Le Phong Vu), a prodigal son with little direction in his life who, after his sister-in-law dies in a freak motorcycle accident, is tasked with delivering her body, and his 5-year-old nephew Dao, who miraculously survived the crash, back to their countryside hometown. Thus begins a journey across the mystical landscapes of rural Vietnam, a journey back into Thien’s own past and a search for his long-missing older brother,...
The film fulfills the promise shown in Pham’s acclaimed shorts, including 2019 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight winner Stay Awake, Be Ready, which was the inspiration for Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell.
The film follows Thien (Le Phong Vu), a prodigal son with little direction in his life who, after his sister-in-law dies in a freak motorcycle accident, is tasked with delivering her body, and his 5-year-old nephew Dao, who miraculously survived the crash, back to their countryside hometown. Thus begins a journey across the mystical landscapes of rural Vietnam, a journey back into Thien’s own past and a search for his long-missing older brother,...
- 7/6/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The festival closed on July 1.
Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania’s experimental mix of documentary and fiction Four Daughters won the main €50,000 Arri award for best international film in the CineMasters competition at Filmfest München on July 1.
The film’s German co-producer Thanassis Karathanos of Berlin-based Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion quipped he had written so many cheques to Arri in the past and it was nice to be having one now coming in the other direction, when accepting the award at the festival’s closing ceremony,
Four Daughters is the second collaboration between Karathanos and Martin Hampel’s Twenty Twenty...
Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania’s experimental mix of documentary and fiction Four Daughters won the main €50,000 Arri award for best international film in the CineMasters competition at Filmfest München on July 1.
The film’s German co-producer Thanassis Karathanos of Berlin-based Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion quipped he had written so many cheques to Arri in the past and it was nice to be having one now coming in the other direction, when accepting the award at the festival’s closing ceremony,
Four Daughters is the second collaboration between Karathanos and Martin Hampel’s Twenty Twenty...
- 7/3/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Recently-established Philippines-based production and financing company, Fire and Ice, has deals to provide completion funding to two films being produced by prolific Singapore-based independent producer Potocol. Under a related agreement, Fire and Ice has also struck a multi-faceted first-look deal with Potocol.
The completion funding, which gives Fire and Ice a share of the film’s equity, will permit the completion of post-production of upcoming Potocol titles: “Pierce,” a sports drama by Nelicia Low, and “Last Shadow at First Light,” by Nicole Midori Woodford. Both films were recently showcased at Focus Asia’s Far East In Progress, part of the Far East Film Festival in Udine, and are expected to be completed before the end of the year.
The first-look agreement covers titles on Potocol’s slate including a project by Rafael Manuel, winner of a Silver Bear in Berlin in 2020 for his short film “Filipinana,” and another by cinematographer...
The completion funding, which gives Fire and Ice a share of the film’s equity, will permit the completion of post-production of upcoming Potocol titles: “Pierce,” a sports drama by Nelicia Low, and “Last Shadow at First Light,” by Nicole Midori Woodford. Both films were recently showcased at Focus Asia’s Far East In Progress, part of the Far East Film Festival in Udine, and are expected to be completed before the end of the year.
The first-look agreement covers titles on Potocol’s slate including a project by Rafael Manuel, winner of a Silver Bear in Berlin in 2020 for his short film “Filipinana,” and another by cinematographer...
- 5/24/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
While Southeast Asian films have premiered at the Cannes Film Festival many times before, and even won the Palme d’Or, there’s an energy around the region this year that we haven’t felt on the Croisette at previous editions.
Tiger Stripes, a body horror from Malaysian filmmaker Amanda Nell Eu, about a young Muslim girl going through extreme puberty, premieres Wednesday in Critics Week, while Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell, from Pham Thien An, a young director who is at the forefront of a new wave of Vietnamese filmmakers, has been selected for Directors’ Fortnight.
Singaporean director Anthony Chen – who won the Camera d’Or in 2013 for his debut Ilo Ilo – is back in Cannes with a mainland Chinese production The Breaking Ice, which is premiering in Un Certain Regard this weekend. He is also producing an ambitious slate of Southeast Asian and international films through his Singapore-based Giraffe Pictures.
Tiger Stripes, a body horror from Malaysian filmmaker Amanda Nell Eu, about a young Muslim girl going through extreme puberty, premieres Wednesday in Critics Week, while Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell, from Pham Thien An, a young director who is at the forefront of a new wave of Vietnamese filmmakers, has been selected for Directors’ Fortnight.
Singaporean director Anthony Chen – who won the Camera d’Or in 2013 for his debut Ilo Ilo – is back in Cannes with a mainland Chinese production The Breaking Ice, which is premiering in Un Certain Regard this weekend. He is also producing an ambitious slate of Southeast Asian and international films through his Singapore-based Giraffe Pictures.
- 5/17/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Glossy drama film, “Inside the Yellow Cocoon,” has unveiled its first trailer ahead of its world premiere this month in the Directors’ Fortnight section at Cannes.
Its world sales representative, Cercamon will give the picture a market launch with a buyers-only screening on May 16.
The anticipated Vietnamese-Singapore co-production is the debut feature by Pham Thien An and is eligible for the Camera d’Or prize.
Its narrative follows a man whose sister-in-law is killed in a freak motorcycle accident in Saigon. He is tasked with delivering her body back to their countryside hometown. It is a journey on which he also takes his young nephew, who miraculously survived the crash. Amidst the mystical landscapes of rural Vietnam, the man begins a search for his older brother who vanished years ago in order to be able to hand over the boy. His pursuit, interrupted by magical dreams and forbidden desires, leads...
Its world sales representative, Cercamon will give the picture a market launch with a buyers-only screening on May 16.
The anticipated Vietnamese-Singapore co-production is the debut feature by Pham Thien An and is eligible for the Camera d’Or prize.
Its narrative follows a man whose sister-in-law is killed in a freak motorcycle accident in Saigon. He is tasked with delivering her body back to their countryside hometown. It is a journey on which he also takes his young nephew, who miraculously survived the crash. Amidst the mystical landscapes of rural Vietnam, the man begins a search for his older brother who vanished years ago in order to be able to hand over the boy. His pursuit, interrupted by magical dreams and forbidden desires, leads...
- 5/4/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Dubai-based sales agency Cercamon has picked up international rights to “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell” by first-time feature director Pham Thien An. The film will have its global premiere next month in the Directors Fortnight section of the Cannes film festival.
Pham Thien An previously made short films “The Mute” in 2018 and the one-take “Stay Awake, Be Ready” in 2019. Both enjoyed a busy festival career, with “Stay Awake” earning the Illy Prize in Cannes followed by additional awards at the Palm Springs, Busan, Kyiv and Flickerfest events.
“Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell” follows the emotional journey of Thien, who is entrusted with the responsibility of delivering his sister-in-law’s body to their hometown after a tragic motorcycle accident in Saigon. Amidst this heartbreaking task, Thien also takes care of his nephew, Dao, a five-year-old survivor of the accident. As they traverse the mystical landscapes of rural Vietnam, Thien embarks on...
Pham Thien An previously made short films “The Mute” in 2018 and the one-take “Stay Awake, Be Ready” in 2019. Both enjoyed a busy festival career, with “Stay Awake” earning the Illy Prize in Cannes followed by additional awards at the Palm Springs, Busan, Kyiv and Flickerfest events.
“Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell” follows the emotional journey of Thien, who is entrusted with the responsibility of delivering his sister-in-law’s body to their hometown after a tragic motorcycle accident in Saigon. Amidst this heartbreaking task, Thien also takes care of his nephew, Dao, a five-year-old survivor of the accident. As they traverse the mystical landscapes of rural Vietnam, Thien embarks on...
- 4/18/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Projects from directors Martika Ramirez Escobar and Maung Sun among titles.
Full Circle Lab Philippines, the Southeast Asian project and talent development programme, has revealed the line-up for its upcoming fifth edition, including new features by Filipino filmmaker Martika Ramirez Escobar and Myanmar’s Maung Sun.
The labs will comprise 12 projects in development, three films in post-production, eight emerging producers and three story editors. A total of 45 participants and 14 mentors are set to participate in the in-person workshop, held in the Central Luzon region in the north of Manila from March 27-31, This will be followed by online sessions, which run until September.
Full Circle Lab Philippines, the Southeast Asian project and talent development programme, has revealed the line-up for its upcoming fifth edition, including new features by Filipino filmmaker Martika Ramirez Escobar and Myanmar’s Maung Sun.
The labs will comprise 12 projects in development, three films in post-production, eight emerging producers and three story editors. A total of 45 participants and 14 mentors are set to participate in the in-person workshop, held in the Central Luzon region in the north of Manila from March 27-31, This will be followed by online sessions, which run until September.
- 3/6/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Singapore-based film production outfit Potocol, whose “Tomorrow is a Long Time,” by Jow Zhi Wei bowed at the Berlin Film Festival’s Generation 14plus competition, has revealed a diverse Asian slate.
Potocol’s recent triumphs include Bangladeshi filmmaker Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s Cannes selection “Rehana Maryam Noor” and Indonesian director Makbul Mubarak’s Venice winner “Autobiography.” The company, led by Jeremy Chua who is currently at the Berlinale, has a growing reputation for championing the rise of young filmmakers from across Asia.
Potocol has four films in post-production and several more in development. Nicole Midori Woodford’s debut feature “Last Shadow at First Light” is a supernatural road trip drama that follows a Singaporean teenager tracing the footsteps of her missing mother in Japan and explores the ripple effects of a traumatic event subconsciously buried within the family unit.
A winner of several project development and market prizes at Seafic,...
Potocol’s recent triumphs include Bangladeshi filmmaker Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s Cannes selection “Rehana Maryam Noor” and Indonesian director Makbul Mubarak’s Venice winner “Autobiography.” The company, led by Jeremy Chua who is currently at the Berlinale, has a growing reputation for championing the rise of young filmmakers from across Asia.
Potocol has four films in post-production and several more in development. Nicole Midori Woodford’s debut feature “Last Shadow at First Light” is a supernatural road trip drama that follows a Singaporean teenager tracing the footsteps of her missing mother in Japan and explores the ripple effects of a traumatic event subconsciously buried within the family unit.
A winner of several project development and market prizes at Seafic,...
- 2/18/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
A first trailer has been unveiled for debutant filmmaker Jow Zhi Wei’s “Tomorrow is a Long Time,” which will have its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival’s Generation 14plus strand.
The film follows sixteen-year-old Meng for whom life is not the most fulfilling, with him lounging at home with his grieving father on a daily basis, being excluded from his family’s past and forced into bullying other kids at school. Everything changes when he is thrown into a life-altering adventure that propels him into an exciting unfamiliar landscape.
The cast includes Taiwanese filmmaker and actor and Golden Horse award winner Leon Dai, emerging Singaporean actor Edward Tan making his screen debut, Jay Victor, Julius Foo and Lekheraj Sekhar.
Producers include Fran Borgia (Locarno winner “A Land Imagined”), Jeremy Chua (Venice winner “Autobiography”), Stefano Centini (“In My Mother’s Skin”), Xavier Rocher (Locarno winner “The Sacred Spirit”) and...
The film follows sixteen-year-old Meng for whom life is not the most fulfilling, with him lounging at home with his grieving father on a daily basis, being excluded from his family’s past and forced into bullying other kids at school. Everything changes when he is thrown into a life-altering adventure that propels him into an exciting unfamiliar landscape.
The cast includes Taiwanese filmmaker and actor and Golden Horse award winner Leon Dai, emerging Singaporean actor Edward Tan making his screen debut, Jay Victor, Julius Foo and Lekheraj Sekhar.
Producers include Fran Borgia (Locarno winner “A Land Imagined”), Jeremy Chua (Venice winner “Autobiography”), Stefano Centini (“In My Mother’s Skin”), Xavier Rocher (Locarno winner “The Sacred Spirit”) and...
- 2/9/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Drama marks the feature directorial debut of Singapore’s Jow Zhi Wei.
Berlin-based Pluto Film Distribution Network has acquired worldwide sales rights to Tomorrow Is A Long Time, the feature directorial debut of Singapore’s Jow Zhi Wei, ahead of its premiere in the Berlinale Generation 14plus competition.
Shot in Singapore and Taiwan, the father-son relationship drama is a coproduction between Fran Borgia’s Akanga Film Asia (Singapore), Stefano Centini’s Volos Films (Taiwan), Xavier Rocher’s La Fabrica Nocturna Cinéma (France), Jeremy Chua’s Potocol (Singapore) and Ico Costa’s Oublaum Filmes (Portugal).
The film focuses on a pest...
Berlin-based Pluto Film Distribution Network has acquired worldwide sales rights to Tomorrow Is A Long Time, the feature directorial debut of Singapore’s Jow Zhi Wei, ahead of its premiere in the Berlinale Generation 14plus competition.
Shot in Singapore and Taiwan, the father-son relationship drama is a coproduction between Fran Borgia’s Akanga Film Asia (Singapore), Stefano Centini’s Volos Films (Taiwan), Xavier Rocher’s La Fabrica Nocturna Cinéma (France), Jeremy Chua’s Potocol (Singapore) and Ico Costa’s Oublaum Filmes (Portugal).
The film focuses on a pest...
- 2/1/2023
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
Prolific Singaporean producer Jeremy Chua and filmmakers John Clang and Lavender Chang are reuniting after “A Love Unknown” (2020), which Clang directed and Chang shot. This time around, they have teamed for “Absent Smile,” co-directed by Chang and Clang, which is world premiering at the Singapore International Film Festival.
Clang is based in New York and visits his parents in Singapore intermittently. “Absent Smile” is a document of Clang’s parents and their mixed feelings of longing yet support for their son, using the format of family portraiture augmented with digital means.
“Aging and separation are common occurrences that many are going through in our time. It is a theme that is close to our hearts that we may also find ourselves avoiding bringing it up. While modern technology seems to help to caress our longings for our loved ones, it also fuels the reasoning for the prolonged absence. However, this...
Clang is based in New York and visits his parents in Singapore intermittently. “Absent Smile” is a document of Clang’s parents and their mixed feelings of longing yet support for their son, using the format of family portraiture augmented with digital means.
“Aging and separation are common occurrences that many are going through in our time. It is a theme that is close to our hearts that we may also find ourselves avoiding bringing it up. While modern technology seems to help to caress our longings for our loved ones, it also fuels the reasoning for the prolonged absence. However, this...
- 11/25/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Euro-ukrainian Co-production Solidarity
The Eurimages Co-production Award, presented as part of the annual European Film Awards, will this year be awarded to all the film producers of war-torn Ukraine.
Eurimages, a Council of Europe-backed film finance organization described the unusual award “as an expression of strong appreciation for the growing quality of Ukrainian production in the past years, and as a sign of ongoing support now that the infrastructure for production support within Ukraine has collapsed.” The award will be accepted by a delegation of Ukrainian producers who are Academy members at the European Film Awards ceremony on Dec. 10 in Reykjavík, Iceland.
The quality of Ukrainian productions is reflected in the Ukrainian films shortlisted for the European Film Awards earlier this year, Eurimages said. These include: “Reflection,” directed by Valentyn Vasyanovych for the feature film selection; “Pamfir,” directed by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk is nominated for European Discovery – Prix Fipresci.
In addition,...
The Eurimages Co-production Award, presented as part of the annual European Film Awards, will this year be awarded to all the film producers of war-torn Ukraine.
Eurimages, a Council of Europe-backed film finance organization described the unusual award “as an expression of strong appreciation for the growing quality of Ukrainian production in the past years, and as a sign of ongoing support now that the infrastructure for production support within Ukraine has collapsed.” The award will be accepted by a delegation of Ukrainian producers who are Academy members at the European Film Awards ceremony on Dec. 10 in Reykjavík, Iceland.
The quality of Ukrainian productions is reflected in the Ukrainian films shortlisted for the European Film Awards earlier this year, Eurimages said. These include: “Reflection,” directed by Valentyn Vasyanovych for the feature film selection; “Pamfir,” directed by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk is nominated for European Discovery – Prix Fipresci.
In addition,...
- 11/22/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
28 projects selected from over 150 submissions.
New features from Mexican director Amat Escalante and Mexican-San Salvadoran filmmaker Tatiana Huezo are among the 28 feature projects selected for the fifth edition of European Work in Progress Cologne (Ewip), the industry pitching event held from October 17-19 in the run-up to Film Festival Cologne.
Escalante will pitch Lost In The Night, about a man searching for those responsible for his mother’s disappearance, who encounters an incompetent justice system.
The Mexico-Germany-Netherlands-Denmark co-production is produced by Nicolas Celis and Fernanda de la Peza for Tres Tunas Cine. Escalante has previously directed four features including Venice and Toronto 2016 horror The Untamed.
New features from Mexican director Amat Escalante and Mexican-San Salvadoran filmmaker Tatiana Huezo are among the 28 feature projects selected for the fifth edition of European Work in Progress Cologne (Ewip), the industry pitching event held from October 17-19 in the run-up to Film Festival Cologne.
Escalante will pitch Lost In The Night, about a man searching for those responsible for his mother’s disappearance, who encounters an incompetent justice system.
The Mexico-Germany-Netherlands-Denmark co-production is produced by Nicolas Celis and Fernanda de la Peza for Tres Tunas Cine. Escalante has previously directed four features including Venice and Toronto 2016 horror The Untamed.
- 10/11/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
“Future Laobans,” a project directed by Maung Sun and produced by Maung Sun and Ma Aeint claimed the Busan Prize, the top award at the Asian Project Market, on Tuesday.
The awards were made at an event held at the Paradise Hotel in Busan’s Haeundae district at the end of three days of quick-fire meetings between producers and directors and an array of potential co-producers, financiers and distributors. Organizers said that they put together 705 such one-on-one meetings on the sidelines of the Busan International Film Festival.
Ma Aeint had not been able to take part in meetings at the Apm or participate in the closing ceremony as she is a political prisoner, currently in prison in Myanmar. She has currently served roughly one and ahalf years of a three-year sentence.
Unable to make a speech at the closing ceremony Maung Sun told Variety: “I’m making this film for her.
The awards were made at an event held at the Paradise Hotel in Busan’s Haeundae district at the end of three days of quick-fire meetings between producers and directors and an array of potential co-producers, financiers and distributors. Organizers said that they put together 705 such one-on-one meetings on the sidelines of the Busan International Film Festival.
Ma Aeint had not been able to take part in meetings at the Apm or participate in the closing ceremony as she is a political prisoner, currently in prison in Myanmar. She has currently served roughly one and ahalf years of a three-year sentence.
Unable to make a speech at the closing ceremony Maung Sun told Variety: “I’m making this film for her.
- 10/11/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Prolific Singapore-based production company Akanga Film Asia, led by producer Fran Borgia, has revealed a robust film slate, including several global co-productions.
Borgia and filmmaker Yeo Siew Hua teamed on 2018 film “A Land Imagined,” which reaped a rich haul of awards around the world, including top prizes at Locarno, Golden Horse, El Gouna, Pingyao, Singapore and Valladolid. They have now re-teamed on “Stranger Eyes,” which is selected at the ongoing Venice Production Bridge’s gap financing market.
The film follows master of surveillance Inspector Goh, who, as he keeps a close eye on a suspected credit card thief, is drawn into the suspect’s world and starts to see himself in the skin of the perpetrator. As it sets him to question the true meaning of his work, Goh is tasked to track down a serial voyeur on the loose who has been videotaping people’s most private moments.
“It...
Borgia and filmmaker Yeo Siew Hua teamed on 2018 film “A Land Imagined,” which reaped a rich haul of awards around the world, including top prizes at Locarno, Golden Horse, El Gouna, Pingyao, Singapore and Valladolid. They have now re-teamed on “Stranger Eyes,” which is selected at the ongoing Venice Production Bridge’s gap financing market.
The film follows master of surveillance Inspector Goh, who, as he keeps a close eye on a suspected credit card thief, is drawn into the suspect’s world and starts to see himself in the skin of the perpetrator. As it sets him to question the true meaning of his work, Goh is tasked to track down a serial voyeur on the loose who has been videotaping people’s most private moments.
“It...
- 9/2/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Indonesia’s Makbul Mubarak is making quite a splash with his debut feature “Autobiography,” which is world premiering at Venice’s Horizons strand and then playing at Toronto’s Contemporary World Cinema section.
The film, which examines the effects of Indonesia’s military dictatorship on the country’s youth, follows a young man torn between loyalty and justice who confronts the truth of his father figure — a retired general — that may destroy them both.
Mubarak, film critic-turned-filmmaker and a Berlinale Talents and Asian Film Academy alumni, previously directed acclaimed short films “The Dog’s Lullaby” (2016), “Malediction” (2017) and “A Plastic Cup of Tea Before Her” (2018).
The cast includes Kevin Ardilova, Arswendy Bening Swara, Yusuf Mahardika, Lukman Sardi and Haru Sandra.
” ‘Autobiography’ is a story very specific to Indonesia because it addresses the legacy of our history, but at the same time, it also addresses the world we are co-existing in now: the heavy price of ignorance,...
The film, which examines the effects of Indonesia’s military dictatorship on the country’s youth, follows a young man torn between loyalty and justice who confronts the truth of his father figure — a retired general — that may destroy them both.
Mubarak, film critic-turned-filmmaker and a Berlinale Talents and Asian Film Academy alumni, previously directed acclaimed short films “The Dog’s Lullaby” (2016), “Malediction” (2017) and “A Plastic Cup of Tea Before Her” (2018).
The cast includes Kevin Ardilova, Arswendy Bening Swara, Yusuf Mahardika, Lukman Sardi and Haru Sandra.
” ‘Autobiography’ is a story very specific to Indonesia because it addresses the legacy of our history, but at the same time, it also addresses the world we are co-existing in now: the heavy price of ignorance,...
- 8/26/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Projects selected from 15 countries.
South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival (Biff) has unveiled the 29 titles selected for the 2022 Asian Project Market (Apm).
The film financing event that runs as part of Biff’s Asian Contents and Film Market will return in-person from October 9-11, after taking place as a hybrid event last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
From this year, Apm has excluded non-Asian projects to provide more focused support for Asian projects, which must be submitted by directors who have made at least one short or full-length feature as well as producers who have been involved with at least one feature.
South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival (Biff) has unveiled the 29 titles selected for the 2022 Asian Project Market (Apm).
The film financing event that runs as part of Biff’s Asian Contents and Film Market will return in-person from October 9-11, after taking place as a hybrid event last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
From this year, Apm has excluded non-Asian projects to provide more focused support for Asian projects, which must be submitted by directors who have made at least one short or full-length feature as well as producers who have been involved with at least one feature.
- 8/12/2022
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Ken Kwek’s newest feature “#LookAtMe” tells the story of Singaporean YouTuber Sean Marzuki (played by yao) who is prosecuted and jailed after uploading a video in which he makes fun of a homophobic megachurch pastor for a sermon demonizing gay people like Sean’s twin, Ricky (played also by yao). A visceral experience like few others, the movie takes the viewers on a rollercoaster ride through different emotions and genre influences.
On the occasion of “#LookAtMe” premiering at the New York Asian Film Festival, we talk with director Ken Kwek, producer and actress Pam Oei, and actor yao.
“#LookAtMe” is screening on New York Asian Film Festival
First, congratulations on the movie finally premiering. Can you please tell us how the movie was received?
Pam Oei: We’ve waited a long time to meet an audience and when we finally did, it was a relief. It was very nice...
On the occasion of “#LookAtMe” premiering at the New York Asian Film Festival, we talk with director Ken Kwek, producer and actress Pam Oei, and actor yao.
“#LookAtMe” is screening on New York Asian Film Festival
First, congratulations on the movie finally premiering. Can you please tell us how the movie was received?
Pam Oei: We’ve waited a long time to meet an audience and when we finally did, it was a relief. It was very nice...
- 8/11/2022
- by Martin Lukanov
- AsianMoviePulse
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.