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Gradually this year in Asian Movie Pulse, we have started dealing with the whole of the continent in its wider sense, from Turkey to Japan. One of the best parts of this expansion is dealing with Russian films, who offer a completely different approach to cinema than what we were used to when dealing with S and Se Asian cinema. “The Pencil” is one of the best samples of this uniqueness.

“The Pencil” is Screening at Black Movie

The film revolves around Antonina, an artist from Saint Petersburg, who has spent her life in the shadow of her husband Sergey, a star artist, and one of the leaders of the opposition. Their marriage is already dead, but a completely lost in life Antonina decides to follow him to the Russian taiga where he is imprisoned for his political crimes, in a town where almost everybody works either in the local...

In this viral times simply having a film festival feels increasingly like a win, but not only has Japan's Skip City International D-Cinema Festival wrapped up their 2020 edition - a digital edition of the digitally created cinema festival - but they have done so with an in person closing ceremony with actual winners. Here are all the details! Winners of Skip City International D-Cinema Festival 2020 announced!! “Hope” dir. Maria Sødahl: Grand Prize “The Pencil” dir. Natalya Nazarova: Best Director & Special Jury Prize For the first time, one film receives two of main prizes by the Jury “Woman of the Photographs” dir. Takeshi Kushida: Skip City Award selected from all Japanese films Launched in 2004 in Kawaguchi City of Saitama Prefecture as a...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Anshul Chauhan’s Kontora won best picture in the feature film category of the Japanese Film Competition.

Maria Sodahl’s Hope received the Grand Prize in the International Competition of this year’s Skip City International D-Cinema Festival in Japan, which took place virtually and wrapped on October 4.

The Norway-Sweden co-production, which is based on the director’s own experiences, tells the story of a woman with six children waiting to receive a cancer diagnosis. “I thought the director herself is asking the question of ‘living’ by snuggling up with the protagonist,” said Japanese filmmaker Masa Sawada, who served as jury president.

Gradually this year in Asian Movie Pulse, we have started dealing with the whole of the continent in its wider sense, from Turkey to Japan. One of the best parts of this expansion is dealing with Russian films, who offer a completely different approach to cinema than what we were used to when dealing with S and Se Asian cinema. “The Pencil” is one of the best samples of this uniqueness.

The Pencil is available from Fortissimo Films

The film revolves around Antonina, an artist from Saint Petersburg, who has spent her life in the shadow of her husband Sergey, a star artist, and one of the leaders of the opposition. Their marriage is already dead, but a completely lost in life Antonina decides to follow him to the Russian taiga where he is imprisoned for his political crimes, in a town where almost everybody works either in the local...

Two years after China’s Hehe Pictures rescued it from receivership, former Asian industry powerhouse Fortissimo Films is making a full return to the international film sales business. The revived and revamped company will debut next week at Berlin’s European Film Market, and will also launch an international film marketing services subsidiary.

In its former incarnation, Fortissimo played a major role in growing Asia’s art-house film business and launched the careers of dozens of Asian auteurs. Although it operated out of Hong Kong, the company was legally registered in the Netherlands and filed for bankruptcy there in August 2016. Hehe Pictures backed the acquisition of the company from Dutch bankruptcy administrators in February 2017.

The new Fortissimo will keep its Amsterdam office, but decisions will now be made from Beijing by a team headed by former Im Global executive Clement Magar, Fortissimo’s general manager. Gabrielle Rozing, who was instrumental...

The relaunched company is headed by former Im Global exec Clement Magar.

Amsterdam and Beijing-based international sales outfit Fortissimo Films, now backed by China’s Hehe Pictures, which is part-owned by Alibaba Pictures, has added a trio of new Chinese projects to its European Film Market (Efm) slate.

It has picked up worldwide rights to Jianyu Gan’s crime thriller Vortex, starring Da Peng, which is about the kidnapping of a young girl, and two directorial debuts a drama called The Return by actress-director Hailu Qin, and magical realist story Emile directed by Zihao Liao, about a young teacher who...

Haf Award for a Hong Kong project goes to Love In The Valley Of Daughters.

The award winners from the 2018 Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf) have been announced.

Yuen Han-yan’s documentary Love In The Valley Of Daughters won the Haf Award for a Hong Kong project at the close of this year’s event (March 14-16).

Czech film Saving One Who Was Dead, to be directed by Václav Kadrnka and produced by Sirius Films s.r.o., won the Haf Award for a non-Hong Kong project. Both awards come with a cash prize of $19,000 (Hk$150,000).

11 award winners...

The Lab aims to help filmmakers secure post-production funds, sales agents and film festival support.

Source: Haf

The Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf) has announced the ten projects selected for its Work-in-Progress Lab, which aims to help filmmakers secure post-production funds, sales agents and film festival support.

The line-up includes Oliver Chan’s debut feature, Still Human, which is being produced by veteran filmmaker Fruit Chan. The project revolves around a paralysed man and his Filipina domestic worker who strive to overcome their cultural differences.

Two dramas from mainland China explore families in conflict – Huang Zi’s From Black And White To Shades Of Grey, which was previously selected for Haf 2014, and follows a family dealing with the father’s cancer diagnosis; and Zhai Yixiang’s Mosaic Portrait, about a journalist investigating the rape of a teenage girl in a remote village.

This year’s Wip Lab also includes three Russian films focusing on social...