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Leading indie film project market, the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum has revealed a selection of 28 titles for its twentieth edition and confirmed that it will be held online for the third time in a row.

“Unfortunately, we won’t have the opportunity to celebrate our 20th anniversary by hosting our usual in-person event due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and travel restrictions,” Hkiff industry director Jacob Wong said. “Nevertheless, based on experience gained from the last two years, we will strive to improve our online booking and meeting system to make it a breeze for all participants.”

The market will operate March 14-16, 2022, alongside the 26th edition of rights market Hong Kong FilMart (March 14-17.)

The market contains a familiar mix of experienced hands and newcomers. Among the well-established producers and directors with projects selected are: Huang Ji (2021 Rotterdam festival winner “Egg and Stone”); Hong Kong’s Jun Li...

The selection includes eight Hong Kong projects and the first-ever Thai-Muslim horror

The Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf) has announced 28 in-development projects for its 20th anniversary edition.

All are fiction projects, including eight from Hong Kong, 12 debut features and projects spearheaded by renowned filmmakers and producers including Huang Ji, Jun Li, Tetsuya Mariko, Ida Panahandeh, Michael J. Werner, Fruit Chan, Nonzee Nimibutr, Yang Chao and Jane Zheng.

For the third year in a row, Haf will run online from March 14-16 alongside the 26th edition of Hong Kong Filmart.

“Unfortunately, we won’t have the opportunity to celebrate our...

For the inaugural season of Disney’s “Launchpad” shorts incubator, the studio centered on the theme, “Discover,” encouraging audiences broaden their worldview through their short films.

But another word that could describe this first group of films and the filmmakers who crafted them over the last 19 months is “Perseverance.”

When Aqsa Altaf, Stefanie Abel Horowitz, Ann Marie Pace, Moxie Peng, Jessica Mendez Siqueiros and Hao Zheng got the call that they’d been selected to become the first class of filmmakers in Dec. 2019, no one expected they’d have to overcome a five-month production delay caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It has taken us almost three years to get to this point,” Mahin Ibrahim, director of Disney’s diversity & inclusion, market, who oversees the “Launchpad” program, tells Variety.

The drive to continue on came down to the simple fact that the mission — spotlighting underrepresented stories and storytellers in the marketplace...

Disney’s Launchpad, a new filmmaking program dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices, has unveiled the trailer for six original short films coming to Disney Plus.

All six short films, each centering on the theme of “discover,” will launch on Disney Plus on May 28. The program’s inaugural year features stories by Ann Marie Pace, Aqsa Altaf, Hao Zheng, Jessica Mendez Siqueiros, Moxie Peng and Stefanie Abel Horowitz.

“As a first-generation Muslim Bangladeshi woman, I know how important it is for communities to see themselves on screen, and to empower emerging filmmakers,” said Mahin Ibrahim, director of Disney’s diversity and inclusion, market, who oversees the Launchpad program. “Our goal with the Disney Launchpad Shorts Incubator is to tell six deeply meaningful personal stories straight from the filmmakers’ heart, amplified with the scale and reach that only Disney has.”

Disney plans to continue its Launchpad program, with the theme of “connection” to anchor the second season.

Exclusive: As diversity becomes more of a staple rather than a trend in Hollywood, Disney is stepping up to the plate to amplify underrepresented voices with the inaugural Disney Launchpad: Shorts Incubator program. Filmmakers Aqsa Altaf, Stefanie Abel Horowitz, Jessica Mendez Siqueiros, Ann Marie Pace, Moxie Peng and Hao Zheng were revealed as this year’s participants.

Launchpad is an immersive program in where the aforementioned six directors, who represent diverse perspectives, will produce original, live-action short films. They will have the opportunity to be considered for an exhibition on Disney+ and possible further development. The program also includes professional and storytelling classes led primarily by the program’s educational partner, the American Film Institute.

“We are so excited to work with these six wonderful and talented directors who have so much to say to the world and have such beautiful ways of saying it,” said Mahin Ibrahim, Director, Diversity & Inclusion,...