News

2024 was an unusual year for Asian cinema. For starters, although the number of good movies was higher than usual, there was none that it could be described as masterpiece. That Korean cinema experiences one of its worst years in recent history, gave the opportunity to Japan to take the scepters once more, with the country’s stability in production of good movies being the main reason. Apart from this, the Chinese-language films from the whole diaspora actually gave a number of good movies, mostly in the family drama category, while the progress of Asean cinema continued, driven by genre films and the rather intriguing scripts.

This year, 26 writers voted for one of the most diverse lists we have ever come with, both in terms of genres and countries of origin, which ended up including 30 titles. Following are all the entries, in reverse order and links to the interviews we had throughout the year,...

A decade after Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen parlayed his Cannes Camera d’Or win for “Ilo Ilo” into launching production house Giraffe Pictures, the company is expanding into distribution while strengthening its pan-Asian presence.

Chen is currently serving on the Indonesian Screen Award jury at the ongoing Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival.

“Giraffe was started off the back of ‘Ilo Ilo.’ After the success of the film – it was a small little film from Singapore – we didn’t expect that it would go to Cannes and then win the Camera d’Or, and then went on to win like 40 prizes around the world,” Chen told Variety.

The company’s name reflects its philosophy. “It’s not just a very cute animal, but I think it’s the only animal on Earth where it’s always standing tall and above everyone else,” Chen said. “Everyone might just be muddled and everything else,...

Before taking on the global stage winning the Crystal Globe for Best Director at Karlovy Vary for her debut feature, Pierce, Nelicia Low represented Singapore on another international stage — fencing — for several years, including competing at the Asian Games in 2010.

Both her passion for the sport and what Low says is a “lifelong calling” to filmmaking collided in Pierce.

The film follows a high school fencer, Jie, and his relationship with older brother Han. Han is released from juvenile prison after seven years for killing an opponent in a fencing competition under mysterious circumstances.

The worlds of filmmaking and fencing collide

“I actually wanted to be a film director since I was six or seven years old, so way before I started fencing,” Low told Deadline. ” I wanted to be a fencer because of Star Wars. A lot of people have asked me how I went from fencing to filmmaking,...

The 55th International Film Festival of India (Iffi) has unveiled its main competition lineup, with 15 features vying for the Golden Peacock award carrying an INR4 million prize purse, notably featuring nine films directed by women.

Among the world premieres are Manijeh Hekmat and Faeze Azizkhani’s Iranian drama “Fear & Trembling,” exploring an older woman’s struggles with isolation, and Nikhil Mahajan’s “Raavsaheb,” an Indian crime thriller examining man-animal conflict in tribal lands.

The slate includes festival circuit standouts like Louise Courvoisier’s “Holy Cow” (France), which nabbed the Un Certain Regard Youth Prize at Cannes 2024, and Saulė Bliuvaitė’s “Toxic” (Lithuania), winner of the Golden Leopard at Locarno 2024. Bogdan Mureșanu’s Romanian revolution drama “The New Year That Never Came” arrives fresh from winning Venice’s Horizons and Fipresci awards.

The lineup also includes Belkis Bayrak’s “Gulizar” (Turkey), which played at Toronto and San Sebastian, and George Sikharulidze’s “Panopticon” (Georgia-u.

Exclusive: The Alternativa Film Project, a global non-profit film initiative founded by technology company inDrive, has unveiled its shortlisted films and jury for the upcoming Alternativa Film Awards.

This year’s edition will be hosted in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on November 29. Last year’s edition was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Organizers said that the Alternativa Film Awards aims to recognize films that address important social and cultural topics, and which also have an ambition to positively affect the lives of people and local communities.

This year’s edition received 670 submissions for the awards, twice as many as last year’s, with 25 films selected, including 13 feature-length films and 12 shorts, from 14 Asian countries and across 20 different languages.

Female-directed films make up nearly half of the selection and of the feature-length films, nine are debut works.

Jury members for this year’s edition include Indian filmmaker Anand Gandhi, Indonesian director Kamila Andini, German filmmaker and author Steffi Niederzoll,...

On October 22, 2024, the QCinema International Film Festival announced its much-anticipated lineup for this year, with The Gaze as its central theme. With 76 titles—22 short films and 55 full-length features—spanning across 11 distinct sections, the festival invites audiences to explore diverse perspectives through film. The Gaze seeks to challenge and expand how we view the world, from traditional masculine and feminine perspectives to new and transformative ways of seeing.

Quezon City Mayor Maria Josefina Belmonte officially opened the occasion, emphasizing QCinema’s vital role in advancing the city government’s cultural policies. She highlighted the festival’s contribution to Quezon City’s vision for sustainability and environmental friendliness, underscoring the partnership between the city and the festival to fulfill these goals.

The 12th edition of QCinema will open with Directors’ Factory Philippines, an omnibus film project in collaboration with Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. The project features four films created by Filipino directors alongside filmmakers from neighboring countries.

The Philippines’ QCinema International Film Festival has locked its 12th edition lineup, with Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Cloud” — Japan’s submission for the 97th Academy Awards — set to close the November event. The festival opens with “Directors’ Factory Philippines,” an eight-filmmaker omnibus collaboration with Cannes Directors’ Fortnight that pairs Filipino directors with counterparts from across Asia.

The omnibus features four films: Eve Baswel and Malaysia’s Gogularaajan Rajendran direct “Walay Balay”; Maria Estela Paiso teams with India’s Ashok Vish for “Nightbirds”; Arvin Belarmino collaborates with Cambodia’s Lomorpich Rithy on “Silig”; and Don Eblahan partners with Singapore’s Tan Siyou for “Cold Cut.”

The Quezon City-based fest will unspool 77 titles, including 55 features and 22 shorts, across 11 sections under this year’s theme “The Gaze.”

In the main competition Asian Next Wave, eight features compete: Duong Dieu Linh’s Venice Critics’ Week grand prize winner “Don’t Cry Butterfly”; Nelicia Low’s “Pierce...

Argentinian director, screenwriter and producer Pablo Trapero is to chair the jury of the Progressive Cinema Competition, the competition section of the Rome Film Festival.

Trapero will be joined on the Rome jury by editor Francesca Calvelli, French actress Laetitia Casta, UK producer Gail Egan, and writer and screenwriter Dennis Lehane.

Trapero won the Silver Lion for dest director at the 2015 Venice Film Festival for The Clan. His other directing credits include crime series ZeroZeroZero.

Meanwhile, a jury chaired by Italian director and screenwriter Francesca Comencini, will award Rome’s best first feature prize to a fiction feature film in...

Thessaloniki Film Festival has revealed its International Competition section, which showcases 12 films by up-and-coming directors from around the world. The selection includes “Julie Keeps Quiet,” which is Belgium’s entry in the Oscars, and “Under the Volcano,” which is Poland’s entry.

Also selected are “Arcadia,” which won best director at Sarajevo for Yorgos Zois; “Happy Holidays,” which won best screenplay in Venice Horizons for Scandar Copti; “On Falling,” which won best director at San Sebastian for Laura Carreira; and “Pierce,” which won best director at Karlovy Vary for Nelicia Low.

The jury is composed of filmmaker and producer Sara Driver, filmmaker Denis Côté and producer Konstantinos Kontovrakis.

The top prize is the Golden Alexander for best feature film, accompanied by a 10,000 euro cash prize. There is also the Silver Alexander for best direction, accompanied by a 5,000 euro cash prize; the best actor and actress awards; and the best screenplay and best artistic achievement award.

Veteran Taiwanese producer Patrick Mao Huang unveiled several new projects at Busan’s Asian Contents and Film Market on Saturday. They are to be co-produced by his Taipei-based Flash Forward Entertainment.

Directed by Shen Ko-Shang (“Two Juliets”), “Deep Quiet Room” is a feature film. “After his pregnant wife Yi-ting unexpectedly committed suicide, Ming decides to take care of his father-in-law, only to find out the unbearable truth of Yi-ting’s family that leads to her death,” reads the synopsis. The project participated at the 2022 Mia Market in Rome, the 2022 Tokyo Gap-Financing Market and the 2020 Taipei Golden Horse Fpp Project Market.

“The Sleepless Girl,” by feature debutant François Chang, won the most creative project award at the 2019 Shanghai International Film Festival Market. “​As a Japanese girl, sleepless for 17 years, finally succumbs to slumber, the world teeters on the brink of catastrophe. Meanwhile, a Taiwanese YouTuber unravels a staggering revelation, thrust into a maelstrom of arduous decisions,...

Join us for an in-depth interview with Nelicia Low, the visionary director of the powerful film “Pierce.” , which recently screened at Jakarta World Cinema In this captivating conversation, Nelicia shares her journey as a member of the Singaporean fencing team and how her background influenced the film’s choreography and emotional depth.

Delve into the tragic events that inspired “Pierce,” exploring the complex family dynamics following the 2014 Taipei subway attack. Discover the contrasting reactions of Zihang’s mother, a singer, and his brother, who struggles with denial. Nelicia discusses themes of people changing, homosexuality and the intricacies of familial love, shedding light on the emotional table scene that leaves viewers on the edge of their seats.

We also dive into the film’s striking finale and the casting process that brought these layered characters to life.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from Nelicia Low about her creative vision...

Pierce is the debut feature film from Singaporean director Nelicia Low. Set in modern-day Taipei, the psychological thriller explores the complex relationship between two estranged brothers, Jie and Han, through their shared passion for competitive fencing.

While fencing requires anticipation of an opponent’s every move, the brothers struggle to see each other with clarity. Han is released from juvenile detention after serving time for a fencing accident that turned tragic. Jie cherishes the bond they once shared, despite their mother’s insistence that Han poses a threat. As the two tentatively reconnect, long-buried secrets resurface and trust is tested like never before.

Low displays impressive control of the cinematic craft. Subtle performances and intricate visuals keep viewers as unbalanced as the characters. We’re drawn into Jie’s turmoil as he weighs reality against desire. Which brother does he really know—the guiding light of memory or something darker?...

The Busan International Film Festival will expand its screening program by some 8% in what it calls “an effort to maintain a scale befitting Asia’s top film festival.” This is despite a 50% cut in government financial support.

The festival will open on Oct. 2 with “Uprising,” a star-studded period drama from Netflix that was scripted and produced by Park Chan-wook (“Oldboy”) and directed by Kim Sang-man.

It will close on Oct. 11 with the Eric Khoo-directed “Spirit World,” which the Singaporean director shot in Japan with French icon Catherine Deneuve in the lead role.

“Uprising” involves a servant (played by Gang Dong-won) and his master, the som of a noble family with military connections. While they agree that the servant should be free, complications arise. The film also stars Cha Seung-won, Kim Shin-rock, Jin Sun-kyu and Jung Sung-il. “With Park Chan-wook’s signature humor oozing through the well-woven narrative, full of intense conflict and tension,...

Magnify has acquired global and U.S. sales rights to Neo Sora’s near-futuristic film “Happyend” ahead of its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The movie will play in the Horizons section and is being handled by Magnify outside of Japan and Singapore.

Set in a near-future Tokyo, “Happyend” revolves around two rabble-rousing best friends who are about to graduate high school while threats of a catastrophic earthquake looms. One night, they pull a prank on their principal, which leads to a surveillance system being installed in their school. Stuck between the oppressive security system and a darkening national political situation, the two respond in contrasting ways.

The movie marks Neo Sora’s fictionh feature debut. His previous credits include “Ryuichi Sakamoto/Opus” which premiered at Venice and was picked by Janus for North America, and short films, such as “The Chicken” which premiered in Locarno, among others.

The 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) wrapped up on Saturday with a celebration of international cinema and notable industry figures. The festival’s top honor, the Grand Prix – Crystal Globe, was awarded to Mark Cousins’ documentary “A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things,” narrated by Tilda Swinton, exploring the life of Scottish artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham.

Norwegian director Lilja Ingolfsdottir’s marital drama “Loveable” emerged as a major winner, securing five awards including the Special Jury Prize, the Europa Cinemas Label, and the Fipresci Award. The film’s lead actress, Helga Guren, also took home the Best Actress award.

Other significant winners included:

Best Director: Nelicia Low for “Pierce” Best Actors: Ton Kas and Guido Pollemans for “Three Days of Fish” Audience Award: “Waves” by Jirí Mádl Proxima Grand Prix: “Stranger” by Zhengfan Yang

The closing ceremony was highlighted by the presentation of the Kviff President’s Award to British actor Clive Owen,...

Mark Cousins wins Grand Prix Crystal Globe at the closing ceremony of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Photo: Film Servis Karlovy Vary

A documentary portrait of the Scottish modernist painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, by film-maker Mark Cousins, has won the top prize at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, which ended with an awards ceremony tonight.

A Sudden Glimpse To Deeper Things scooped the accolade from a jury that included indy film producer Christine Vachon and Australian actor Geoffrey Rush.

British actor Clive Owen said festivals such as Karlovy Vary are needed “now more than ever.” Photo: Film Servis Karlovy Vary

Cousins, accepting the award, the Grand Prix Crystal Globe, said 'Willie' Barns-Graham “lived completely, truly and utterly – let’s all try to do that.”

A divorce story, Loveable, won the Crystal Globe jury prize, as well as three other awards categories, taking home the Fipresci, Ecumenical and Europa Cinemas...

Mark Cousins’ unconventional portrait of an artist “A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things” took top honors at this year’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival, snagging the fest’s iconic Crystal Globe alongside a cash prize of $25K to split by the Scottish-Irish filmmaker and his producing partners.

Featuring the voice work of Tilda Swinton, the award-winning doc follows the life and career of artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, a lesser-known master of modern art whose outlook and output underwent a profound spiritual, aesthetic and ideological transformation once the painter had a moment of epiphany atop Switzerland’s Grindelwald glacier in 1949.

The climbing expedition left Barns-Graham with a new set of obsessions and forms of expression – giving her life a new meaning.

Before claiming the Jury Prize, Lilja Ingolfsdottir’s domestic drama “Loveable” also took acting honors for star Helga Guren as well as parallel awards from the Ecumenical Jury, the Europa Cinema Label,...

Mark Cousins’ portrait of a British modernist painter, “A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things,” took the Karlovy Vary Film Festival top prize Saturday, winning over a jury that included Christine Vachon and Geoffrey Rush with its perceptive take on art and seeing.

Cousins said the film’s subject, painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, “lived completely, truly and utterly – let’s try to do that.”

Norwegian divorce story “Loveable” won the Crystal Globe jury prize, as well as three other awards categories, taking home the Fipresci, ecumenical and Europa Cinemas Label prizes with its nuanced look at a woman morphing into a new life.

Director Lilja Ingolfsdottir scored big with her first feature-length drama with “Loveable,” telling the audience at the Hotel Thermal Grand Hall the story helped her “find barriers we have built against connections.”

The directing prize went to Nelicia Low for the Singapore/Taiwan/Poland production “Pierce,” an intricate account...

A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things, Mark Cousins‘ documentary essay about Scottish artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham and her neurodiversity, including diary passages narrated by Tilda Swinton, won the Grand Prix – Crystal Globe, the top award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) on Saturday. Clive Owen was honored with a Kviff award at the closing ceremony.

A Sudden Glimpse is “exploring the pivotal 1949 experience atop Switzerland’s Grindelwald glacier that reshaped British modernist painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham’s artistic perspective for decades to come.” The Crystal Globe comes with a $25,000 prize. “I did not expect this in a million years,” Cousins said in accepting the honor. About Barns-Graham, he said: “She didn’t change the world. But she lived completely, fully and utterly. Let’s try to do that.”

The 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival‘s closing ceremony also honored the Norwegian marital drama Loveable, directed by Lilja Ingolfsdottir, with its special jury prize,...

The 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 28 – July 6) came to a close this evening with an awards ceremony that saw Mark Cousins’ essay film A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things win the main prize in the festival’s Crystal Globe competition. Narrated by Tilda Swinton and — in Cousins’ familiar, idiosyncratic style, exploring themes of gender, climate change and creativity — the UK film offers a creative biography of Scottish artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912-2004). Coming what most have been a close second to take the Jury Prize — and Best Actress Award for its star, Helga Guren — was Norway’s acclaimed divorce drama Loveable, directed by Lilja Ingolfsdottir.

Also taking the stage tonight was Czech actor Ivan Trojan, already perhaps the country’s most garlanded performer, who received the Festival President’s Award for Contribution to Czech Cinema. And following hot on the heels of Viggo Mortensen and Daniel Brühl, British actor...

UK director Mark Cousins’s A Sudden Glimpse To Deeper Things has won the top prize, the Crystal Globe, at this year’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival, while Loveable by Norwegian director Lilja Ingolfsdottir won five awards in total including the special jury prize and best actress award for Helga Guren.

Cousins‘ A Sudden Glimpse To Deeper Things is a documentary portrait of British painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, a leading figure in the modernist St Ives group of artists. Screen’s review said that Cousins brought “his distinctively poetic and enquiring approach to this elegiac cine-essay“ to the film. Conic acquired...

Italian director Rä di Martino’s Ya & Niki won the top prize of the 16th edition of FIDLab, the international co-production platform of France’s FIDMarseille.

Produced by Italy’s Dugong Films, Lebanon’s Abbout Production and Egypt’s Cats Films, Ya & Niki is about an Italian teen who forms a bond with a Syrian refugee in a video game. it received the €15,000 A Fabrica award of sound post-production services.

Further winners included Katsuya Tomita’s The Lanfang Republic which received the Commune Image award of eight weeks of editing. The latest project from the Japanese director follows two friends,...

Exclusive: The Gotham Group has signed Singaporean writer and director Nelicia Low ahead of the world premiere of her debut feature Pierce at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

The thriller will be the first ever Singaporean feature to compete in the main Crystal Globe Competition of the Czech festival, running from June 28 to July 6.

Set against the high intensity world of competitive fencing, the drama revolves around a young fencer who reconnects with an older brother convicted of murder.

The work taps into Low’s knowledge of the fencing world through her experience as a national champion, who represented her country before retiring to focus on filmmaking, as well as her own complex relationship with her autistic brother.

“Nelicia is a brilliant and original voice from Singapore and everyone at The Gotham Group is excited to help expand her career globally,” said said Gotham Group Partner Justin Littman, who...

It’s that time of year again in Europe! With the start of the official summer holiday season looming, movie fans, film industry folks, party seekers, and global stars are ready to congregate at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) in the Czech Republic.

The Czech spa town has earned the reputation as one of the biggest summer celebrations of film in Central Europe, putting the spotlight on new releases from the region and far beyond, along with highlights of the film festival circuit from the past year.

This year’s 58th edition runs June 28-July 6. Karel Och, who has been serving as the artistic director of the festival since 2010, and his team have touted 15 directorial or feature-directorial debuts in the official selection, along with a slew of world premieres.

Star power is also guaranteed again this year. After all, Viggo Mortenson, Daniel Brühl, and Clive Owen will receive Kviff honors,...

The Karlovy Vary Film Festival has unveiled the official selection for its upcoming 58th edition. The lineup comprises 32 films across three sections and a host of world and international premieres. Scroll down for the full list.

Among the lineup is A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things, the latest film from prolific documentary filmmaker Mark Cousin. The film’s synopsis reads: One of the most important women in British modern art, the painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham was a highly inspirational figure, whose work was deeply impacted by a pivotal event in her life. In May 1949, this leading representative of the modernist St Ives group of artists climbed to the top of the Grindelwald glacier in Switzerland, an experience which was to transform the way she saw the world. She spent the rest of her life capturing its shapes and colors, indeed its very essence. In his essayistic portrait documentarist Mark Cousins delves into complex themes of gender,...

The 32-strong official selection of the 58th edition of Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Central and Eastern Europe’s leading cinema fete, will feature 15 directorial debuts as well as the latest works of established filmmakers such as Mark Cousins, Oleh Sentsov, Noaz Deshe, Antonin Peretjatko, Beata Parkanova and Burak Cevik.

Karel Och, artistic director of Karlovy Vary, said Tuesday that he’d identified a number of themes and genre in the selection, which included “a freshly revisionist take on the esthetical canons of a period film; a balanced, caring but also provocative look on the fate of a woman in the contemporary society in any moment of her life; and the immediate influence of political events on the life of an individual human being anywhere in the world.”

The festival, which runs June 28-July 6 in the Czech Republic, has also revealed the juries of the Crystal Globe and Proxima competitions. The...

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...

Full Circle Lab Philippines, the Southeast Asian project and talent development programme, has revealed the line-up for its upcoming sixth edition, including a drama set against the backdrop of The Beatles infamous visit to Manila in 1966.

The labs will comprise eight projects in development, three films in post-production, eight emerging producers and three story editors. A total of 35 participants and 10 mentors are set to participate in the in-person workshop, held in the Central Luzon region in the north of Manila from March 19-24, followed by online sessions, which run until September.

Scroll down for full list of projects and participants...

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...

“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,...

The 2023 Golden Horse Film Project Promotion, the project market that accompanies the Golden Horse film festival and awards in Taiwan in November, has laid out a huge 64-title selection for its 2023 edition.

These include 39 film projects at various stages of development and financing; a further seven works in progress; and the 18-previously announced series at project stage.

The event, which runs Nov. 20-22, offers a $31,000 (Nt$1 million) first prize and a total prize pool of $250,000 (Nt$8 million) from sponsors and industry sources. All selected projects are also eligible to apply to two Taicca funding initiatives: the Creative Content Development Program and the International Co-funding Program.

Among the Taiwanese filmmakers: Huang Hsin-yao, the director of “The Great Buddha+” and “Classmates Minus,” takes on the legend of Taiwanese treasure hunters in “Super-Reasoning Treasure Hunt”; Tom Lin Shu-yu, director of “Winds of September” and “The Garden of Evening Mists,” teams up with Kimi Hsia...

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...

Polish Days, the prestigious two-day event held annually in Wrocław, Poland during the New Horizons International Film Festival, is ramping up its global reach.

Polish Days, the prestigious two-day event held annually in Wrocław, Poland during the New Horizons International Film Festival, is ramping up its global reach, extending meetings slots for deal-makers and tastemakers while showcasing a signature mix of projects from Polish filmmaking talent.

Parallel industry strand New Horizons Studio+ (NHS+), four days of workshops and talks on various aspects of project promotion and development, organised by the New Horizons Association and Creative Europe Desk Polska, is also taking on a greater role.

Polish Days, the prestigious two-day event held annually in Wrocław, Poland during the New Horizons International Film Festival, is ramping up its global reach.

Polish Days, the prestigious two-day event held annually in Wrocław, Poland during the New Horizons International Film Festival, is ramping up its global reach, extending meetings slots for deal-makers and tastemakers while showcasing a signature mix of projects from Polish filmmaking talent.

Parallel industry strand New Horizons Studio+ (NHS+), four days of workshops and talks on various aspects of project promotion and development, organised by the New Horizons Association and Creative Europe Desk Polska, is also taking on a greater role.

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,...

28 selected projects pitched to sales agents and distributors.

A new documentary project from Prayers For The Stolen director Tatiana Huezo was among the prize-winners at the fifth edition of European Work in Progress (Ewip), held in Cologne October 17-19.

An international jury including mk2 films’ head of acquisitions Olivier Barbier, Directors’ Fortnight artistic director Julien Rejl and German director-producer-actress Saralisa Volm awarded in-kind prizes worth a total of €60,000, after the 28 selected projects had been pitched to sales agents and distributors.

The K13 Studios award of €10,000 in Dolby Atmos mixing went to Huezo’s documentary The Echo, a documentary about children...

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.

The Taiwanese outfit is bringing 11 projects to the Acfm.

Taiwanese production and sales company Flash Forward Entertainment is bringing 11 projects to Busan, including Arthur Chu’s Kiss My Ass Boss, documentary competition title After Passing and two projects from China.

Action comedy Kiss My Ass Boss is currently shooting and will be introduced to international buyers by Flash Forward at the Asian Contents & Film Market (Acfm). The 5m feature follows a young man who is disillusioned at work but finds himself being mistaken as the grandson of the company’s biggest shareholder. Award-winning singer-songwriter Crowd Lu plays the lead. An...

An ambitious slate of more than 80 titles is featured in Taiwan’s debut at Toronto Film Festival’s TIFF Industry section this year, presenting a diverse mix of productions in various genres in a bid to showcase not just the island’s homegrown talent but also its potential as a co-production hub in the region.

“We want to emphasize our commitment in bringing Taiwan’s film and television works to the global stage, and at the same time, making Taiwan the best co-production partner in Asia,” says Izero Lee, CEO of Taiwan Creative Content Agency (Taicca), which presents the slate at the market sector of the Toronto Film Festival this year. Taicca is an independent agency set up by the Ministry of Culture and the cabinet (Executive Yuan) that has been actively promoting the island’s cultural and creative content globally.

“We are actively fostering relations with international companies, institutions,...

Slovak director Robert Kirchhoff is in postproduction with his documentary “All Men Become Brothers,” which follows the life of Czechoslovak politician Alexander Dubček (1921-1992), Film New Europe reports.

Dubček was leader of Czechoslovakia from January 1968 to April 1969. He attempted to reform the communist government during the Prague Spring, but was forced to resign following the Warsaw Pact invasion in August 1968.

The film is produced by Kirchhoff’s Atelier.doc and coproduced by Radio and Television Slovakia, Czech Republic’s Endorfilm and Czech Television.

Kirchhoff’s past titles include “Normalization,” which received a Special Mention from the Between the Seas jury at Jihlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival.

Production took place from 2018 to 2021 on locations in Kyrgyzstan, Italy, Czech Republic, Germany, Turkey and Slovakia. Well-known figures from Czechoslovak and international politics and culture, such as Italian politician Romano Prodi, Italian novelist Umberto Eco, Czech novelist and playwright Pavel Kohout, and Czech director...

Industry event to showcase four completed films, eight works in progress and 10 pitches.

New feature projects by Piotr Domalewski, Jan Holoubek and Daria Woszek are among 22 films being presented at the 10th edition of industry event Polish Days, which will run from July 24 – 26.

Polish Days takes place during the New Horizons International Film Festival in Wrocław, presenting new projects to festival programmers, sales agents, producers and distributors.

This year’s event will feature closed screenings of four completed films, the pitching of 10 projects in development and eight works in progress.

The closed screenings section will offer sneak previews of Łukasz Machowski...

The Taiwan Pavilion returns to the Marché du Film this year with a beefed-up version after two years of interruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic, presenting 91 titles including the latest box office hits at home, elaborate international co-productions, as well as technology-driven Xr projects.

Genre films with a solid plot and production, rather than a stellar cast, can easily win the hearts of audiences at home, according to filmmakers behind some of the featured projects.

International co-productions will continue to play a vital role in boosting local opportunities as well as taking Taiwan talents abroad, but the ongoing pandemic restrictions on the self-governed island will certainly have an impact on making international connections.

At Cannes, the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (Taicca) will feature 91 titles from 39 companies. The highlights are representative of the trends of Taiwan cinema.

“Incantation,” for example, is a horror-drama feature directed by Kevin Ko (Activator Co. is...

Singaporean producer Jeremy Chua has amassed an impressive body of work in a relatively short period of time. Adullaah Mohammad Saad’s “Rehana,” a Singapore/Bangladesh co-production led by Chua’s Potocol, will pay at Un Certain Regard. “A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery” (2016) by Philippines auteur Lav Diaz had considerable festival play, including at Karlovy Vary, San Sebastian and Busan; Ying Liang’s “A Family Tour” (2018) was at Locarno, New York and London; Bradley Liew’s “Motel Acacia” played Tokyo, Taipei and Bucheon; John Clang’s “A Love Unknown” (2020) bowed at Rotterdam; while Raya Martin’s “Death of Nintendo” (2020) debuted at Berlin.

His other Cannes trips accompanied “A Yellow Bird” by K. Rajagopal, which was at the Cinéfondation L’Atelier in 2014 followed by a premiere at the 2016 Critics’ Week. In 2019, he produced “The Women” by The Maw Naing, which was also at Cinéfondation.

What attracted you to “Rehana?” How did you meet Saad?...

In today’s Global Bulletin, “Line of Duty” finale dashes decades-old TV records in the U.K.; Netflix embarks on production of “1899” from the creators of “Dark”; and Purin Pictures announces 2021 funding recipients in Southeast Asia.

Ratings

BBC’s “Line of Duty” finished its sixth season with a record-breaking viewership performance of 12.8 million overnight viewers for a 56.2% share. The numbers dwarf last week’s series record of 11 million overnights, or a 51.7% share.

Putting those numbers into context, the BBC said it was the most watched episode of any drama since modern records began in 2002, not including soaps. To find something comparable, one must go back to February 2001 when ITV’s “Heartbeat” pulled an overnight audience of 13.2 million. Considering two decades of changing viewing habits and the introduction of streaming platforms, “Line of Duty’s” numbers are all the more impressive.

“Line of Duty” is created by Jed Mercurio and produced by World Productions.

Fund for Southeast Asian projects is handing out grants to two fiction and two documentary projects in latest funding round.

Bangkok-based film fund Purin Pictures is awarding grants to two fiction and two documentary projects, which will receive a combined $105,000, under its spring 2021 funding round.

Production grants are being awarded to Indonesian filmmaker Riar Rizaldi documentary Monisme and two dramas – Malaysian director Chia Chee Sum’s Oasis Of Now and Singaporean filmmaker Nelicia Low’s Pierce (see full details below).

Vietnamese filmmaker Ha Le Diem’s documentary Children Of The Mist has been awarded a post-production grant. It was previously...

Project development initiative has opened up to projects from the wider Southeast Asian region.

Full Circle Lab, a project development programme backed by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (Fdcp), has announced the 20 projects selected for this year’s edition, which will take place online September 15-29.

The initiative, which is co-headed by Matthieu Darras and Izabela Igel, will be preceded by the Film Industry Conference (September 11-15), which will also be held online and open to a larger audience. Full Circle Lab was initially scheduled to take place in Manila in April, but was postponed due to the Covid-19 coronavirus.

The “Do you love me?”-question is a very complicated one, since it also includes a number of other statements and questions, as “I love you”, “why don’t you say you love me?, “Why don’t you show me that you love me?”, etc and is also an expression of a need that is natural, but can also become suffocating for both parties. Nelicia Low deals with the dark aspects of this question, through a rather intense story.

Hui is in need of love and companionship from her husband, who, however, is always too busy, and even spends a number of days away from home on business or drinking all night with customers. Hui is frustrated by his attitude, while the fact that she also has to take care of her autistic brother, both in the house and in the supermarket they both work, makes her situation even worse.

Revered Singaporean production outfit Zhao Wei Films is presenting a raft of diverse projects at Locarno Film Festival’s Match Me! forum.

Boo Junfeng, whose “Sandcastle” and “Apprentice” were Cannes selections in 2010 and 2016 respectively, returns with the suspense drama “Trinity.” Formerly known as “Dominion,” the multi-territory co-production will follow an anti-gay pastor who becomes infatuated with a male disciple. The project, currently in development, won the Cnc cash award at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival in 2018 and participated at the Berlin coproduction market earlier this year.

Adding to the ever-popular J and K horror genre is Mai Nakanishi’s Singapore/Japan/Korea coproduction “Hana.” Based on her acclaimed 2018 short of the same name, the film will see a high school student taking up a well-paid babysitting job only to discover that it can be terrifying.

In addition, Zhao Wei is planning six 45-minute episodes of €3.5 million ($3.9 million) budgeted drama...

A total fo 16 film teams have been selected for this year’s lab.

Less Is More, the European development lab backed by Creative Europe’s Media Programme, has named the 16 film projects and 12 ‘development angels’, the mentors who will nurture the projects, taking part this year.

This year’s selected projects are: Raed Andoni, Exiled From Paradise (Palestine); Harry Ayiotis, Salt On Wound (Cyprus); Michal Bielawski, Accidents (Poland); Andreea Bortun, Blue Banks (Romania); Tudor Botezatu, The Mind Patrol (Romania); Kim Hiorthoy, U.P. 2019

(Norway); Nelicia Low, God Sister (Singapore); Jasna Nanut, Birdie(Croatia); Mark Noonan, When They All Vanish (Ireland), C.

The organizers of the festival have announced the films that will compete for the Korean and International Section.

This year the Korean Competition will showcase 17 films (14 fictions, 1 experimental, 1 documentary and 1 animation) and the International Competition consists of 37 films (28 fictions, 5 documentaries, 3 experimental and 1 animation). The 33rd Busan International Short Film Festival (Bisff) will take place from April 22th to 26th at the Busan Cinema Center in Busan (South Korea). We will keep you updated as soon as more information about the films is available.

Korean Competition

Ga Hyang: a road of no return by Kim Youngjae (Fiction)

The Plants: Jakarta Monorail 103 by Park Yongseok (Experimental)

My fact_or_y by Park Koonje (Documentary)

New Rapids by Choi Jungmoon (Fiction)

iLuv by Park Junghwan (Fiction)

The Transfer Student by Park Jiin (Fiction)

Bargain by Lee Chunghyun (Fiction)

Seol-hee by Bae Yeonhee (Fiction)

Fangs by Shin Jonghun (Fiction)

Like soldiers, like children by...