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Miro Remo’s Better Go Mad in the Wild won the Grand Prix – Crystal Globe, the top award, at the closing ceremony of the 59th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) on Saturday, where Stellan Skarsgård was also honored with the Kviff Crystal Globe Award for his “outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema.” The Special Jury Prize went to Iranian filmmaker Soheil Beiraghi‘s fourth feature, Bidad (Outcry), whose announcement the fest had held back to ensure the safety of its creators.

This year’s jury, consisting of Nicolas Celis, Babak Jalali, Jessica Kiang, Jiří Mádl, and Tuva Novotny, lauded the “delightfully inventive documentary” Better Go Mad as “a funny valentine to the fading art of being true to yourself” and “a portrait of bickering twin brothers who may live a weird, off-grid life on their dilapidated farm, but who, in a world as mad as ours,...

Miro Remo’s stunning portrait of identical twins, “Better Go Mad in the Wild,” took top honors at this year’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival, meaning the festival’s Crystal Globe and a cash prize of $25K will be staying at home in the Czech Republic.

A hybrid documentary with plenty of visual power and also a wise-talking bovine, the film immerses us in the daily lives of Ondřej and František Klišík as they live with only each other (as well as their animals) for company in their remote home. Surrounded by the beautiful Šumava forests, their lives are defined by reflections (often literal in that there is a mirror that becomes a haunting yet breathtaking way through which to view their world) about life, death, and isolation. At the same time as it is visually stunning, with Remo and his co-cinematographer Dušan Husár working wonders within the twins’ humble world,...

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival announced its winners on July 12 during its closing ceremony. More than 128,000 tickets were sold for 465 screenings of 108 features, 23 documentaries, and 44 shorts. The festival is key in the year’s film circuit, nestled between Cannes and Venice.

The 59th outing, held from July 4-12, gave out its top honor, the Grand Prix — Crystal Globe, to director Miro Remo’s “Better Go Mad in the Wild” from Czech Republic and Slovak Republic. The filmmakers — producers included — received $25,000.

“A funny valentine to the fading art of being true to yourself, Miro Remo’s delightfully inventive documentary is a portrait of bickering twin brothers who may live a weird, off-grid life on their dilapidated farm but who, in a world as mad as ours, actually might be the sanest people on earth,” the Crystal Globe jury, which consisted of Nicolas Celis, Babak Jalali, Jessica Kiang, Jiří Mádl, and Tuva Novotny,...

The 59th International Karlovy Vary Film Festival passed by in a blur this week after playing host to a stream of largely uncontroversial guests compared to previous years. With appearances by Festival President’s Award winners Vicky Krieps, Dakota Johnson and Peter Sarsgaard, plus a special cameo from Michael Douglas, it was left to Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution winner Stellan Skarsgård to generate headlines, which he did rather spectacularly by describing venerated Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman as “manipulative” and “the only person I know who cried when Hitler died”.

The lineup of this year’s Crystal Globe Competition was similarly strong, a fact reflected in the sharing out of the awards; all the word-of-mouth titles seemed to win something, which isn’t always the case. That said, the winner was something of a surprise at a festival where the strongest films featured female leads (Broken Voices; Don’t Call Me Mama...

Miro Remo’s hybrid doc “Better Go Mad in the Wild” picked up Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s Grand Prix on Saturday – and $25,000, shared by the director and the producers.

Following hermit twins František and Ondřej Klišík, the Slovak director first discovered them thanks to Aleš Palán’s book. “I contacted Aleš right away, and he brought me into their world,” he said. “I fell in love with them and with their environment. I was fascinated by everything magical and enchantingly unusual.”

Jurors Nicolas Celis, Babak Jalali, Jessica Kiang, Jiří Mádl and Tuva Novotny called it “a funny valentine to the fading art of being true to yourself” and a “delightfully inventive documentary.” Despite living on a dilapidated farm, “in a world as mad as ours, [they] actually might be the sanest people on earth.”

They added: “ ‘Better Go Mad in the Wild’ feels like a gulp of fresh, woody air,...

Brilliant Melody from Filipino filmmaker Carlo Francisco Manatad won the top Bucheon Award at the 18th Network of Asian Fantastic Films (Naff) project market.

The black comedy drama, produced by Chad Angelic Cabigon and Yulia Evina Bhara of KawanKawanMedia, received a cash prize of KRW10m.

The story follows a group of karaoke-loving Fililinos who are flown to Paris to join a prestigious choir contest - for visas, not talent. Confined in a rundown apartment, they endure surreal training that is part talent camp, part cult to master the mysterious ‘brilliant melody’.

The Philippines-France-Indonesia production also scooped the Vipo Award...

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has unveiled the official selection for its 59th edition, including new features by Bence Fliegauf, Miro Remo and Ondřej Provazník.

Scroll down for full lineup

The festival, which runs from July 4-July 12 in the Czech spa town, has announced 11 titles for its main Crystal Globe Competition, comprising nine world premieres and two international premieres.

Artistic director Karel Och said that one more title from Iran will be added to the Competition closer to the festival, with the announcement postponed “for the safety of its makers.”

Hungarian director Bence Fliegauf, whose Forest - I See...

A Useful Ghost, the debut feature from Thai director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke that THR had featured as a hidden gem at Cannes, has won the Grand Prize at the 64th edition of Cannes Critics’ Week.

The absurdist fantasy comedy portrays a married couple where the wife dies of a respiratory illness caused by dust pollution, and then returns to the grieving husband as a ghost in the form of a vacuum cleaner. The Thai feature picked up the Grand Prix Ami Paris trophy as awards for the Critics Week section in Cannes were announced on Wednesday. The film stars Davika Hoorne and Witsarut Himmarat.

Also, the French Touch Prize of the Jury for best first feature went to Chechen director Deni Oumar Pitsaev for Imago, a France-Belgium co-production. And the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award for best actor went to Canada’s Theodore Pellerin for his performance in French director Pauline Loques’ Nino.

Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s zany romantic drama A Useful Ghost has won the top prize at Cannes Critics’ Week.

The feature, which is the first Thai film to play in the parallel section for a number of years, won the inaugural Ami Paris Grand Prize.

This year’s jury was presided over by Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen, who was joined by Oscar-winning Judas and the Black Messiah UK actor Daniel Kaluuya, Moroccan journalist Jihane Bougrine, French-Canadian cinematographer Josée Deshaies and Indonesian producer Yulia Evina Bhara.

A Useful Ghost co-stars top Thai actress, model and influencer Davika Hoorne as Nat, a woman who dies of dust pollution and then returns as a ghost in the form of a vacuum cleaner, determined to save her family from a similar fate.

The feature, which is the first Thai film to play in the parallel section for a number of years,...

Left-Handed Girl, directed by Shih-Ching Tsou and co-written by filmmaker Sean Baker, has been selected to compete in the 2025 Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival. The Taipei-set family drama is one of seven features included in this year’s lineup for the parallel section, which focuses on first and second works from emerging directors.

Tsou, who previously collaborated with Baker on Take Out, Tangerine, Starlet, The Florida Project, and Red Rocket, directs the film solo. Baker also co-edited the project while overseeing the awards run for his film Anora, which won Best Picture, Best Director, and three other Oscars earlier this year.

Left-Handed Girl follows a single mother and her two daughters as they navigate the complexities of life in the Taiwanese capital. Janel Tsai, an actress and model based in Taiwan, leads the cast. The film blends social realism with a focus on working-class life, continuing themes explored...

The 64th Cannes Critics’ Week will open with Adam’s Interest by Belgian director Laura Wandel and close with Dandelion’s Odyssey, the animated feature debut by Japanese filmmaker Momoko Seto. This year’s edition, which runs May 14–22, includes seven feature films in competition and four presented out of competition.

Wandel’s new film follows a young mother, a malnourished child, and a hospital nurse, played by Anamaria Vartolomei and Léa Drucker. Shot with handheld camerawork, Adam’s Interest marks Wandel’s return after Playground, her 2021 feature that portrayed schoolyard bullying with stark realism. The film will screen as a special presentation.

Among the films selected for competition is Left-Handed Girl, the first solo feature by Taiwanese director Shih-Ching Tsou. Set in Taipei, the film centers on a single mother and her two daughters attempting to rebuild their lives. Sean Baker, known for The Florida Project and Tangerine, co-wrote, produced,...

The Cannes Critics’ Week 2025 selection boasts Best Picture winner Sean Baker’s latest project.

Baker collaborates once more with his “Take Out” co-director and co-writer Shih-Ching Tsou, who makes her directorial debut with “Left-Handed Girl.” Tsou also produced Baker’s “Tangerine” (which she starred in) and “The Florida Project,” and executive-produced “Starlet.” Now, “Left-Handed Girl” incorporates Baker’s social-realist approach with the Taipei-set tragicomedy “Left-Handed Girl,” which follows a single mother and her two daughters building a new life in the Taiwanese capital. Baker cowrites, edits, and produces the film.

“The film was edited by Sean. It’s true that there’s a connection, I’m not going to hide it, and I don’t think Shih-Ching Tsou will either,” Cannes Critics’ Week artistic director Ava Cahen told Deadline. “It’s a bit reminiscent of ‘Tangerine’ and ‘The Florida Project,’ for the way it captures reality, with a form of wonder,...

Seven films will compete in the 2025 International Critics Week section at the Cannes Film Festival, Critics Week organizers announced on Monday morning.

The films, all from first- and second-time directors, include “Left-Handed Girl” a family film set in Taipei, directed by Shih-Ching and produced and co-edited by reigning Palme d’Or and Oscar Best Picture winner Sean Baker. Baker was working on the film during the awards campaign for his film “Anora.”

The competing features come from Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Critics Week, or La Semaine de la Critique, also announced four special screenings, including “L’intérêt d’Adam” (“Adam’s Sake”) from director Laura Wandel, which will serve as the sidebar’s opening-night film.

Critics Week, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2021, is an independent sidebar section in Cannes. It was the section that brought the Cannes debuts of Guillermo del Toro,...

The Cannes Critics’ Week, the festival sidebar focusing on directors’ first and second features, unveiled its 2025 lineup Monday.

Competition highlights include Left-Handed Girl, the solo directorial debut of Taiwanese filmmaker Shih-Ching Tsou, known for her long-standing collaboration with Anora director Sean Baker (Tsou co-directed 2004’s Take Out and was a producer on Baker’s Tangerine, The Florida Project and Red Rocket). Baker co-wrote and edited the Taipei-set urban melodrama, which centers on a single mother and her two daughters navigating life on the margins of the Taiwanese capital.

Also debuting in Critics’ Week is Thai director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke with A Useful Ghost, a surrealist take on motherhood in which a woman reincarnates as a vacuum cleaner. Thai actress Mai Davika Hoorne leads the cast.

European features in competition include Pauline Loquès’ Nino, starring fast-rising Quebecois actor Théodore Pellerin (Lurker) as a young man adrift in the city after losing his...

Cannes Critics’ Week has unveiled the lineup of its 64th edition, which will be dominated by French and Belgian movies, kicking off with Laura Wandel’s tense social drama “Adam’s Interest.”

“Adam’s Interest” marks Wandel’s follow up to “Playground,” which won a Cannes’ Un Certain Regard prize in 2021. The film takes place in the pediatric unit of hospital and follows a distraught mother, her son and the nurse who look after them. “Adam’s Interest” stars two of France’s biggest stars, Léa Drucker (“Custody”) and Anamaria Vartolomei (“Happening”).

Curated by artistic director Ava Cahen and her selection committee, the lineup spans 11 feature films, six of which are directed by women. As many as 1,000 films from 102 countries were submitted to this year’s Critics’ Week. The selection is dedicated to first and second features, running alongside the Cannes Film Festival.

Some of the most anticipated films in the lineup include “Left-Handed Girl,...

Belgian director Laura Wandel’s child custody drama Adam’s Interest, starring Anamaria Vartolomei and Léa Drucker, will open the 64th Cannes Critics’ Week, which unveiled its 2025 selection today.

The second feature from Wandal after gritty childhood bullying drama Playground, the handheld camera-shot feature follows three characters in a paediatric ward: a helpless mother (Vartolomei), her malnourished son, and a nurse (Drucker).

The film, which premieres out of competition, is one of 11 first and second feature films, seven in competition, selected out of 1,000 submitted film for the upcoming edition running from May 14 to 22.

Another 13 short films selected from 2,340 submissions will be announced on April 17.

Competition

Competition seven titles include Taiwanese director Shih-Ching Tsou’s Taipei-set urban melodrama Left-Handed Girl. It marks a first solo feature for Tsou, a long-time collaborator of Sean Baker, who co-wrote and edited the work.

The tragicomedy follows the odyssey of a single mother and her...

Oscar-winning actor Daniel Kaluuya has joined the jury for the 2025 Cannes Critics’ Week, a prominent sidebar of the prestigious film festival dedicated to first and second feature films. The jury will be headed by Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen, known for his critically acclaimed works like The Beasts, which earned multiple Goya Awards in 2022.

The five-person jury, which will convene during the festival’s Critics’ Week running from May 14–22, will also include Moroccan journalist Jihane Bougrine, French-Canadian cinematographer Josée Deshaies, and Indonesian producer Yulia Evina Bhara. Together, the jury will select winners for several prestigious awards, including the Ami Paris Grand Prize for best feature, the French Touch Prize of the Jury, the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award, and the Leitz Cine Discovery Prize for best short film.

Sorogoyen, who had originally been set to lead the 2024 jury before stepping down due to personal circumstances, shared his belief that the...

Oscar-winning British actor Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah) has joined the jury for this year’s Cannes Critics’ Week sidebar, headed up by Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen (The Beasts).

Completing the five-person jury are Moroccan journalist Jihane Bougrine, French-Canadian cinematographer Josée Deshaies (Passages, The Beast), and Indonesian producer Yulia Evina Bhara (Tiger Stripes, Autobiography).

Together, they will judge the competition titles for the 64th Critics’ Week, Cannes’ sidebar section for first and second features. The Critics’ Week runs May 14–22.

“[Cannes Critics’ Week] unequivocally demonstrates its commitment to supporting and believing in young filmmakers,” Sorogoyen said in a statement, emphasizing the importance of the section’s focus on new voices.

Sorogoyen made his feature debut in 2013 with Stockholm, co-written with Isabel Peña, kicking off a productive collaboration that has included May God Save Us (2016), The Candidate (2018), and Mother (2019), as well as The Beasts in 2022. The slow-burn thriller starring Marina Foïs and Denis Ménochet,...

Spanish filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen has been named president of the jury for this year’sCannes’ Critics’ Week, the festival’s parallel selection dedicated to first and second features running May 14-22.

Sorogoyen was forced to step down from the position ahead of last year’s festival due to personal circumstances and was replaced by French producer Sylvie Pialat.

Joining Sorogoyen on the 2025 jury are Oscar-winning Britishactor Daniel Kaluuya,Moroccan journalist Jihane Bougrine, French-Canadian director of photography Josée Deshaies and Indonesian producer Yulia Evina Bhara.

Sorogoyen’s films includeThe Beasts, which premiered in the Cannes Premiere strand in 2022 and went on...

Spanish filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen, whose recent credits include The Beasts and series such as Riot Police and The New Years, has been announced as jury president for this year’s edition of Cannes Critics’ Week.

He will be joined by Oscar-winning Judas and the Black Messiah UK actor Daniel Kaluuya, Moroccan journalist Jihane Bougrine, French-Canadian cinematographer Josée Deshaies and Indonesian producer Yulia Evina Bhara.

The parallel Cannes section devoted to emerging talents and first and second features runs from May 14 to 22 this year.

Sorogoyen and his jury will present La Semaine de la Critique’s Ami Paris Grand Prize for Best feature film, the French Touch Prize of the Jury, the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award for Best actor or actress, and the Leitz Cine Discovery Prize for Best short film.

After stepping down from the role due personal reasons in 2024, Spanish filmmaker, screenwriter and producer Rodrigo Sorogoyen has been invited back at Cannes’ Critics Week to preside over the jury of the 64th edition.

Sorogoyen is best known for delivering films and series boasting a political perspective on the world. His most recent success is The Beasts” which premiered at Cannes and went on to win nine Goya Awards and even nab France’s Cesar Award for best foreign film in 2023.

Critics Week, which is curated by Ava Cahen and champions first and second films, has assembled an eclectic jury around Sorogoyen, including Oscar-winning British actor Daniel Kaluuya, Moroccan journalist and songwriter Jihane Bougrine, French-Canadian cinematographer Josée Deshaies, and Indonesian producer Yulia Evina Bhara.

“To offer Rodrigo Sorogoyen the presidency of the Semaine de la Critique Jury is to show him all the love we have for his cinema, but...

Indonesia is booming with local content, international co-productions and a vibrant box office, although overseas distribution and the absence of film incentives remain weaknesses, said film professionals currently working in Indonesia, on a panel at Hong Kong’s Filmart.

Indonesia’s culture minister, Fadli Zon, was also present at the panel, alongside a delegation from the Indonesian consulate in Hong Kong.

Justin Kim, head of international production at Cj Enm, has been steadily growing the Korean entertainment powerhouse‘s footprint in Indonesia since 2014.

Kim said that Cj Enm’s foray into the Indonesian film industry started out with the conglomerate giving out a few awards at Busan’s Asian Project Market in 2014, including for a “most anticipated” project, which was given to Joko Anwar’s A Copy of My Mind.

At that time, Kim was an international sales manager and Cj Enm ended up representing the film. Anwar’s feature travelled to the Venice,...

Japanese director Chie Hayakawa, whose “Plan 75” received a special mention at Cannes, has secured Indonesian powerhouse KawanKawan Media as a co-production partner for her upcoming film “Renoir,” it was revealed at the Hong Kong FilMart.

KawanKawan is collaborating with Japan’s Loaded Films, with Eiko Mizuno-Gray and Jason Gray serving as producers. Indonesia joins an already robust international co-production spanning Japan, France, Singapore, and the Philippines.

Hayakawa’s new film tells the poignant story of Fuki, a quirky and sensitive 11-year-old girl navigating a challenging summer during Japan’s late 1980s bubble economy. The coming-of-age drama follows Fuki as she copes with a terminally ill father and stressed-out working mother while encountering various adults dealing with their own struggles.

KawanKawan is the production company behind Makbul Mubarak’s Venice winner “Autobiography” and Amanda Nell Eu’s Cannes-winning “Tiger Stripes.”

“We are thrilled to work alongside Loaded Films on Chie Hayakawa’s ‘Renoir.

International co-productions have become an essential strategy for filmmakers seeking funding, wider distribution, and creative collaborations across borders. While these partnerships unlock new opportunities, they also present unique challenges, as discussed by a panel consisting of Sam Chua (Singapore), Will Manalang (Philippines), Yulia Evina Bhara (Indonesia), Justine O (Taiwan).

Diverse Paths into Film Production

The panelists shared their unique journeys into filmmaking, each shaped by distinct cultural and industry landscapes. Justine began her career in Algeria and mainland China, working alongside renowned directors before launching her own production company back home. Post-pandemic shifts in the Chinese film industry led her to explore collaborations across Brazil, Argentina, Germany, France, Cambodia, Nepal, and Japan.

Bhara recounted her transition from theater to film. With Indonesia’s limited financial infrastructure for independent cinema, she initially self-funded her debut feature, which premiered at Locarno in 2016. Her co-production experience expanded through projects with Malaysia, France, and Singapore.

The newly signed co-production treaty between the Netherlands and Indonesia aims to strengthen bilateral film collaboration, providing filmmakers from both countries access to national funding schemes and production incentives, industry leaders revealed at the inaugural Jaff Market in Jogja, Indonesia during a panel.

The inaugural Jaff Market takes place alongside the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival (Jaff) in Yogyakarta from Dec. 3-5. The panel was moderated by producer Lorna Tee of An Original Picture Nl, who also serves as Jaff Market advisor.

Sandra den Hamer, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund, highlighted that the treaty emerged from grassroots interest rather than top-down policy. “It comes from the filmmakers and producers. There’s a lot of interest to make films together, or to make films in Indonesia, to retell our history,” she said.

The treaty follows successful agreements the Netherlands has established with Canada, China, France, Germany, Norway and South Africa. With South Africa,...

The Ministry of Culture of Indonesia and Embassy of France have launched the inaugural Indonesia-France Film Lab at the first-ever Jaff Market, running Dec. 3-5 alongside the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival (Jaff).

Six emerging projects have been selected for the intensive four-day workshop, which features mentorship from an international slate of industry experts. Indonesian filmmaker Makbul Mubarak, whose debut feature “Autobiography” was a collaboration between eight countries, and French producer Louise Bellicaud (In Vivo Films) will serve as group leaders.

Additional mentors include French director Rachid Hami, sales executive Sébastien Chesneau from Cercamon, Japanese producer Eiko Mizuno, distributor Fernanda Renno and Singaporean producer Tan Si En. The mentors are providing guidance on co-production opportunities between Southeast Asia, Europe and France.

Selected projects include:

“First Breath After Coma” (Studio Antelope/Base) from director Jason Iskandar and producer Florence Giovanni follows three estranged Chinese-Indonesian siblings grappling with their father’s coma amid...

Georgian film April, directed by Dea Kulumbegashvili, has won both the Best Film and Best Performance prizes at the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa), held in Australia.

The film tells the story of Nina, an obstetrician-gynecologist, who faces accusations after a newborn’s death. Ia Sukhitashvili won the Best Performance award for her portrayal of Nina.

The Best Director accolade went to Tato Kotetishvili for debut feature Holy Electricity, which is a Georgia-Netherlands co-production. The dark comedy follows two cousins selling neon crucifixes door to door in Tbilisi.

The Jury Grand Prize went to All We Imagine as Light, which is the second feature from India’s Payal Kapadia. The film follows two working-class nurses amid the nocturnal landscape of Mumbai.

Best Youth Film went to India’s Lakshmipriya Devi for Boong, alongside producers Alan McAlex, Vikesh Bhutani, Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar and Shujaat Saudagar.

Best Animated Film went...

Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April scored a double win at the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa), taking home prizes for best film and best performance for Ia Sukhitashvili.

The Georgian feature centres on a skilled obstetrician at a maternity hospital, who comes under scrutiny after a tragic episode, threatening her secret side job providing unsanctioned abortions. The film premiered at Venice where it won the special jury prize and went on to play Toronto and San Sebastian, winning best film in Zabaltegi-Tabakalera competition at the latter. Metrograph Pictures picked up North American rights last month.

Scroll down for full list...

The inaugural Jaff Market from Indonesia has unveiled 10 feature projects for its Jaff Future Project (Jfp), a new project market held in collaboration with Australia’s Adelaide Film Festival (Aff) and set to take place from December 3-5 during the Jogja Netpac Asian Film Festival (Jaff) in Indonesia.

Seven of the projects are from Indonesia, including drama All Things Real And Unreal by Paul Agusta and animation Kancil by Adriano Rudiman, with one from Malaysia (crime thriller The Silent Village by Ho Yuhang) and two from Australia (horror drama Raesita Grey by Katrina Irawati Graham and documentary Until Death by Ben Golotta).

Yulia Evina Bhara,...

Indonesia’s Jaff Market is set to welcome two Australian projects at its Jaff Future Project platform, marking a collaboration with Adelaide Film Festival (Aff). The inaugural Jaff Market takes place alongside the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival (Jaff) in Yogyakarta from Dec. 3-5.

The partnership, backed by the Australian Government, brings “Raesita Grey” from Katrina Irawati Graham and “Until Death” from Ben Golotta to the lineup. Aff will support two core team members, including producers, from each project to attend.

The initiative extends Aff’s existing relationship with Jaff and brings mylab, an international development initiative with participants from across Asia, on board as a new collaborator. “The Aff and Jogja Netpac Asian Film Festival Exchange has been an incredibly satisfying experience,” said Mat Kesting, Aff’s CEO and creative director.

Jaff Market chair Ifa Isfansyah and mylab Curator Lorna Tee expressed confidence in fostering “more fruitful connections and vibrant exchanges” between Indonesian,...

Loeloe Hendra pursued a Bachelor’s degree majoring in Film and Television and a Master’s Degree at the Indonesian Art Institute Yogyakarta. His short film Onomastika (2014) was screened at multiple international film festivals including Berlinale and Singapore and won Best Short film at the Festival Film Indonesia. “Tale of the Land” is his first feature film.

Shenina Syawalita Cinnamon is an Indonesian actress. She made her lead role debut in “Photocopier“, which also led her being nominated for the Citra Award for Best Actress at the 2021 Indonesian Film Festival. Her latest works include “24 Hours with Gaspar” and “Tale of the Land”.

On the occasion of “Tale of the Land” screening at Busan International Film Festival, they talk about shooting a movie about the Dayak, the difficulties of shooting with buffaloes and inside a lake, the messages the movie wants to convey and other topics.

Why did you decide...

Exclusive: Venice Critics’ Week title Don’t Cry Butterfly has been boarded by Cj Cgv Vietnam for distribution in Vietnam.

Affiliated with Korea’s Cj Group, Cj Cgv Vietnam also distributed the Vietnamese-language Camera d’Or winner Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell last year.

Don’t Cry Butterfly follows a 45-year old housewife, Tam, who learns through live TV that her husband is having an affair. Turning to mystical means, she then attempts to voodoo her husband back into love.

The debut feature by Duong Dieu Linh will have its world premiere at the Venice Critics’ Week on September 3 before arriving at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10.

Don’t Cry Butterfly is a Vietnam-Singapore-Indonesia-Philippines co-production. Korea’s Barunson E&a picked up world sales rights to the title ahead of the Cannes market this year.

“The idea for this feature started 10 years ago, when I came back to Vietnam to make my first short film,...

The Philippines’ Quezon City Film Commission and QCinema have revealed the lineup for the second edition of the QCinema Project Market (Qpm).

Twenty projects were selected from 63 submissions across the Philippines and Southeast Asia. The market aims to connect filmmakers with international partners and offers approximately $300,000 in grants and prizes.

Notable projects from last year’s Qpm have made significant progress. Rafael Manuel’s “Filipiniana” and Woo Ming Jin’s “Fox King” are in post-production, while Duong Dieu Linh’s “Don’t Cry Butterfly” is world premiering at Venice Critics’ Week.

Southeast Asian Projects from the 2024 selection include:

“The Beer Girl in Yangon” – Director: Sein Lyan Tun, Producer: Yulia Evina Bhara. Synopsis: A 17-year-old girl works in a Yangon beer station after her father’s political arrest, navigating love and hallucinations.

“Picturehouse” (Vietnam) – Director: Minh-Nghiem Nguyen-Vo, Producer: Johann Chapelan. Synopsis: In 1960s Vietnam, a family-run movie house becomes a sanctuary for a boy amid war.

Vietnamese cinema’s profile has been on the rise at major international film festivals of late. Debut director Phạm Thiên Ân won Cannes’ Caméra d’Or prize in 2023 with his meditative drama Inside the Yellow Cacoon Shell, and Trương Minh Quý brought the country back to the French festival this year with the well-received romantic drama Viet and Nam. Next up, the 81st Venice Film Festival, opening Aug. 28, will add a strong female voice to this budding Vietnamese new wave with the premiere of Don’t Cry, Butterfly, directed by another first-timer, Dương Diệu Linh.

A metaphysical drama (see its first trailer, below), the new film follows Tam (Lê Tú Oanh), a diligent middle-aged wedding venue worker who learns that her husband has been cheating on her when a live TV broadcast of a soccer match catches him on camera in the stands with his mistress. Determined to win back her...

Indonesia’s KawanKawan Media has boarded Singaporean filmmaker Nelson Yeo’s sophomore feature “The Drought,” it was announced at the Cannes Film Festival.

Yeo’s debut feature “Dreaming & Dying” debuted at last year’s Locarno Film Festival where it won the Golden Leopard – Filmmakers of the Present and Best First Feature awards.

A dystopian horror-dark comedy set in a time of an uninhabitable drought, “The Drought” follows Kai as he struggles with his retracting genitals and his wife, Ling, who demeans him for this impotency. Their widowed neighbor, Daming, grieves over the death of the last of his three sons, while his mother devises a secret plan for another grandson.

The project participated at the Philippines QCinema project market last year, where it won a prize.

Lead producers are Singapore’s Momo Film Co.’s Tan Si En and Sophia Sim who produced “Dreaming & Dying,” and Yeo’s award-winning shorts “Dreaming,...

Indonesia has unveiled the four film projects that will be the pilot recipients of the country’s first government-funded film grant, Film Matchfund, at the Cannes Film Festival.

As revealed by Variety, the $13 million annual fund was launched at Cannes 2023 by Nadiem Makarim, Indonesia‘s minister of education, culture, research and technology. It is sourced from the country’s National Cultural Endowment Fund. The 1:1 matching grant scheme from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology is designed to promote international cooperations between filmmakers and is open for international co-production projects with Indonesia and for story development and research, production, post-production or internal promotion and distribution incentives.

The qualified films are “This City Is a Battlefield” by Mouly Surya, produced by Rama Adi and Fauzan Zidni, with Cinesurya as the production company; Tumpal Tampubolon’s “Crocodile Tears,” produced by Mandy Marahimin and Talamedia; Garin Nugroho’s “Samsara,” produced by...

Award-winning Malaysian filmmaker Woo Ming Jin has wrapped principal photography on his latest film, “The Fox King,” the producers revealed at the Cannes Film Festival.

Set in a coastal Malaysian town in the early 2000s, “The Fox King” tells the story of Ali and Amir, inseparable fraternal twins with a telepathic bond. The brothers are forced to fend for themselves when their father abandons them after remarrying a younger bride. The arrival of a new teacher, Lara, tests their brotherly bond.

The film is headlined by Indonesian star Dian Sastrowardoyo (Netflix’s “Cigarette Girl”) alongside Idan Aedan (“Blood Flower”), Amerul Affendi (“I.D.”), Chew Kin Wah (“Rain Town”) and newcomer Hadi Putra.

“The Fox King” participated in the Tokyo gap financing market and the QCinema project market in 2023. The film is a Sunstrong Entertainment (Venice selection “Snow in Midsummer”) production in collaboration with fellow Malaysian companies Greenlight Pictures and Da Huang Pictures...

Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival (Jaff), held in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, is launching an industry event that aims to showcase Indonesian content and connect the country’s fast-expanding film industry to international markets.

Scheduled to take place December 3-5 during this year’s edition of Jaff (November 30-December 7), the event will be held in the Jogja Expo Center with around 150 booths hosting production companies, content creators, service providers and institutions.

“Since its inception in 2006, Jaff has consistently strengthened and stimulated the film ecosystem for the Indonesian film industry. Many new filmmakers have begun to emerge from the festival,” said Ifa Isfansyah, festival director of Jaff.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology is collaborating with Jaff organisers on the event. “It is the government’s commitment to continuously support the development of the Indonesian film industry. Jaff’s initiative to create this event will facilitate easier access...

Indonesia’s Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival (Jaff) will unveil its inaugural Jaff Market in December. The initiative was announced at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday.

This new three-day event aims to reshape the Indonesian film industry by fostering networking, innovation and collaboration among various sectors.

Since its start in 2006, Jaff has played a crucial role in nurturing Indonesian cinema, helping many filmmakers rise. “Jaff has consistently strengthened the film ecosystem,” said festival director Ifa Isfansyah.

The Jaff Market will cover 10,000 square meters, featuring over 150 booths with production companies, content creators and service providers. Leading the initiative is experienced producer Linda Gozali, former secretary-general of the Indonesian Film Festival. “We look forward to creating new connections and opportunities,” said Gozali.

The event highlights the rapid post-pandemic recovery of Indonesia’s film industry, which saw local films capture 61% of the market in 2022. The industry fully rebounded in 2023. Despite being the largest market in Southeast Asia,...

Exclusive: Indonesian actor Reza Rahadian and director Yosep Anggi Noen are attending Busan International Film Festival with their dystopian crime drama 24 Hours With Gaspar, which is receiving its world premiere in the festival’s Jiseok competition.

An adaptation of Sabda Armandio’s 2017 novel of the same name, the fast-paced thriller is the biggest budget film that Noen, an award-winning arthouse filmmaker, has ever made and marks the first time he’s worked with Rahadian and Laura Basuki, who are both big stars in Indonesia. Upcoming actress Shenina Cinnamon also stars in the film.

Noen says he was approached to direct the project by Angga Dwimas Sasongko, founder of Indonesia’s Visinema Pictures and immediately agreed because he liked the book. “It’s a story about loss, because the main character is coming to terms with losing his friend, but it’s also a visualization of a dystopian Indonesia which we’ve rarely seen,...

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 “road movie of the sea” will be a Taiwan-Indonesia-Czech Republic co-production.

Veteran Taiwanese actor King Jieh-Wen, Taiwanese rapper-turned-actor Hsueh Shih-Ling and Indonesian singer-actor Angga Yunanda will head the cast of Lim Lung-Yin’s Malice, it was announced at the Acfm in Busan today (October 9).

The film is a Taiwan-Indonesia-Czech Republic co-production. Principal photography is scheduled for April 2024 in Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The story centres on a sea captain, his younger son and a nameless boy who set sail to look for the giant swordfish that killed the captain’s elder son four years ago. While on stage at...

The Indonesian film industry is poised to spread its wings globally as the country’s filmmaking boom is the subject of a focus at the Busan International Film Festival.

Films from the country now routinely get selected and win prizes at major international festivals. The local market in Indonesia, which has the fourth-largest population in the world with 277 million, is rapidly expanding with homegrown productions accounting for a significant share. Indonesia is also bolstering its cultural policies that include an annual $13 million international co-production grant. Featured at Busan this year are 15 features, shorts and series.

The festival has been inviting Indonesian films since 1996. In 2004, the late Kim Ji-seok, after whom one of the festival’s top awards is named now, curated a program titled ‘Garin [Nugroho] and the Next Generation: New Possibility of Indonesian Cinema.’ “I realized that the next generation is already visible, but overlooked,” festival programmer Park Sungho told Variety.

Taiwanese actors King Jieh-wen and Hsueh Shih-ling and Indonesia’s Angga Yunanda are set to star in “Malice,” a multinational Asian thriller that will shoot next year.

The film’s producers, actors and government backers presented the fully-assembled package to press and industry on Monday at the Busan International Film Festival.

The film, pitched as “a road movie at sea,” is a dark tale of three men who put out to sea in search of a particular, large swordfish that had been rumored to have died out.

The three – a deep sea fishing veteran, his son and a mysterious youngster – each have different and clashing motivations for embark on what appears to be a dangerous, possibly hopeless, mission. While the father is a proud mariner, the son has no interest in the sea and would prefer to sell the boat. The youngster is reputed to be an excellent harpoon fisherman,...

Taiwanese actors Jieh-Wen King and Hsueh Shih-Ling and Indonesian actor Angga Yunanda have been cast in Lim Lungyin’s action adventure Malice, an amitious co-production between Taiwan, Czech Republic and Indonesia.

Hsueh has credits including Workers, Twisted Strings and last night he won Best Supporting Actor at Busan’s Asian Contents Awards for Disney+ series Taiwan Crime Stories. King is a veteran actor in Taiwan whose credits include Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Goodbye South, Goodbye, Lim’s Ohong Village and The Great Buddha+.

Yunanda is an Indonesian actor, model and singer who made his acting debut and rose to fame with Malu-Malu Kucing and Mermaid In Love. His recent credits include Stealing Raden Saleh (2022) and 12 Cerita Glen Anggara (2022).

The casting news was announced today at an event at the on-going Busan International Film Festival. Production companies on the film include Taiwan’s Tydal Productions and Aview Images, Czech Republic’s...

Distribution in Indonesia was the subject of a lively debate at the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Contents and Film Market.

With 277 million people, Indonesia has one of the largest populations in the world. However, geographically it is an archipelago and for its population, the country is under-screened with just 2,300 cinema screens. Despite this, box office is booming. The 2022 total surpassed pre-pandemic 2019 levels, with more than 54 million admissions. Indonesia also operates under a unique distribution model in that there are no independent distributors. Producers instead deal directly with the country’s three major multiplex chains and a smattering of small cinemas in second and third tier cities.

“The country’s span is from Dublin to Istanbul, but we have only 2,300 screens,” said producer Angga Dwimas Sasangko of Visinema, whose “Ali Topan” is screening at Busan. Sasangko was speaking at a panel on Indonesian distribution that also included producer Shanty...

Korean powerhouse Cj Enm is set to continue its already extensive investment in Indonesia.

The company will announce a slate of Indonesian films imminently. It is also planning to produce films and series that can be remade in other international territories, said Justin Kim, head of international productions at Cj Enm, which has production and distribution businesses in Indonesia.

“There’s a lot of series that have been produced by us in Indonesia and we’re still waiting for that one definitive Indonesian series to break out,” Kim said.

Kim was speaking at a panel focusing on international coproductions with Indonesia at the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Contents and Film Market. The Indonesian panelists included prolific producer Yulia Evina Bhara (“Autobiography”), director Mouly Surya (“Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts”) and Alex Sihar from the country’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology and was moderated by Lorna Tee,...

Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s latest feature, Evil Does Not Exist, leads this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) with four nods, including the gong for Best Film.

Hamaguchi’s nominations haul includes Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Cinematography for Yoshio Kitagawa. The film is Hamaguchi’s first film since his Oscar-winning Drive My Car and debuted at this year’s Venice Film Festival. The pic follows Takumi and his daughter Hana, who live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. Like generations before them, they live a modest life according to the cycles and order of nature. A plan to construct a glamping site near Takumi’s house, offering city residents a comfortable “escape” to nature, threatens to endanger the ecological balance of the area and the local people’s way of life.

Also nominated in the Best Film category are Wim Wenders’s Perfect Days, Snow Leopard by Pema Tseden,...

A first trailer has been unveiled for Indonesian filmmaker Yosep Anggi Noen’s “24 Hours With Gaspar.”

The film world premieres at the Busan International Film Festival where it is in the prestigious Jiseok competition. Set in 2032 and based on the novel of the same name by Indonesian author Sabda Armandio, the film follows Gaspar, a private detective with 24 hours to live, who finds clues about the mysterious disappearance of Kirana, his childhood friend. The clues lead to a human trafficking syndicate.

“24 Hours With Gaspar” features a stellar Indonesian cast including Reza Rahadian, Shenina Cinnamon (“Dear David”), Laura Basuki (“Before Now And Then”), Kristo Imanuell (“Big Four”), Sal Priadi, Dewi Irawan (“Anwar: The Untold Story”) and Iswadi Pratama.

The film is a collaboration between KawanKawan Media, Visinema and Legacy Pictures and produced by Yulia Evina Bhara for KawanKawan Media and Cristian Imanuell for Visinema Pictures.

Noen and KawanKawan previously...

Indonesia has selected Makbul Mubarak’s award-winning drama Autobiography as its submission in the Best International Feature category of the Oscars.

Selected from a pool of 100 films, Autobiography was handpicked by a nine-person committee, established by the Indonesian Film Companies Union.

Set in a rural Indonesian town, the film tells the story of a young man who works as a housekeeper in an empty mansion belonging to a retired general. When the general returns to the town to start his mayoral campaign, an act of vandalism triggers an escalating chain of violence. Kevin Ardilova and award-winning veteran actor Arswendy Bening Swara head the cast.

The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in 2022, where it won the Fipresci award, then went on to screen at more than 50 international festivals. It also won awards including the Grand Prize at Tokyo Filmex, Best Screenplay at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards,...