Projects from South Korea, Japan and the Philippines among winners.
The Passport from Malaysian director Ananth Subramaniam has scooped the top Bucheon Award at the 16th Network of Asian Fantastic Films (Naff) project market, which runs alongside South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (Bifan).
The black comedy drama, produced by Bel Choo Mun of Malaysia’s Sixtymac Production and Idio Sync, received a cash prize of KRW15m.
Scroll down for full list of winners
Set in the 1970s, the story follows a budding Indian rock star set to embark on her first international tour but who experiences...
The Passport from Malaysian director Ananth Subramaniam has scooped the top Bucheon Award at the 16th Network of Asian Fantastic Films (Naff) project market, which runs alongside South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (Bifan).
The black comedy drama, produced by Bel Choo Mun of Malaysia’s Sixtymac Production and Idio Sync, received a cash prize of KRW15m.
Scroll down for full list of winners
Set in the 1970s, the story follows a budding Indian rock star set to embark on her first international tour but who experiences...
- 7/3/2023
- by Matt Schley
- ScreenDaily
The Bucheon film festival’s Network of Asian Fantastic Films project market wrapped up three days of meetings and pitching sessions on Monday with a prize ceremony that disbursed cash, post-production support and invitations to related genre film events.
“The Passport,” a Tamil- and English-language Malaysian project about an Indian rockstar who is forced to confront cultural expectations and her interactions with an imaginary friend, won the headline Bucheon Award for director Ananth Subramanian and producer Bel Choo Mun. It was both a popular choice among other Naff participants and the unanimous decision of the jury.
The numerical winner was “Please Bear With Me,” which saw director Gabriela Serrano and producer Gale Osorio from the Philippines collect three prizes. The project is a sci-fi and social issues mash-up about a call center operative who gets paid in dream-time and uses it to relive her glory days as a pop star.
“The Passport,” a Tamil- and English-language Malaysian project about an Indian rockstar who is forced to confront cultural expectations and her interactions with an imaginary friend, won the headline Bucheon Award for director Ananth Subramanian and producer Bel Choo Mun. It was both a popular choice among other Naff participants and the unanimous decision of the jury.
The numerical winner was “Please Bear With Me,” which saw director Gabriela Serrano and producer Gale Osorio from the Philippines collect three prizes. The project is a sci-fi and social issues mash-up about a call center operative who gets paid in dream-time and uses it to relive her glory days as a pop star.
- 7/3/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Previous projects include Cannes Critics’ Week winner ‘Tiger Stripes’.
South Korea’s Bucheon International Film Festival (Bifan), Asia’s largest genre film festival, has revealed 29 titles from 18 countries for this year’s Network of Asian Fantastic Films (Naff) project market.
The 17 titles selected for the It Project strand include Biraa from Taiwanese writer/director Bhaskar Hazarika, whose transgressive love story Ravening played Tribeca in 2019.
Scroll down for full list
Naff received 279 submissions from 40 countries, up nearly 30% from 217 projects in 2022. One-to-one meetings will take place with producers, investors, and distributors from June 30 to July 3.
This year, Naff will expand its support...
South Korea’s Bucheon International Film Festival (Bifan), Asia’s largest genre film festival, has revealed 29 titles from 18 countries for this year’s Network of Asian Fantastic Films (Naff) project market.
The 17 titles selected for the It Project strand include Biraa from Taiwanese writer/director Bhaskar Hazarika, whose transgressive love story Ravening played Tribeca in 2019.
Scroll down for full list
Naff received 279 submissions from 40 countries, up nearly 30% from 217 projects in 2022. One-to-one meetings will take place with producers, investors, and distributors from June 30 to July 3.
This year, Naff will expand its support...
- 5/31/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
At Variety’s 10 Producers to Watch panel, held March 31 at the Sun Valley Film Festival, the first order of business was defining what it means to be a producer, a title — and a role — that encapsulates a number of responsibilities on a film.
“The way that I describe it is you’ve got to know a little bit about a lot of things in filmmaking,” said Rachael Fung, whose film “Fremont” later won best narrative film in the festival’s One in a Million category, recognizing features made for less than $1 million. “You’ve got to be able to understand and talk to every single person that touches the film at every single stage. And also it’s about finding those directors and filmmakers and understanding their vision and figuring out the best way to get that to screen.”
“There are practical things like getting money for the movie, casting,...
“The way that I describe it is you’ve got to know a little bit about a lot of things in filmmaking,” said Rachael Fung, whose film “Fremont” later won best narrative film in the festival’s One in a Million category, recognizing features made for less than $1 million. “You’ve got to be able to understand and talk to every single person that touches the film at every single stage. And also it’s about finding those directors and filmmakers and understanding their vision and figuring out the best way to get that to screen.”
“There are practical things like getting money for the movie, casting,...
- 4/5/2023
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Variety Film + TV
On the heels of a successful in-person event that welcomed such stars as Woody Harrelson, Amy Poehler, Liev Schreiber and “Dopesick” creator Danny Strong, the 2022 Sun Valley Film Festival, which ran from March 30 to April 3, announced its juried film award winners.
Best narrative feature film went to “Linoleum,” directed by Colin West. “Holy Emy,” helmed by Araceli Lemos, received a special mention. Ron Howard’s “We Feed People” netted the fest’s audience award.
The winners were announced during the Idaho fest’s annual awards bash, which took place at Whiskey Jacques on Ketchum’s main drag of town, and was hosted by filmmaker Bobby Farrelly and comedian Hayes MacArthur, with a musical performance by the Nude Party.
Voting jury members at the fest included Jo Addy (global film and entertainment director of Soho House), Eric Bress, Trevor Groth (film financier at 30West) and producer Heather Rae.
Other awards went to “Mama Bears,...
Best narrative feature film went to “Linoleum,” directed by Colin West. “Holy Emy,” helmed by Araceli Lemos, received a special mention. Ron Howard’s “We Feed People” netted the fest’s audience award.
The winners were announced during the Idaho fest’s annual awards bash, which took place at Whiskey Jacques on Ketchum’s main drag of town, and was hosted by filmmaker Bobby Farrelly and comedian Hayes MacArthur, with a musical performance by the Nude Party.
Voting jury members at the fest included Jo Addy (global film and entertainment director of Soho House), Eric Bress, Trevor Groth (film financier at 30West) and producer Heather Rae.
Other awards went to “Mama Bears,...
- 4/4/2022
- by Malina Saval
- Variety Film + TV
A book of dreams, teenagers searching for buried treasure and a quest to digitally manufacture spiritual enlightenment constitute the intriguing ingredients of “Karmalink,” a fresh and highly entertaining sci-fi mystery-adventure set in a near-future Phnom Penh. Driven by Buddhist concepts of karma and rebirth, and underscored by commentary on Cambodia’s past, present and potential future, this striking feature debut by U.S. filmmaker Jake Wachtel takes viewers on a fascinating and frequently wondrous expedition to a place where science and metaphysics intersect.
“Karmalink” should enjoy a strong festival run and broad VOD distribution following its world premiere at Venice Critics’ Week. It has theatrical potential, especially in regional markets with substantial Buddhist populations. U.S. and Cambodian release details are yet to be announced.
Phnom Penh might not seem like the obvious setting for science-fiction, but it proves to be an ideal backdrop for a tale that anchors its...
“Karmalink” should enjoy a strong festival run and broad VOD distribution following its world premiere at Venice Critics’ Week. It has theatrical potential, especially in regional markets with substantial Buddhist populations. U.S. and Cambodian release details are yet to be announced.
Phnom Penh might not seem like the obvious setting for science-fiction, but it proves to be an ideal backdrop for a tale that anchors its...
- 9/2/2021
- by Richard Kuipers
- Variety Film + TV
It was on day four of a 10-day silent meditation retreat in Cambodia that Jake Wachtel began arranging ideas about reincarnation and implanted memories that had been fermenting in his mind for several months into what he calls a “fully-fledged movie.” That film would eventually become his feature debut Karmalink, a gripping and uniquely spun Khmer-language sci-fi mystery set in a near-future Phnom Penh that is now opening Venice’s Critics’ Week sidebar.
“I came out of that meditation retreat feeling like, whoa, I really like this idea now and want to put everything into it,” he says.
As well ...
“I came out of that meditation retreat feeling like, whoa, I really like this idea now and want to put everything into it,” he says.
As well ...
It was on day four of a 10-day silent meditation retreat in Cambodia that Jake Wachtel began arranging ideas about reincarnation and implanted memories that had been fermenting in his mind for several months into what he calls a “fully-fledged movie.” That film would eventually become his feature debut Karmalink, a gripping and uniquely spun Khmer-language sci-fi mystery set in a near-future Phnom Penh that is now opening Venice’s Critics’ Week sidebar.
“I came out of that meditation retreat feeling like, whoa, I really like this idea now and want to put everything into it,” he says.
As well ...
“I came out of that meditation retreat feeling like, whoa, I really like this idea now and want to put everything into it,” he says.
As well ...
International sales and aggregation outfit LevelK has picked up darkly funny feature “The Cake Dynasty,” toplining Anders Thomas Jensen regular Nicolas Bro. The feature is adapted from the eponymous stage play by debut director Christian Lollike.
One of Denmark’s most lauded contemporary playwrights and stage directors, Lollike is well-known for his topical and often politically-charged works staged in Europe, Australia and the U.S.
Co-written by Lollike and Sigrid Johannesen, “The Cake Dynasty” turns on debt-ridden cake factory owner Niels Agger whose numerous suicide attempts have failed miserably. His wife Else tries to save the factory by asking her daughter and son-in-law for help. The young business school graduates suggest a comprehensive modernisation of the factory, focusing on trendsetting healthy food. Stressed about these new ideas, Niels instead falls in love with the factory’s new cleaning lady, Zeinab, originally from Iraq.
Cast against Nicolas Bro as the crisis-stricken...
One of Denmark’s most lauded contemporary playwrights and stage directors, Lollike is well-known for his topical and often politically-charged works staged in Europe, Australia and the U.S.
Co-written by Lollike and Sigrid Johannesen, “The Cake Dynasty” turns on debt-ridden cake factory owner Niels Agger whose numerous suicide attempts have failed miserably. His wife Else tries to save the factory by asking her daughter and son-in-law for help. The young business school graduates suggest a comprehensive modernisation of the factory, focusing on trendsetting healthy food. Stressed about these new ideas, Niels instead falls in love with the factory’s new cleaning lady, Zeinab, originally from Iraq.
Cast against Nicolas Bro as the crisis-stricken...
- 8/25/2021
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
This year’s line-up includes five female directors in competition.
The line-up of the 78th Venice Film Festival (September 1-11) has been announced by festival president Roberto Cicutto and artistic director Alberto Barbera.
Scroll down for the full line-up
This year’s selection saw the festival take a backward step for gender balance, with five female directors selected in the main competition, down from last year’s eight. 26% of films in the overall line-up are directed by women, down from 28% in 2020.
The high-profile titles picked for competition this year include Pablo Larrain’s Spencer; Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand Of God...
The line-up of the 78th Venice Film Festival (September 1-11) has been announced by festival president Roberto Cicutto and artistic director Alberto Barbera.
Scroll down for the full line-up
This year’s selection saw the festival take a backward step for gender balance, with five female directors selected in the main competition, down from last year’s eight. 26% of films in the overall line-up are directed by women, down from 28% in 2020.
The high-profile titles picked for competition this year include Pablo Larrain’s Spencer; Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand Of God...
- 7/26/2021
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
Venice Critics’ Week to Open With U.S. Director Jake Wachtel’s Cambodia-set ‘Karmalink,’ Full Lineup
The Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week has unveiled its lineup of nine international first works, all of them world premieres, with U.S. director Jake Wachtel’s Cambodia-set Buddhist sci-fier “Karamalink,” set as the out-of-competition opener.
Set in a near-future Phnom Penh, “Karmalink” (pictured) is about a 13-year-old boy and his street-smart female friend who team up to search for a gold statue from the boy’s past lives, while traveling across town and also back in time.
Wachtel, who grew up in Palo Alto, started developing the film in 2015, while teaching filmmaking in Phnom Penh. He cast two former students as his leads and shot the film on location after living in their community for several years. Pic is produced by Los Angeles-based Valerie Steinberg Productions. Co-producers are Cambodian director-producer Sok Visal of 802 Films and Christopher Rompré of littleBIG Films.
In June U.S. company XYZ Films and...
Set in a near-future Phnom Penh, “Karmalink” (pictured) is about a 13-year-old boy and his street-smart female friend who team up to search for a gold statue from the boy’s past lives, while traveling across town and also back in time.
Wachtel, who grew up in Palo Alto, started developing the film in 2015, while teaching filmmaking in Phnom Penh. He cast two former students as his leads and shot the film on location after living in their community for several years. Pic is produced by Los Angeles-based Valerie Steinberg Productions. Co-producers are Cambodian director-producer Sok Visal of 802 Films and Christopher Rompré of littleBIG Films.
In June U.S. company XYZ Films and...
- 7/22/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Jake Wachtel’s debut feature deals with artificial consciousness and reincarnation.
Cambodia-us sci-fi Karmalink, the debut feature of director Jake Wachtel, will be the opening night film for the autonomous Critics’ Week section at Venice International Film Festival (September 1-11).
The film is written by Wachtel and Christopher Seán Larsen; it is produced by US first-time feature producer Valerie Steinberg for Valerie Steinberg Productions, whose previous credits include Sundance shorts Hair Wolf and Blocks, and Tribeca short Coffee Shop Names.
LevelK is handling world sales on the film, with XYZ Films handling North America.
Set in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh in the near-future,...
Cambodia-us sci-fi Karmalink, the debut feature of director Jake Wachtel, will be the opening night film for the autonomous Critics’ Week section at Venice International Film Festival (September 1-11).
The film is written by Wachtel and Christopher Seán Larsen; it is produced by US first-time feature producer Valerie Steinberg for Valerie Steinberg Productions, whose previous credits include Sundance shorts Hair Wolf and Blocks, and Tribeca short Coffee Shop Names.
LevelK is handling world sales on the film, with XYZ Films handling North America.
Set in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh in the near-future,...
- 7/22/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Cambodian sci-fi movie Karmalink has been named the opening night film of this year’s Venice International Film Critics’ Week, the sidebar competition running Sept. 1-11, parallel to the 2021 Venice International Film Festival.
Directed by Jake Wachtel in his directorial debut, Karmalink — set in a near-future Phnom Penh — deals with reincarnation, artificial consciousness, displacement of poor communities and augmented reality. The story follows a teenage boy who teams up with a street-smart girl from his neighborhood to untangle the mystery of his past-life dreams. What begins as a hunt for a Buddhist treasure soon leads to greater discoveries that will ...
Directed by Jake Wachtel in his directorial debut, Karmalink — set in a near-future Phnom Penh — deals with reincarnation, artificial consciousness, displacement of poor communities and augmented reality. The story follows a teenage boy who teams up with a street-smart girl from his neighborhood to untangle the mystery of his past-life dreams. What begins as a hunt for a Buddhist treasure soon leads to greater discoveries that will ...
- 7/22/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cambodian sci-fi movie Karmalink has been named the opening night film of this year’s Venice International Film Critics’ Week, the sidebar competition running Sept. 1-11, parallel to the 2021 Venice International Film Festival.
Directed by Jake Wachtel in his directorial debut, Karmalink — set in a near-future Phnom Penh — deals with reincarnation, artificial consciousness, displacement of poor communities and augmented reality. The story follows a teenage boy who teams up with a street-smart girl from his neighborhood to untangle the mystery of his past-life dreams. What begins as a hunt for a Buddhist treasure soon leads to greater discoveries that will ...
Directed by Jake Wachtel in his directorial debut, Karmalink — set in a near-future Phnom Penh — deals with reincarnation, artificial consciousness, displacement of poor communities and augmented reality. The story follows a teenage boy who teams up with a street-smart girl from his neighborhood to untangle the mystery of his past-life dreams. What begins as a hunt for a Buddhist treasure soon leads to greater discoveries that will ...
- 7/22/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
The list includes films from Liu Jian, E J-yong and Arvin Chen.
Source: The Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum
Haf meeting
The Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf) has announced this year’s line-up of 25 projects, which includes new titles from Liu Jian, E J-yong and Arvin Chen.
Chinese filmmaker Liu Jian, whose Have A Nice Day premiered in competition at the Berlinale last year, is attending Haf with his third animated feature, Art College, revolving around two art students in the 1990s.
Critically-acclaimed Korean director E J-yong (Bacchus Lady) is bringing The Big Picture, about a lawyer who kills a man and steals his identity, while Taiwan’s Arvin Chen (Au Revoir Taipei) will present Naïve Melody about an introverted young man who falls into a relationship with a brothel’s mama-san.
The line-up also includes new projects from China’s Emily Tang, Japan’s Tomina Tetsuya and three Indonesian filmmakers – Loeloe Hendra, Edwin and [link...
Source: The Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum
Haf meeting
The Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf) has announced this year’s line-up of 25 projects, which includes new titles from Liu Jian, E J-yong and Arvin Chen.
Chinese filmmaker Liu Jian, whose Have A Nice Day premiered in competition at the Berlinale last year, is attending Haf with his third animated feature, Art College, revolving around two art students in the 1990s.
Critically-acclaimed Korean director E J-yong (Bacchus Lady) is bringing The Big Picture, about a lawyer who kills a man and steals his identity, while Taiwan’s Arvin Chen (Au Revoir Taipei) will present Naïve Melody about an introverted young man who falls into a relationship with a brothel’s mama-san.
The line-up also includes new projects from China’s Emily Tang, Japan’s Tomina Tetsuya and three Indonesian filmmakers – Loeloe Hendra, Edwin and [link...
- 1/17/2018
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
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