News

Vietnam talent showed strong presence at the 12th QCinema International Film Festival in Quezon City, Philippines, as Trương Minh Quý’s “Viet and Nam” claimed the top prize, while compatriot Dương Diệu Linh’s “Don’t Cry, Butterfly” secured the Grand Jury Prize.

“Viet and Nam,” which made its debut in Cannes Un Certain Regard, emerged victorious in the Asian Next Wave competition. The jury, comprising Babyruth Villarama, Gabor Greiner, Ming-Jung Kuo and Nguyen Le, praised the film for “conjuring the haunting presence of trauma and memories that are embedded within the landscape, and tenderly following a romance that unfolds deep within the coal mines.”

“Don’t Cry, Butterfly,” Dương’s debut feature, follows a middle-aged wife who, upon discovering her husband’s infidelity, embarks on a mystical journey in search of a better life. The film previously won three prizes at Venice.

Elizabeth Lo took home the Best Director award for “Mistress Dispeller,...

Taiwan International Co-Funding Program (Ticp) from Taiwan Creative Content Agency (Taicca) continues to make an impact at the 74th Berlinale. Black Tea and Shambhala enter the main competition, while Sleep With Your Eyes Open competes at Encounters. Festival veteran Tsai Ming-Liang scored two official selections with his latest documentary Abiding Nowhere in Berlinale Special and The Wayward Cloud at Berlinale Classics Special.

Black Tea is Abderrahmane Sissako's follow up feature after Timbuktu with Taiwan as a key location and two Taiwanese actors Chang Han from A Brighter Summer Day and Wu Ke-Xi of Nina Wu playing alongside Nina Mélo in this cross-cultural romance. The film also received investment from Kaohsiung Film Fund.

Also in the main competition is Shambhala, the second feature from Nepal's Min Bahadur Bham, which sees a woman journey across the Himalayas to prove her innocence. Liao Ching-Sung and Roger Huang are two executive producers from...

Cannes Directors’ Fortnight has unveiled the new team of programmers and consultants who will work with incoming delegate general Julien Rejl on his inaugural selection for May 2023.

Rejl will be supported by seven programmers.

Hervé Aubron, film academic and Cahiers du Cinéma critic Agathe Bonitzer, actress, whose credits include When Margaux Meets Margaux and A Bottle In The Gaza Sea Elsa Charbit, experienced programmer who was formerly artistic director of France’s Entrevues, Belfort International Film Festival Caroline Maleville, programming manager at the French Cinematheque Jean-Marc Zekri, head of Paris arthouse cinema Le Reflet Médicis Daniella Shreir, U.K. founder and co-editor of feminist film journal ‘Another Gaze’ Muyan Wang, Paris-based Chinese critic

They will be joined by four consultants

Alvaro Arroba, Buenos Aires-based Spanish film journalist and programmer for the city’s International Independent Film Festival (Bafici). He will advise on Latin America and Spanish-speaking countries. Cintia Gil, former Sheffield DocFest and Doclisboa head.

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSThe 2022 poster for Cannes' Directors' Fortnight.Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight has announced the seven programmers and four consultants who will be supporting incoming artistic director Julien Rejl in his selection processes. Amongst the team is ex-Sheffield DocFest director Cintia Gil, Another Gaze founder Daniella Shreir, and Ming-Jung Kuo, former Program Director of the Taipei Film Festival.Dutch documentary festival IDFA has released the lineups for the first few strands of their 2022 edition, including the short and youth documentary competitions, plus a tribute to the late Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius.David Cronenberg’s Scanners is being remade as a TV series. Yann Demange (executive producer of Lovecraft Country and Top Boy) will direct, with Cronenberg also on board as an executive producer.Recommended VIEWINGAfter premiering in competition at the Venice International Film Festival, A Couple, Frederick Wiseman’s new fiction feature,...

‘Sementara’, the winner of the Sgiff Audience Choice Award in 2020, is having its theatrical release in Singapore this April, which is nearly sold out already. Interested audiences should make haste and book their tickets for the screenings at the earliest.

Synopsis

Sementara (“transient”) delves into the philosophies, daydreams, and crucial moments of strangers—all from different backgrounds, morals, and perspectives—throughout Singapore during its 50th anniversary.

Using the themes captured through intimate interviews, the film follows threads that lead back to certain universal truths—whether that’s trying to make ends meet, having or lacking an identity, believing or not believing in gods, gender and sexuality, love, sadness, and death.

Highlights:

–World Premiere at the 31st Singapore International Film Festival. Included in the Singapore Panorama program which presents “a crossection of the state of independent filmmaking in Singapore. Through their varied portayals, they capture a slice of eclectic Singapore that...