INDUSTRY GUIDE FAR EAST FESTIVAL FILM - 23 FOCUS ASIA INDUSTRY GUIDE - Far East Film Festival
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FAR EAST FILM FESTIVAL 23 INDUSTRY GUIDE FOCUS ASIA INDUSTRY GUIDE 30 June - 2 July 2021 FOCUS ASIA & TTB / APRIL 29TH - MAY 3RD
30 WEDNESDAY 1 THURSDAY 2 FRIDAY FOCUS ASIA After a very successful 2020 online edition, FOCUS ASIA 2021 is back with a challenging and exciting brand-new hybrid format, bringing together over 200 international film professionals both physically and virtually. This year again, the programme will include a large number of industry events meant to foster professional and artistic exchanges between Asia and Europe. CASA DELLA CASA DELLA CASA DELLA The ALL GENRES PROJECT MARKET will present 9 high-quality projects in advanced development phase CONTADINANZA CONTADINANZA CONTADINANZA from 7 different countries. The final line-up will feature a large variety of genres and a great diversity of profiles of directors and producers, proving one of the main goals of the platform: to explore both the pre- 9.30 9.30 9.30 sent and future generation of filmmakers. All selected projects will be seeking the most suitable co-pro- FOCUS ASIA OPENING FAR EAST IN PROGRESS SECOND HAND FILM MARKET & ALL GENRES PROJECT The only works-in-progress duction and financing partners through a series of individual meetings with all international attendees. A fine selection of restored hits MARKET All market professionals will be also able to request individual meetings with the participants selected for section dedicated to Asian films from the recent past ready to be project presentation TIES THAT BIND, the Asia/Europe Co-production Workshop that every year brings together 10 European in post-production released in the near future. and Asian producers focusing on project development and 5 European professionals interested in wor- 11.00 11.00 11.00 king with Asia. The workshop has become the reference for developing European-Asian co-productions in VI (TASTE) BY Lê Bảo THE CURRENT ASIAN IN THE MOOD the past decade, combining producer training, project development and co-production meetings. Co-Production Case Study with DISTRIBUTION LANDSCAPE FOR RESTORATION For the second consecutive year FAR EAST IN PROGRESS will present upcoming Asian feature films in Weijie LAI (E&W, Singapore) with Pamela Bai (Hugoeast, with Vincent Paul-Boncour post-production looking for festival premiere and international distribution; 5 selected teams will have the and Marie DUBAS (Petit Film, China), Shaoyi Chen (Carlotta Films, France), Mireille chance to screen some excerpts of their films to a large panel of international sales agents, festival pro- France) in collaboration with (Screenwork Asia, Taiwan), Van Helm (Block 2 Distribution, grammers and buyers, and they will be in the running for the 108 MEDIA Distribution Award. Ties That Bind Kana Koido (Klockworx, Japan), Hong Kong), Maxime Vincent Quek (Anticipated Vauthier, Louise Kerouanton Thanks to the collaboration with European Film Promotion, Focus Asia 2021 will launch the first edition of Pictures, Singapore) moderated (STUDIOCANAL, France). the SECOND-HAND FILM MARKET, a brand-new section designed to showcase a fine selection of restored by Patrick Frater Moderated by Michele hits from the recent past ready to be released in the near future. in collaboration with Crocchiola (Fondazione Another innovation of the 2021 industry programme are the ASIAN GATES, a cycle of masterclasses and Ties That Bind Culturale Stensen, Italy) case studies addressed to European film professionals who want to deepen their knowledge of the oppor- tunities offered by the Asian market. Focus Asia 2021 will also include a rich programme of panels, case studies and strategic meetings, 12.30 12.30 12.30 thus becoming the most natural bridge between the Asian and European landscape. On top of all these HOW TO GET PUBLIC THE CURRENT ITALIAN CLOSING CEREMONY activities Focus Asia will also offer a series of informal and spontaneous on-site/online networking events FUNDING FOR FINANCING LANDSCAPE & FAR EAST IN PROGRESS CO-PRODUCTIONS IN AWARD where professionals from all over the world will be able to meet, get to know each other and start shaping with Iole Maria Giannattasio GREATER CHINA (Ministero della Cultura, together the films of the future. with Vincent WANG (House On Focus Asia is organized by Centro Espressioni Cinematografiche with the collaboration of the Friuli Vene- Direzione Generale Cinema e Fire Productions, France) and zia Giulia Audiovisual Fund and with the support of MiC. It is developed in collaboration with the workshop Audiovisivo, Italy) and Federico Patrick Mao HUANG (Flash Pedroni (Rai Cinema, Italy) Ties That Bind and is promoted in association with Eave, European Film Promotion, HAF - Hong Kong, and Forward Entertainment, Taiwan) Taipei Golden Horse Film Project Promotion. in collaboration with Ties That Bind 15.00 15.00 THE ASIAN GATE FOR THE ASIAN GATE FOR SALES PRODUCERS with Matteo Lovadina a discovery session with (Reel Suspects, France) in Raymond Van Der Kaaij collaboration with EFP (Revolver Amsterdam, Netherlands) All events are on CEST time zone 3
Submission period : Aug-Oct 2021 ALL GENRES PROJECT MARKET ADABANA P. 6 ASH VALLEY P. 8 BACK HOME P. 10 LITTLE BASTARD P. 12 LOW-END P. 14 MAYANG P. 16 MISHIMA, THE ROSES OF VENDETTA P. 18 PIERCE P. 20 THREE FUNERALS AND A WEDDING P. 22
ALL GENRES PROJECT MARKET DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS If we thin out people, any life on the planet, or objects that were ROBOT COMMUNICATIONS INC. unnecessary to our society, I worry how colorless the sensitivity 3-9-7 Ebisu minami, Shibuya-ku, of humans in the future would be. If we continue this lifestyle, 1500022, Tokyo, Japan ADABANA consuming excessively as we do now, if our greed wins over our value, treating life without any respect, our souls and ethnicity, M - ueno@robot.co.jp T - + 81 9074291595 and even our diversity might be left behind, with the possibility of “body exchange” in the future. Cherry blossom is a flower that represents Japan and symbolizes death. It is said that most of the trees we see now are clones, all sharing the same DNA. By overlapping the short life of this cloned cherry blossoms, from when it sprouts to the time its flowers fall off, with the seven days A man diagnosed with terminal cancer a man interacts with his clone, I’ll depict our common spends his last 7 days with his clone understanding through mythical realization, using beautiful created only to save him and decides depiction like capturing a myth with reality. his fate while their affection toward one another deepens. DIRECTOR’S PROFILE Short film Ondine’s Curse (2014), which pursued the Japanese Noh and human psychology, won Semi-Grand Prix at Yamagata Sayaka Kai | Director International Film Festival 2014 and Honorable Mention Award at SKIP City International D-Cinema Festival 2015. It was highly PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS praised oversea, at Maison de Culture du Japon in Paris. Her first feature film Red Snow (2019) was nominated in various About 50 years ago, an unknown virus spread through the world, COUNTRY international film festivals including Marrakesh International Film changing physical constitutions of humans, and as a result Japan Festival 2018 Competition Section, Up- and-Coming Director bringingdown birthrates. To maintain labor force of each country, Grand Prix at Takasaki Film Festival 2019, Best Picture Award at PRODUCER development of clone technology was encouraged. Los Angeles Japan Film Festival 2019. Hiroyuki Ueno The protagonist is an heir of a huge pharmaceutical company in PRODUCTION COMPANY his 40’s. He has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and the Robot Communications Inc. one treatment suggested by his doctor is organ transplant from COMPANY PROFILE his clone, an option only the privileged can enjoy . The cancer is DIRECTOR ROBOT started in film production with Love Letter directed spreading fast and he has only 7 days to decide if he is willing to Hiroyuki Ueno | Producer Sayaka Kai by Shunji Iwai. It went on to become one of the biggest film go on with the surgery. The man asks if he could meet his clone. production companies in Japan with box office hits like Bayside WRITER Though he is a successful businessman, through his Shakedown, Umizaru, and Sunset on Third Street. Short animation Sayaka Kai conversation with the clone, he comes to know the emptiness La Maison en Petits Cubes directed by Kunio Kato won the Best GENRE within him which he never realized and tries to regain his life Animated Short Film at 81st Academy Awards, the first Japanese Drama back in a surprising way. film to receive the award. Recently along with Japanese mega TOTAL BUDGET hits, Robot has produced works of up and coming directors such € 413,000 as We are Little Zombies directed by Makoto Nagahisa (Winner of FINANCING IN PLACE World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Originality at 35th € 165,000 Sundance Film Festival & Special Mention Award / Generation 14 plus at 69th Berlin International Film Festival) and Red Snow LOOKING FOR (2019) directed by Sayaka Kai. Co-production, Financing, Netflix new series Alice in Borderland is now being distributed Sales Agent, Festival worldwide. 6 7
ALL GENRES PROJECT MARKET DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS I grew up in Northeastern China in an oil town called Daqing. EAST FILMS My grandparents' generation moved here and built it from the 1023 N Wilton Place, Los Angeles, ASH ground up to become the largest oil field in China. The city flourished with the oil boom, but oil production has been in 90038, CA, United States M - ale808@gmail.com VALLEY slow decline since the last decade. Young people, including myself, have all moved out of the city to avoid the harsh climate T - + 1 3109456585 and pursue brighter opportunities in bigger cities, leaving the old generations of oil workers in their “empty nest”. This is a macabre love letter to my hometown, my family, and my people, as well as a timely reflection on industrial decay, patriarchy, environmentalism, and rebirth. The film aims to be raw, jarring, After a meteor crashes in a decaying confrontational, but contemplative just the same. As the world Northeastern China oil town, three and its people within the film each undergoes a cycle of decay townsfolks must struggle to survive and rebirth, I hope the audience will go through the same as otherworldly mutations infect experience. the once-fertile land. DIRECTOR’S PROFILE Shu is a graduate from American Film Institute’s MFA Directing Anderson Le | Producer Program and holds a BFA from New York University in Film and TV Production. Shu has created works that have been PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS showcased at prestigious festivals and institutions around the world, such as Telluride Film Festival, LA Shorts International Ash Valley is an industrial town in Northeastern China. Its people COUNTRY Film Festival, Asian American International Film Festival, Las are kind, simple, but live in a profound despair as the city’s United States, China Vegas International Film Festival, Anthology Film Archive in New lifeline - OIL - slowly dries out. One day, a meteor crashes into York, Chinese Young Generation Film Forum, National Museum PRODUCER the oil fields. Black liquid starts to erupt from the once-dry oil of Art in Mexico, National Film Archive of India, Jia Zhangke Art Anderson Le wells. People are ecstatic under the assumption it is oil, but the Center, among others. substance is discovered to be a secretion of unknown microbes. PRODUCTION COMPANY It contaminates the water source and causes the vegetation to East Films mutate. The progression of events is told through three chapters: COMPANY PROFILE DIRECTOR “RUST”: After collecting a sample of the meteor to sell on the Shu Zhu | Director & Writer Shu Zu EAST FILMS is a transpacific media company whose mission is to antique market, a middle-aged, impotent oil worker is driven empower visionary storytellers to excel in the global entertainment WRITER to the edge of madness by haunting hallucinations of the market. Bringing a culmination of 50 years experience in the film G Wilson, Shu Zu apocalypse. “OASIS”: Through hypnosis, a pregnant farm owner industry, as global entertainment consumption becomes more GENRE recalls an encounter of alien abduction shortly after the meteor integrated, EAST serves as a bridge between the Asia-Pacific Rim Thriller, Sci-Fi, Art crash. As her pregnancy progresses, a bizarre mutation takes and the world. With offices in Vietnam and the U.S., we bring place inside her womb “ENTROPY”: As most of the townsfolk TOTAL BUDGET an expertise to a growing entertainment landscape and abandon the town, a commune of old people are left behind to $ 500,000 infrastructure in Southeast Asia, to develop compelling stories care for themselves. An elderly woman suffering from dementia with innovative creatives across a spectrum of genres. Their first FINANCING IN PLACE is visited by her deceased son who prepares her for ascension. production, Rom (2019), won the New Currents Prize at Busan. $ 75,000 Their current project, Be Water (2020), was an official selection of LOOKING FOR both Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals, and was broadcast on Co-production, Financing, Festival ESPN as part of the '30 for 30' series. 8 9
ALL GENRES PROJECT MARKET DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS In these years, Hong Kong has become strange. Places have MM2 changed beyond our recognition. People around us could Unit 02, 1/F, International Plaza, BACK actually turn into someone that we aren’t familiar with. Speaking incomprehensibly, they also act against one’s 20 Sheung Yuet Road, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR China HOME conscience. We have been taught by the elderlies that you have to turn a blind eye on somethings, just like river water doesn’t M - maniman@mm2entertainment.com T - + 852 97683962 interfere with well water. We can live everywhere as long as we don’t question. Happiness can be shaped like paper. It may be true. However, as a homegrown, One day you will realize... "Backhome", Do you still remember how much you love this home? Heung Wing has just settled into Europe but he returns to Hong DIRECTOR’S PROFILE Kong after his mother committed suicide. However, his old home Using “liveincentral” and “donotsayhello” as his pen names, is no longer safe and familiar. Nate has been published novels related to love, regret, suspense and horror stories. His film scripts include Hell Hole (2018) and Hell Bank Presents: Running Ghost (2020). He also directed short films such as Carry On (2014), Hong Kong Mani Man | Producer Horror Story Series (2017) and Once Upon A Time In…Sai Wan. Once Upon A Time In…Sai Wan was selected into several PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS international short films festivals. He will make his directorial debut on Backhome with mm2. Heung Wing has been sensitive to the paranormal activity and COUNTRY seeing ghosts since he was a kid. It is called having “yin yang” Hong Kong SAR China eyes in Chinese culture. Eventually, he learned to ignore them COMPANY PROFILE PRODUCER even though they exist. After that, he isn’t bothered by ghosts mm2 Hong Kong is a film production and distribution Mani Man anymore. When he gets old enough, he escapes Hong Kong to company. We provide services that cover the entire filmmaking Europe because of his miserable childhood. Suddenly he finds PRODUCTION COMPANY process, including securing financing, producing and out that his mother has committed suicide and he has to return mm2 distributing as well as securing advertising and sponsorship. to Hong Kong. DIRECTOR At the same time, our team also committed and actively As he goes into his home, everything feels strange. One by Nate Ki | Director & Writer Nate Ki acquiring films from overseas for Hong Kong audiences. one, his neighbours kill themselves and he sees the ghosts in WRITER his housing estate. The situation is deteriorating beyond his Nate Ki recognition during his stay. GENRE Horror, Thriller TOTAL BUDGET $ 1,55 M FINANCING IN PLACE $ 750,000 LOOKING FOR Financing, Sales Agent, Festival 10 11
ALL GENRES PROJECT MARKET DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS Many say that a director's first feature should tell a story that is SEVEN DREAMS PRODUCTION deeply rooted in his or her experience. While I have worked on Piazza A. Capponi, 13, Roma, 00193, LITTLE many projects, both cross-border and solely China-based, since I finished college in Scotland, I can't help but think that the Little Lazio, Italy M - info@sevendreams.net BASTARD Bastard story is rooted in my own experience of leaving China at the age of 15 and moving to the UK, and, while grappling with T - + 39 06 6873035 STARRY DOME PRODUCTIONS, INC. linguistic and cultural challenges, also reveling in the freedom of 3434 Wonder View Square, Los cross-border travel, adventure and discovery. Many directors from Angeles, 90068, CA, United States China have dabbled in movies — road trip comedies, romances M - eeliasoph@gmail.com and action adventure stories — that take characters from China to T - + 1 3108902619 farflung locales. But many of these have had a superficial, "picture Following a tragic accident that leaves postcard" quality. By contrast, I have actually lived in Europe for a young boy orphaned, a career- many years, and I would like to think that my film will have a certain crazed actress must make a cross- fresh authenticity as a result. continental journey to take up the most challenging role of her life -- MOM DIRECTOR’S PROFILE Born in Lanzhou, China, Difei Zhou left to study in the U.K. when he was 15. After graduating from the University of Edinburgh with majors in Arts and Film Directing, he embarked on a career in film and television production. His first job, as an assistant on the US PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS China co-production Karate Kid (2010) , which starred Jackie Chan, was representative of the sort of cross-border production in which Su Mo, an actress whose star is fading, would give anything to COUNTRY he thrives. Over the last decade, Difei has produced a wide range succeed in her career. Her husband moved to France years ago, China, Italy, France of both film and tv projects. As his feature debut, Little Bastard will and now her marriage exists in name only. While rehearsing for be a showcase for his bilingual and bicultural fluency. PRODUCER her new film, she receives an urgent call: her husband has died Maria Cucinotta, Ellen R Eliasoph in a car accident. She flies to France, only to learn that there was a woman in the car who also died in the crash. She finds COMPANY PROFILE PRODUCTION COMPANY Ellen R Eliasoph | Producer her way to her husband’s flat and is shocked to discover a young Seven Dreams Production Seven Dreams Production is the production shingle of Maria Grazia boy, Alex, waiting there for his parents to come home. Su Mo Starry Dome Productions, Inc. Cucinotta (born 27 July 1968). Maria is an Italian actress who has also discovers a practical problem: her husband left his legacy DIRECTOR featured in many films and television series since 1990. She has to Alex, with whom she has no blood ties. She decides to travel Difei Zhou also worked as a producer, screenwriter and model. Cucinotta with Alex to Sicily, where his maternal grandfather lives, to fight was born in Messina, Province of Messina, Sicily, Italy. She is well WRITER for what she deserves. known in Italy as a movie and television actress, but internationally Difei Zhou Su Mo is by turns frustrated and amused by her naughty she is best known for her roles in Il Postino and as GENRE companion. Alex keeps asking where his parents have gone. the Bond girl, credited as the Cigar Girl, in the James Bond film The Comedy, Family, Road Trip Su Mo finally says they’ve “gone to hell”. But as they get to know World Is Not Enough. each other in the course of their trip, she is moved by this quirky TOTAL BUDGET Starry Dome Productions is the production shingle of Ms. Ellen kid, and Alex comes to appreciate this odd, unpredictable € 4-5 M woman. Ruth Eliasoph, an award-winning international producer who FINANCING IN PLACE When he finally learns his parents have died, he breaks down, works principally in the Chinese and Australian film industries. Ms. Difei Zhou | Writer & Director €2M arousing Su Mo's hidden maternal instincts. Eliasoph's notable productions include Stephen Chow's Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, Zhang Yimou's Shadow, Larry LOOKING FOR Yang's Mountain Cry, Teng Congcong's Send me to the Clouds, Co-production, Financing, Filming and Wen Shipei's upcoming Killing Time. Ms. Eliasoph is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as well as the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts. 12 13
ALL GENRES PROJECT MARKET DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS With thriller, horror snuff and action genre aiming to draw SWALLOW WINGS FILMS attractiveness from the film audience, I'm ready to make a 7F-6, No.76 Kunming St., Wan Hwa R-rated film to show the extreme situation the characters Dist., Taipei, 108003, Taipei City, LOW-END confront in such a "low-end." On one hand, I would like to bring more audience to attach migrant workers issue by genre and Taiwan M - pacificoceansy@gmail.com entertaining elements. T - + 886 23610873 On the other hand, I want to stand out the fact that how these ordinary and innocent people are driven crazy by the terrible environments, which help us to reflect the social class issue. DIRECTOR’S PROFILE Four illegal foreign migrant workers imprisoned in one basement get Graduated from Taipei National University of the Art, Lai has a involved in terrible murder caused of splendid and complete filmography with works including short, affairs. How could they find help in commercial, documentary, film and series. Futhermore, he time without identity has won Golden Harvest Award, Golden Bell Award as well as Taipei Film Award. His short Panic House earned attention of International Film Festival Rotterdam. After serving as executive director of See You Tomorrow, his feature film Stand Albert Yao | Producer By Me also screened in 2019. PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS COMPANY PROFILE Four foreign migrant workers lived in one basement during the Swallow Wings Films Co., Ltd., founded in 1976, is a film COUNTRY transfer period. They have different backgrounds and reasons company that both distributes and produces motion pictures. Taiwan and no choice but to work in Taiwan. One is Yanni, a 42-year-old Swallow Wings Films distributes award winning films, including PRODUCER mother from Indonesia, another is a handsome 23-year-old guy Farhadi’s A Separation, Donnersmarck’s The Lives of Others, Albert Yao Homer, also from Indonesia, and the other two are a 25-year-old Haneke's Amour, Free Solo, The Legend of 1900, etc. man Jinxiong and a 22-year-old hot girl Sile, both from Vietnam. Among Mandarin film releases are Tsai Ming- Liang’s The PRODUCTION COMPANY The four people doesn’t really know each other and put together Wayward Cloud, Hou Hsiao-Hsien‘s Three Times, Chang Tso-chi’s Swallow Wings Films by the intermediary Zhaocheng Liu temporarily. Two young guys Thanatos, Drunk, Lou Ye’s Spring Fever. In 2017, Swallow Wings DIRECTOR quickly start to get Sile’s attention while she is extremely sexy. In Films produced The Last Painting, A Fish Out of Water, and Blood Meng-Chieh Lai conflict, Jinxiong accidentally and seriously injures Homer. Yanni Amber, all of which were selected in notable international film WRITER and Sile quickly stops him and ties violent Jinxiong to a chair. festivals. Meng-Chieh Lai, Shi-Hsien Chang After calming down, Jinxiong regrets and wants to call ambulance GENRE to save Homer immediately. Of course, Homer is eagerly to do Asian, Thriller, Crime, Action the same thing. However, the problem is: both Yanni and Sile refuse to call the police while they are runaway workers and they TOTAL BUDGET will do anything to ensure they can keep working in Taiwan for $ 660,000 their family...finally, who can really escape from the basement FINANCING IN PLACE after all the tension and contradiction? $ 100,000 LOOKING FOR Co-production, Financing, Sales Agent, Festival 14 15
ALL GENRES PROJECT MARKET DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS I’m always looking to tell stories that pique my own curiosity, and WAYANG WORKS this one deals with an untold, and potentially even taboo issue. A-11-16 Pinnacle PJ, Petaling Jaya, But I am deeply intrigued by the journey of a character like Bayu. 46200, Selangor, Malaysia MAYANG She has always been a practising Muslim but finds her faith challenged when her husband is lost at sea. How deep must M - mo@wayangworks.com priyawork100@gmail.com that desire, love and belief be so that one turns away from what T - + 60 143488123 has always been the right path? + 17 6576510 Being an avid fan of supernatural dramatic films, I find this story most fitting to mark my first foray into the genre. I have long stayed away due to an uncanny reason for sure. Even as we speak, and develop this film, there have been unexplained After losing her husband at sea, Bayu bumps and thumps in the darkest of the nights, and nights of starts experiencing mysterious calls waking up in cold sweat at 3am. by the 7 goddesses, testing her faith And as they say, the best stories are the ones that are usually the and leading her to believe that she can hardest to tell. bring him back to life. DIRECTOR’S PROFILE With her debut feature Motif, Nadiah Hamzah has been hailed Mo Bahir | Producer as “one to watch” by The Hollywood Reporter. Her anti-bullying film for Save The Children, exploded online and has earned her PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS a win at the Adfest, The One Show, and a Cannes Lion. Nadiah Hamzah was born and raised in Penang, Malaysia. On the 40th day of losing her husband at sea, Bayu returns to COUNTRY After a brief stint as a copywriter in McCann Erickson, she the seaside town of Kuala Terengganu to recover her husband’s Malaysia enrolled in film school and graduated with an MFA (Film & TV) missing boat. However as she gets closer to the coast, a familiar from Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.. PRODUCER sensation begins to overcome her - something she has felt Muhammad Bahir, Priya Narayanan before as a child growing close to the beach, and she felt it again PRODUCTION COMPANY when she first came to look for her husband. But this time the COMPANY PROFILE feeling is much stronger. Wayang Works Wayang Works is a film company based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. As everyone else begins the process of accepting his demise, DIRECTOR We are in a unique position where the director’s creative freedom Bayu begins to feel as if her husband is back with her. At times Nadiah Hamzah | Director Nadiah Hamzah is encouraged, but commercial sensibility is never forgotten. This it seems so real, physical changes begin to happen. puts us in a place where commercials, music videos and films WRITER The song Ulek Mayang catches her attention. It did not seem can coexist, and our directors provided the space to create truly Sharifah Mayang Marhaeni Syed much at first, the melody is too familiar. But behind the engaging content with fresh ideas that are not tied to a specific Ahmad serenading verses praising sea goddesses, the song is very medium or trend. GENRE forthright with its intention, calling upon the spirits of the seas. Supernatural, Psychological Drama Resolute to save her husband, Bayu begins uncovering the existence of the sea goddesses and along the way questions her TOTAL BUDGET own religious convictions. Mayang is a story about a woman who € 212,766 is strong in her belief, struggling to make sense of the intersection FINANCING IN PLACE between the old world and the new world. € 50,400 LOOKING FOR Priya Narayanan | Producer Co-production, Financing, Sales Agent, Festival 16 17
ALL GENRES PROJECT MARKET DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS Ordeal of roses where the echoes of the 1900s resonate like HARAKIRI FILMS LLC MISHIMA, ghosts in the chaos of a post-pandemic scenario. A grotesque and moving neon thriller set between Italy and Japan, dedicated 1-6-6-403 Baika, Konohana Ku, Osaka, 554-0013, Japan THE ROSES to lovers of Asian cinema, pop culture and Italian genre films, in which La Strada and Sonatine meet the 80s hard-boiled movies, M - taroimai79@gmail.com T - + 81 8031574496 OF VENDETTA with a dose of dark humor and suspense. The fate of MISHIMA, iconic heroine fighting against the yakuza to avenge her parents, changes forever when her blood-soaked path crosses that of the man she falls in love with: ERVIS, an unlikely Italian amateur singer obsessed with Presley, forced to smuggle an illegal miracle drug by a gang of bodybuilders led by a masked Only the two men she loves can influencer known as Myss Zeitgeist. help Mishima take her revenge: the Ultimately the theme of the film unveils exploring their Japanese sumoka who saved her and relationship with power. A struggle for dignity, in the realisation an Italian singer forced to smuggle an of one's art, of becoming oneself. illegal serum dressed as Elvis Presley. DIRECTOR’S PROFILE His latest film Lucania, Land Blood and Magic premiered Taro Imai | Producer in L.A. winning numerous awards like Best Foreign Film in Houston, Best Film at Social World Fest, the Hero and Time PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS Award in Russia. Both on Amazon Prime, his feature debut Babylon Sisters Since her mother’s suicide Mishima lived away from her yakuza COUNTRY screened over thirty festivals becoming the poster of BFI father, now gone missing. In the attempt to avenge him Mishima Japan, Italy London Film Festival 2017. A London Film School and Berlinale is abducted by Osaka boss Reiji Imai in retaliation for wounding Talents. Campus Alumni his short films won him an internship at PRODUCER his son Kazuo. During her imprisonment she finds an ally in her Universal Studios L.A. Winner of Torino Film Lab 2012 and the Taro Imai jailer Jumonji, a former sumo wrestler. One night she meets Solinas Prize 2018. Author of documentaries, The Road to Kabul Ervis, an Italian amateur singer obsessed with Presley forced to PRODUCTION COMPANY was awarded Best War Doc of Italian TV. smuggle an illegal drug for a pharmaceutical company run by Harakiri Films LLC a gang of bodybuilders. Once in Japan, after his show at Imai’s DIRECTOR nightclub Ervis is awarded a night with Mishima. Spellbound by COMPANY PROFILE Gigi Roccati | Director Gigi Roccati her beauty, Ervis decides to rescue her and the two escape to Harakiri Films is an independent feature film production company WRITER Italy. Living on the run on Ervis’ motorbike they’re hunted by based in Osaka. It focuses on low budget international co- Gigi Roccati, Shogo Yasukawa, the Metalife mob led by a masked influencer known as Myss production and local original films targeting theatrical distribution Diego Malara Zeitgeist. Also a fierce music producer, she pardons Ervis and and film festivals. It was founded by Taro Imai in 2015 in order to GENRE offers the couple a contract with her label. As their restless love reincarnate the filmmaking scene in Osaka. For Harakiri Films, Thriller, Musical, Black Comedy grows into alienation, Mishima begins to plan her vendetta and development of unique stories and theatrical distribution are 2 Ervis is unwillingly transformed into a popstar. But when Kazuo TOTAL BUDGET important keys as we are storytellers to deliver good stories to Imai shows up with his gangsters to bring the girl back to Japan, € 1,5 M our audience. As the name of Harakiri Films resembles, we are Ervis and Jumonji will help avenge in blood the ordeal endured committed filmmakers, and we believe in that screenwriting, FINANCING IN PLACE by Mishima. acting, and directing are 3 fundamental factors in filmmaking. Its € 86,531 second feature film, Eriko, Pretended was released theatrically in LOOKING FOR Japan and in Thailand in 2018. In 2018, the company became a Co-production, Financing limited liability company. 18 19
ALL GENRES PROJECT MARKET DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS When I shot a film in Taiwan in 2014, 21-year-old Cheng Chieh POTOCOL stabbed as many people as he could on the subway. While his 2 Marina Boulevard #52-06 The Sail younger brother supported him, his parents publicly begged the @ Marina Bay, Singapore, 128042, PIERCE government to execute him. Having grown up with an older autistic brother, I wrote Pierce Singapore M - jeremy@potocol.co to explore our sibling relationship. When I was young, not sam@potocol.co understanding my brother’s condition, I idealized him to be a T - + 65 91909169 loving, caring older brother. It was only when I grew up that I + 65 81281214 realized our relationship was made up in my head, and I would never know if my brother actually loved me. Accepting this has been a painful journey for me, and is the same one Jie takes in When his dangerous older brother is Pierce. released from jail, high school fencer As an ex-national fencer, I felt that fencing mirrors the intensity JIE believes Brother has changed of the family dynamics. Aurally, I imagine the tense family scenes and helps him, defying their mother’s to be extremely quiet, in contrast to the loud fencing training and attempts to bury his existence. competitions full of piercing screams. DIRECTOR’S PROFILE Jeremy Chua | Producer Nelicia Low is a ex-National fencer and writer-director based in Singapore and Taiwan. In 2018, she received her MFA in PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS Film Directing at Columbia University. Her short film Freeze premiered at the 2016 Clermont-Ferrand ISFF and screened at High school fencer JIE (17) is shunned by his teammates after COUNTRY over 70 international film festivals including Busan ISFF, Taipei his disturbed older BROTHER (24), once a fencing champion, Singapore, Taiwan, Poland Golden Horse IFF and Brussels ISFF. She was chosen for New was sent to jail for a monstrous crime. Their widowed MOTHER Waves: Emerging Voices of Southeast Asia. PRODUCER (45) is determined to bury their family’s traumatic past and She is an alumni of Talents Tokyo 2020 where Pierce won Jeremy Chua, Sam Chua hides the truth from her wealthy boyfriend ZHUANG (50). Special Mention Award, Full Circle Lab Philippines 2020, Le When mother and son find out Brother will be released, Mother PRODUCTION COMPANY Groupe Ouest’s LESS IS MORE 2019 and SGIFF’s Southeast arranges to send him away but Jie goes behind her back to see Potocol Asian Film Lab 2018. him. Brother appears regretful for the way he treated Jie as a DIRECTOR child, and though doubtful of Brother's sincerity, Jie is desperate Sam Chua | Producer Nelicia Low for a relationship with Brother and decides to give him a chance. COMPANY PROFILE WRITER Jie steals money for Brother, and in return gets fencing lessons, Founded in 2014 by film producer and screenwriter Jeremy Chua, Nelicia Low improving drastically. Potocol focuses on coproduction of Asian films. It has produced GENRE Realising her sons have reconnected, Mother furiously or co-produced A Yellow Bird by K. Rajagopal (Cannes Critics’ Drama, Thriller reports Brother to his prison officer, jeopardizing his freedom. Week 2016), A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery by Lav Diaz (Silver The brothers retaliate by threatening to reveal the truth to TOTAL BUDGET Bear, Berlinale Competition 2016), Brotherhood by Pepe Diokno Zhuang. Just as they all agree to find a compromise, Brother € 750,000 (Karlovy Vary IFF 2016), A Family Tour by Ying Liang (Opening causes another violent fencing accident. As the National Film International Competition, Locarno IFF 2018) and Motel FINANCING IN PLACE Championships approach, Jie struggles to determine which Acacia by Bradley Liew (Tokyo IFF 2019), A Love Unknown by € 575,000 version of Brother is the genuine one, only to realize he might John Clang (2020 IFFR Bright Future), Death Of Nintendo by LOOKING FOR never know the truth. Raya Martin (Berlinale Generation 2020), and Rehana Maryam Co-production, Sales Agent, Noor (Cannes Un Certain Regard 2016). Nelicia Low | Director Festival 20 21
ALL GENRES PROJECT MARKET DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS THREE I lost my older brother last month. He was in Toronto, I was in Hong Kong. I could not travel back to Toronto for his funeral. The KENBIROLI FILMS LTD. G/F, 58B Nam Shan Village, FUNERALS online funeral brought our family and extended family together around the world. Sai Kung, 00000, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR China AND A My Jewish friend’s mother died in California during the height of the pandemic there but she was in Hong Kong at the time. M - ahkatlee@gmail.com T - + 852 9365 1350 WEDDING She couldn’t return for the funeral in the US. She had a virtual funeral and Shiva. She memorialized the story of her mother using a few simple photographs. I got to experience this moving and immersive experience. In normal times, few of us would cross oceans and national borders to attend a friend or their A Zoom funeral in Hong Kong sets off relative’s funeral. With virtual memorials, a hundred screens an interlocking story of people across pop up on the computer screen. The world becomes flat and the world, living the biggest events fascinating as we can reach into each other’s lives. These virtual of their lives through the computer rituals allows us to find our way to our humanity. screens. DIRECTOR’S PROFILE Kenneth Bi’s first film, Rice Rhapsody (2004) was in Kenneth Bi | Director & Writer competition at the Tokyo International Film Festival. It also won Best New Director at the Hong Kong Film Awards. PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS The Drummer (2007), was a co-production among Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Germany. It was selected for competition at HONG KONG COUNTRY the Sundance Film Festival. TONY(66)’s emotional virtual funeral brings together family Hong Kong SAR China In 2010, Bi directed GIRL$, a topical social drama. and friends around the world. Son RAY in Berlin and daughter In 2013, Bi crafted the neo-noir suspense thriller Control with PRODUCER CHARLOTTE in Taiwan. Two mysterious participants have their striking visual effects and a stellar cast led by Daniel Wu. Wish Katherine Lee cameras off. PISON and MIHOKO. You Were Here (2018) starring Faye Yu and Takao Osawa TOKYO PRODUCTION COMPANY marked Bi’s first Japanese co-production. Mihoko (32) is a hospital nurse who looks after a 7 year old Kenbiroli Films Ltd. Italian boy called ROMAN in isolation, lending him her iPad to COMPANY PROFILE DIRECTOR chat with his parents. When the boy dies, his parents call her Kenneth Bi iPad. Mihoko tells how Roman’s honest words about why she Kenbiroli Films is a Hong Kong based independent film Katherine Lee | Producer WRITER looks different than her siblings set her on a journey. production company. Its first 35mm feature film, Rice Rhapsody, Kenneth Bi BERLIN executive produced by Jackie Chan and starring Sylvia Chang RAY (30), knows Tony’s health is declining so he wants to get (20,30,40), Martin Yan, and Melanie Laurent was bestowed GENRE married soon. With the safety of everyone being in different “Top Ten Chinese Language Films of 2005” by the Chinese Drama countries, Ray can marry his partner, YOAL, an Israeli male Film Critics Association and earned Bi the “Best New Director TOTAL BUDGET Award” at the 25th Hong Kong Film Awards. The Drummer, cellist. Tony and the Jewish-in-laws in Israel surprise everyone $3M with their speeches. a co-production between Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Germany FINANCING IN PLACE BANGKOK garnered the distinction of being the first Chinese-language $ 50,000 PISON (25) is a policeman. He logs on to Tony’s memorial to film funded by Germany’s Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg as expose Tony’s past. Pison’s father was Tony’s partner and he well as the first film from Hong Kong and Taiwan selected for LOOKING FOR was murdered 25 years ago. Tony fled. Now that Tony is dead, competition at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was named Co-production Pison loses purpose. He holds a symbolic virtual memorial “Critics’ Pick” by the Hollywood Reporter. for his father at an AA online meeting. Afterwards, he refuses Kenbiroli Films is currently developing its first English language bribes, putting him in danger. TV series, Las Mulas and feature film Boxes. 22 23
FAR EAST IN PROGRESS PARTNER FAR EAST IN PROGRESS ADEMOKA P. 26 BIRD EYES P. 28 DAY TRIPPER P. 30 REBORN P. 32 ZOMBIE CRUSH IN HEYRI P. 34
FAR EAST IN PROGRESS DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS Social films don't have to be heavy and sad, the audience - and KAZAKHFILM JSC the filmmakers - have the choice to embrace a certain lightness, Kazakhstan no matter how important the subject. M - kinostudia_kaz@mail.ru ADEMOKA The film focuses on the personalities of the characters, on the people. A minimum of effects, music and action: nothing should SHORT BROTHERS LLC Kazakhstan distract the viewer from the people. Their feelings and inner M - kinostudia_kaz@mail.ru struggle come first. ARIZONA PRODUCTIONS Every person has to deal with routine problems every day. France The struggle that a person has inside. And at first sight it is M - guillaume@arizonafilms.net invisible. My mission is to see the inner world of Ademoka and his teacher Akhab behind the daily course of things. A young girl, Ademoka, wants to go to These two people are exactly opposite to each other. But at the school but her status as Lyuli, a kind of same time, they are similar. They love art, they seek the beauty gypsy from Central Asia, destines her and grandeur of literature; and both are in search of knowledge. to begging - except for a few people Akhab sees that this is his unseen achievement - to beat the who will help her. system and help Ademoka become educated. This is finally the ultimate goal of his life. DIRECTOR’S PROFILE Guillaume De Seille | Producer Adilkhan Yerzhanov is a film director and scriptwriter. He was PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS born in Djezkazgan city of Kazakhstan on August, 7, 1982. In 2009 he graduated from Kazakh National Academy of Arts Fifteen-year-old Ademoka arrives with her entire Lyuli family COUNTRY with the major in “Film directing”. from Tajikistan to beg in Kazakhstan. A customs officer notices Kazakhstan, France her talent for drawing and writing, which gives her the idea to try PRODUCER to get into school. COMPANY PROFILE Olga Khlasheva, Serik Abishev, The surly principal considers all Lyuli to be potential thieves, Short Brothers LLC, film production company, founded in 2004 Guillaume De Seille so he turns Ademoka away. But a discreet woman directs the by Serik Abishev and Adilkhan Yerzhanov. young woman to a rather unusual teacher, Akhab. Alcoholic and PRODUCTION COMPANY Production and International promotion of all short and full- idle, he starts by robbing her of her meager earnings and then, Kazakhfilm JSC, Short Brothers, length feature films & one documentary by Adilkhan Yerzhanov. upon reading what she has written, finally decides to help her Arizona Productions Olga Khlasheva | Producer get into college. DIRECTOR Arizona Productions, Paris based, is led by Guillaume de Seille After some epic lessons, during a shooting or a short stay in Adilkhan Yerzhanov to mainly produce and coproduce art-house feature films prison, Akhab insists on the school to recognize the girl's talent. directed by non- French emerging talents. Between two dawns WRITER She finally graduates and learns that her teacher lost his wife by Selman Nacar (Turkey) Ademoka by Adilkhan Yerzhanov Adilkhan Yerzhanov and daughter in an accident for which he was responsible. (Kazakhstan), Kerr by Tayfun Pirselimoglu (Turkey), After the LOOKING FOR Ademoka finally gets the right to study at the university. winter by Ivan Bakrac (Montenegro), Ulbolsyn by Adilkhan Gap Financing, Festival Release, Sales Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan), Tallinn Black Nights Netpac award Agent, Italian Distributor 2020. Yellow cat by Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan), Venice Orizzonti 2020. The island within by Ru Hasanov (Azerbaijan), Sarajevo best director 2020. A dark, dark man by Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan), San Sebastian competition 2019. Oleg by Juris Kursietis (Latvia), Cannes Directors Fortnight 2019. 26 27
FAR EAST IN PROGRESS philosophies of its makers can be seen and felt. And I do COMPANY CONTACTS sincerely believe that we all live our lives according to what we think is the next right decision, like characters in a film. In Return ARKEOFILMS of the Owl, retired director-screenwriter Leonor tries to write and The Philippines BIRD revise her life in ways that she can, and she does it through her M - monster@arkeofilms.com mariocornejo99@gmail.com imagination — fiction that she materializes through this film that EYES she tries to complete. Growing up in Manila, I vividly remember that our President was literally an action star leading a country. Now it makes sense. This film therefore is a concretization of cinema’s effect on people - how it can blur our realities and how it can create them. DIRECTOR’S PROFILE Leonor Reyes, a retired filmmaker, gets hit in the head by a television and falls Martika Ramirez Escobar was born in Manila in 1992. Her into a coma that transports her into an love for the bizarre is best reflected through her films and unfinished film she tries to complete. photographs. After graduating with honors from the University of the Philippines, her thesis film Stone Heart, competed at the 19th Busan International Film Festival. The following year, it won Best Film at the 11th Cinemalaya. Her latest film Living Things won her the Best Director award at the 16th Cinemalaya. Mario Cornejo | Producer She is an alumna of the Berlinale Talents Tokyo, Asian Film Academy, Southeast Asian Film Lab, Luang Prabang Talent PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS Lab, Fantastic Film School, Mowelfund Film Institute and is a Leonor Reyes was the only Filipino woman who wrote action recipient of the Purin Pictures Film Fund. COUNTRY films in the ‘80s. Now, 72 years old, she lives in a cluttered Most of her work, including her first feature Return of the Owl, The Philippines apartment with her son, Rudie, who has plans of migrating to which and first documentary feature Tell Me About Darkness PRODUCER join his boyfriend. which participated in the Asiadoc Residency, are self-reflexive Mario Cornejo, Monster Jimenez After a heated argument with Rudie, and a visit from her dead films about her relationship with cinema. son, Ronwaldo, Leonor eyes an ad inthe newspaper: Isapelikula She is currently working as a freelance director-cinematographer PRODUCTION COMPANY - turn your words into movies - and decides to write again. for various local and international productions. Arkeofilms About to complete her long unfinished script, a television DIRECTOR lands on Leonor’s head, causing her to fall into a coma. While Monster Jimenez | Producer Martika Ramirez Escobar COMPANY PROFILE confined in the hospital, she is transported into the film that is WRITER playing on the television. Leonor wakes up inside the world of a Arkeofilms is a company based in Manila and founded in 2000. Martika Ramirez Escobar classic macho 1980s Filipino action flick, featuring her dead son Arkeofilms takes its place as one of the country’s leaders in Ronwaldo, whose sudden disappearance propels her to become independent filmmaking. Our short and full-length features LOOKING FOR the selfsacrificing hero of the film. At this point, Leonor’s body have been screened in film festivals and have won awards Gap Financing, Festival Release, Sales vanishes into thin air, and the lines between her action fantasy and recognition from the local industry, critics and the press. Agent, Italian Distributor and unforgiving reality begin to blur. Our projects in development have been awarded funding from national agencies and institutions and have been selected for special programs and workshops abroad. Today, the company is DIRECTOR’S NOTE pursuing international coproduction for its upcoming full-length Life has always appealed to me as an unusually long film — a features. temporary contained thing with characters, a plot, sounds and Martika Ramirez Escobar | Director images, and myself a “director” who tries to navigate what it is that I want to happen in this narrative we call life. Its complexity, I think is best shown and shared through cinema, where the 28 29
FAR EAST IN PROGRESS DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS What happens during a day is like a meaningless roaming, FACTORY GATE FILMS people work hard in their daily life, but there is nothing they China DAY can control. However, the tone of the film is not that heavy, but humorous M - huangxufeng@gongchangdamen.com TRIPPER and absurd. We can watch the present society of China in a slightly playful and ironic way through the film. DIRECTOR’S PROFILE Yanqi Chen, director, writer and sometimes editor, was born in 1990, Harbin, China. He was graduated from London Film School in 2016. His graduation film The Road won the Best Student Film at the 6th UK Film Festival. Three years later, he It’s all the same story. People try to made another short film named Deep Sleep, which was selected survive in the world they were born. in the Beijing International Short Film Festival in 2019, and reached the final shortlist of Director’s Fortnight in 2020. Apart from his short works, he has been working on the feature project Day Tripper since 2017. The project has won a prize at the Project Market at FIRST Film Festival and was one of the top Sunan Lin | Producer 10 projects of CFDG Young Director Support Program of China. 2019 Deep Sleep (short, fiction.) - Director/Writer/Editor PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS 2016 The Road (short, fiction.) - Director/Writer/Editor 2013 Underground (short, documentary.) - Director High school boy Fan will spend an ordinary day in the wintry COUNTRY city of Harbin. His father finds his position replaced by a young China person. COMPANY PROFILE PRODUCER He doesn't know where to go. Factory Gate Films is a production company founded in 2017 Xufeng Huang His mother wants a new life and to break up with her secret by veteran film lovers and experienced professionals from lover. All of his classmates are numbly arranged in the cold PRODUCTION COMPANY different branches of the cinema industry. With a production schoolyard. A young teacher is trying to change the traditional Factory Gate Films lineup blending arthouse and commercial work of acclaimed education system. At a remote bus stop, people wait all day for DIRECTOR and upcoming directors, Factory Gate’s mission is to produce a bus that seems to never arrive. The owner of a barbershop Liang Ying | Producer Yanqi Chen unique and high quality films for both Chinese and international forces his barbers to go outside to grab customers. While a audiences, with an emphasis on scouting and fostering new WRITER barbecue shop owner is transforming his shop into a nightclub. directors and talents. Yanqi Chen When night falls, all these people end their day and come to the Factory Gate’s production line-up includes Summer Blur by Han LOOKING FOR new nightclub. They lose themselves in the gorgeous illusion. Shuai (Berlinale Generation Best Film, Busna Fipresci Award), Gap Financing, Festival Release, Damp Season by Gao Ming (IFFR), Balloon by Pema Tseden Sales Agent, Italian Distributor (Venice Orizzonti, 2019), Dwelling In The Fuchun Mountains by Gu Xiaogang (Cannes Critics' Week, 2019), The Return by Fang Liang (FIRST FF) and Mr. Big (Beijing IFF Best Documentary Award) amongst others. 30 31
FAR EAST IN PROGRESS The story takes place in the county seat of Guizhou Province in COMPANY CONTACTS the middle of summer, probably because Guizhou is the place where the character archetypes are produced, which naturally FACTORY GATE FILMS SAILING fits the atmosphere of the story. Its many ethnic minorities, China M - huangxufeng@gongchangdamen.com simple and fierce folk customs coexist, jumbled with numerous SONG cultures and legends. liangplusying@gmail.com OF JUNE DIRECTOR’S PROFILE Chen Yanbin, director and script writer, was born in Guizhou in 1992. He once worked on set as 1st AD, producer, production manager, screenplay supervisor and post-production supervisor. He was the producer of Uncle and House and the 1st AD of Ran who returns to hometown with Butter Lamp (nominated at Oscars). Sailing Song of June is his father to avoid creditors, accidentally debut feature. meets a girl nicknamed "Siren". Along with the disappearance of his father, the story starts PRODUCERS PROFILE HUANG Xufeng’s filmography as Producer: Mr. Big by Tong Shengjia (Beijing IFF Best Documentary 2018), Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains by Gu Xiaogang (Cannes Critics’ Week Liang Ying | Producer 2019), Balloon by Pema Tseden (Venice Orizzonti 2019), Damp Season by Gao Ming (IFFR 2020), Stars Await Us by Zhang Dalei PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS (Pingyao IFF 2020), Summer Blur (Busan Fipresci Prize 2020, Ran returns to his hometown with his father to avoid their Berlin Generation Best Film 2021), Ripples of Life (Cannes COUNTRY creditors. At the new school, Ran accidentally meets Linwen, Directors’ Fortnight 2021). China a forthright, estranged and mysterious girl nicknamed “Siren”. As Executive Producer: A Trophy on the Sea by Ju An’qi (Pingyao PRODUCER The two of them, with very different personalities, help each IFF 2020) Xufeng Huang. Ying Liang other get out of their troubles in this underdeveloped town of China full of juvenile delinquents, illegal loans and superstition. LIANG Ying’s filmography as Producer: Dwelling in the Fuchun PRODUCTION COMPANY Mountains by Gu Xiaogang (Cannes Critics’ Week 2019), They become closer, but Ran’s expectation of intimate Factory Gate Films Summer Blur (Busan Fipresci Prize 2020, Berlin Generation relationship was never allowed by her. One day, Ran’s father’s DIRECTOR body is found in the river outside the town. Devastated, he Best Film 2021), Ripples of Life (Cannes Directors’ Fortnight Yanbin Chen believes the debt collectors must be involved. By chasing the 2021). WRITER murderers, he puts himself in danger and gets hurt. Linwen As Executive Producer or Associate Producer: Ta’ang by Wang Yanbin Chen decides to help Ran by her way: she confess her pain and Bing (Berlin Forum 2016), Shanghai Youth by Wang Bing (Venice sickness, then sets off before dawn… Orizzonti 2016), Chinese Portrait by Wang Xiaoshuai (Busan LOOKING FOR 2018), Balloon by Pema Tseden (Venice Orizzonti 2019), Damp Gap Financing, Festival Release, Season by Gao Ming (IFFR 2020), Stars Await Us by Zhang Dalei Sales Agent, Italian Distributor DIRECTOR’S NOTE (Pingyao IFF 2020). This is a real reflection of the current social ecology, can only take place in Guizhou folk culture under the youth growth film. Many characters in the film can find in Guizhou, and each one is fresh and interesting. The style, interpersonal network and behavior logic of these characters converge into the ecology of the county, and the process of dealing with the social relations around each characters in this ecology interweaves into the so- called "story". 32 33
FAR EAST IN PROGRESS DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS I believe everyone will experience the painful loss of their loved JAZZY PICTURES (M) SDN BHDL ones when they reach a certain age. It is a pain that hurt ones Malaysia deeply into their heart. However, everyone has different ways to M - joanne@jazzygroup.com REBORN deal with it. Some people choose to cry everyday and takes a while to stay calm, whereas some people choose not to accept their loved ones have passed their lives thus unable to relieve from it. So, I want to explore the psychological state of these people, they will feel regret that they did not treat their loved ones properly, they will try to find ways to make up for their regrets when they lose them, and even fall into the extreme! They might escape and even having delusional strange behaviour. What should we do as a spectator? Shall we follow? Or shall we pretend that we do not At this moment, she remembered the know anything about it? strange content which she had seen on social media... DIRECTOR’S PROFILE Danny Pang is one of the Pang brothers. Pang started his career as an editor working on numerous Hong Kong films such as The Storm Riders and the Infernal Affairs series, he also wrote and Joanne Goh | Producer directed Neung Buak Neung Pen Soon (also known as 1+1=0 or Nothing To Lose). PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS Haohua is having dinner with his wife, Xueqing and their son, COMPANY PROFILE COUNTRY Xiaoyun. Xueqing is a mother who strongly cares about her Jazzy Pictures (M) Sdn Bhd is an established film and TV content Malaysia, China children's health, therefore most of the food that she cooked production company based in Malaysia. Ms. Joanne Goh founded PRODUCER is vegetarian. However, Xiaoyun did not like to eat these foods the company in early 2017, with a mission to produce highquality Joanne Goh much. Suddenly, Xiaoyun told Xueqing that his chest is not feeling films to bring the name of the company and Malaysian film and TV well, Xueqing is very nervous and quickly apply some ointment PRODUCTION COMPANY industry to the international market. on Xiaoyun's chest. Haohua advised Xueqing to take Xiaoyun Jazzy Pictures (M) Sdn Bhdl Jazzy Pictures is also one of the independent film distributors to the doctor as he thinks that the ointment does not work. One DIRECTOR in Malaysia. The company is comprised of a committed team of day, Xueqing is preparing dinner in the kitchen, and Xiaoyun Danny Pang film enthusiasts; they are aspired to bring in more diverse movies is standing behind her covered his chest. His nose is blooding for the domestic movie industry. As a dynamic film production WRITER endlessly but Xueqing did not notice it. Xiaoyun falls down and company, Jazzy Pictures strives to continually discover new Danny Pang Xueqing is completely at a loss when she turns around to see the talents to deliver fresh and relevant content for the local and LOOKING FOR situation. Unluckily the doctor informs the death of Xiaoyun to international audience. To expand the local film and TV projects Festival Release, Sales Agent both Haohua and Xueqing. abroad, Jazzy Pictures starts to engage in int. 34 35
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