FAR EAST FILM FESTIVAL 23 FOCUS ASIA INDUSTRY GUIDE INDUSTRY30 June - 2GUIDE July 2021 FOCUS ASIA & TTB / APRIL 29TH - MAY 3RD 30 1 2 FOCUS ASIA WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY 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 CASA DELLA CASA DELLA professional and artistic exchanges between Asia and Europe. 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 9.30 profiles of directors and producers, proving one of the main goals of the platform: to explore both the pre- 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 duction and financing partners through a series of individual meetings with all international attendees. & ALL GENRES PROJECT The only works-in-progress MARKET A fine selection of restored hits 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- (Screenwork Asia, Taiwan), Van Helm (Block 2 Distribution, France) in collaboration with grammers and buyers, and they will be in the running for the 108 MEDIA Distribution Award. Kana Koido (Klockworx, Japan), Hong Kong), Maxime Ties That Bind Thanks to the collaboration with European Film Promotion, Focus Asia 2021 will launch the first edition of Vincent Quek (Anticipated Vauthier, Louise Kerouanton 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 where professionals from all over the world will be able to meet, get to know each other and start shaping CO-PRODUCTIONS IN with Iole Maria Giannattasio AWARD GREATER CHINA together the films of the future. (Ministero della Cultura, with Vincent WANG (House On Direzione Generale Cinema e Focus Asia is organized by Centro Espressioni Cinematografiche with the collaboration of the Friuli Vene- Fire Productions, France) and Audiovisivo, Italy) and Federico zia Giulia Audiovisual Fund and with the support of MiC. It is developed in collaboration with the workshop 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 HAF to Focus Asia Ad_outlined 3mm bleeding.pdf 1 17/6/2021 10:55 AM

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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

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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 M - [email protected] value, treating life without any respect, our souls and ethnicity, 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 filmOndine’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 filmRed 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 Festival 2018 Competition Section, Up- and-Coming Director Japan 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 withLove 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 likeBayside 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 within him which he never realized and tries to regain his life GENRE Animated Short Film at 81st Academy Awards, the first Japanese back in a surprising way. Drama 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 seriesAlice in Borderland is now being distributed Sales Agent, Festival worldwide.

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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 90038, CA, United States flourished with the oil boom, but oil production has been in M - [email protected] slow decline since the last decade. Young people, including T - + 1 3109456585 VALLEY myself, have all moved out of the city to avoid the harsh climate 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 Film Festival, Asian American International Film Festival, Las COUNTRY are kind, simple, but live in a profound despair as the city’s Vegas International Film Festival, Anthology Film Archive in New United States, China 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 wells. People are ecstatic under the assumption it is oil, but the Anderson Le 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 EAST FILMS is a transpacific media company whose mission is to Shu Zu 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 apocalypse. “OASIS”: Through hypnosis, a pregnant farm owner G Wilson, Shu Zu industry, as global entertainment consumption becomes more recalls an encounter of alien abduction shortly after the meteor GENRE integrated, EAST serves as a bridge between the Asia-Pacific Rim crash. As her pregnancy progresses, a bizarre mutation takes Thriller, Sci-Fi, Art 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 infrastructure in Southeast Asia, to develop compelling stories $ 500,000 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.

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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. 20 Sheung Yuet Road, Hong Kong, Speaking incomprehensibly, they also act against one’s Hong Kong SAR China HOME conscience. We have been taught by the elderlies that you have M - [email protected] to turn a blind eye on somethings, just like river water doesn’t 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 includeHell Hole (2018) and Hell Bank Presents: Running Ghost (2020). He also directed short films such asCarry 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 even though they exist. After that, he isn’t bothered by ghosts PRODUCER mm2 Hong Kong is a film production and distribution anymore. When he gets old enough, he escapes Hong Kong to Mani Man 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. At the same time, our team also committed and actively DIRECTOR As he goes into his home, everything feels strange. One by Nate Ki | Director & Writer acquiring films from overseas for Hong Kong audiences. Nate Ki 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

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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 Lazio, Italy I finished college in Scotland, I can't help but think that theLittle M - [email protected] Bastard story is rooted in my own experience of leaving China at T - + 39 06 6873035 BASTARD the age of 15 and moving to the UK, and, while grappling with 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 - [email protected] 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 he thrives. Over the last decade, Difei has produced a wide range COUNTRY succeed in her career. Her husband moved to France years ago, of both film and tv projects. As his feature debut,Little Bastard will China, Italy, France 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 featured in many films and television series since 1990. She has DIRECTOR to Alex, with whom she has no blood ties. She decides to travel also worked as a producer, screenwriter and model. Cucinotta Difei Zhou 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 Su Mo is by turns frustrated and amused by her naughty Difei Zhou she is best known for her roles in Il Postino and as companion. Alex keeps asking where his parents have gone. GENRE the Bond girl, credited as the Cigar Girl, in the James Bond filmThe Su Mo finally says they’ve “gone to hell”. But as they get to know Comedy, Family, Road Trip World Is Not Enough. each other in the course of their trip, she is moved by this quirky TOTAL BUDGET kid, and Alex comes to appreciate this odd, unpredictable Starry Dome Productions is the production shingle of Ms. Ellen € 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 € 2 M arousing Su Mo's hidden maternal instincts. Eliasoph's notable productions include Stephen Chow's Journey to , Zhang Yimou's , Larry LOOKING FOR the West: Conquering the Demons Shadow 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.

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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 Taiwan more audience to attach migrant workers issue by genre and M - [email protected] 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’sThe 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

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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 M - [email protected] challenged when her husband is lost at sea. How deep must [email protected] 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 After a brief stint as a copywriter in McCann Erickson, she COUNTRY the seaside town of Kuala Terengganu to recover her husband’s enrolled in film school and graduated with an MFA (Film & TV) Malaysia 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 when she first came to look for her husband. But this time the COMPANY PROFILE PRODUCTION COMPANY 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, We are in a unique position where the director’s creative freedom DIRECTOR Bayu begins to feel as if her husband is back with her. At times Nadiah Hamzah | Director is encouraged, but commercial sensibility is never forgotten. This Nadiah Hamzah 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 much at first, the melody is too familiar. But behind the Sharifah Mayang Marhaeni Syed engaging content with fresh ideas that are not tied to a specific serenading verses praising sea goddesses, the song is very Ahmad 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

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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 1-6-6-403 Baika, Konohana Ku, and moving neon thriller set between Italy and Japan, dedicated Osaka, 554-0013, Japan THE ROSES to lovers of Asian cinema, pop culture and Italian genre films, in M - [email protected] which La Strada and Sonatine meet the 80s hard-boiled movies, T - + 81 8031574496 with a dose of dark humor and suspense. The fate of MISHIMA, OF VENDETTA 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 filmLucania, 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 screened over thirty festivals becoming the poster of BFI COUNTRY father, now gone missing. In the attempt to avenge him Mishima London Film Festival 2017. A London Film School and Berlinale Japan, Italy 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 jailer Jumonji, a former sumo wrestler. One night she meets Taro Imai 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- the Metalife mob led by a masked influencer known as Myss Gigi Roccati, Shogo Yasukawa, production and local original films targeting theatrical distribution Zeitgeist. Also a fierce music producer, she pardons Ervis and Diego Malara and film festivals. It was founded by Taro Imai in 2015 in order to offers the couple a contract with her label. As their restless love GENRE reincarnate the filmmaking scene in Osaka. For Harakiri Films, grows into alienation, Mishima begins to plan her vendetta and Thriller, Musical, Black Comedy 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, our audience. As the name of Harakiri Films resembles, we are € 1,5 M 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.

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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. Singapore Having grown up with an older autistic brother, I wrote Pierce M - [email protected] to explore our sibling relationship. When I was young, not [email protected] 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 filmFreeze premiered at the 2016 Clermont-Ferrand ISFF and screened at High school fencer JIE (17) is shunned by his teammates after over 70 international film festivals including Busan ISFF, Taipei COUNTRY his disturbed older BROTHER (24), once a fencing champion, Golden Horse IFF and Brussels ISFF. She was chosen for New Singapore, Taiwan, Poland 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 hides the truth from her wealthy boyfriend ZHUANG (50). Jeremy Chua, Sam Chua 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, improving drastically. Nelicia Low Potocol focuses on coproduction of Asian films. It has produced Realising her sons have reconnected, Mother furiously GENRE or co-produced A Yellow Bird by K. Rajagopal (Cannes Critics’ reports Brother to his prison officer, jeopardizing his freedom. Drama, Thriller 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 (Karlovy Vary IFF 2016), A Family Tour by Ying Liang (Opening € 750,000 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 never know the truth. LOOKING FOR Raya Martin (Berlinale Generation 2020), and Rehana Maryam Co-production, Sales Agent, Noor (Cannes Un Certain Regard 2016). Nelicia Low | Director Festival

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DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS THREE I lost my older brother last month. He was in Toronto, I was in KENBIROLI FILMS LTD. Hong Kong. I could not travel back to Toronto for his funeral. The G/F, 58B Nam Shan Village, FUNERALS online funeral brought our family and extended family together Sai Kung, 00000, New Territories, around the world. Hong Kong SAR China AND A My Jewish friend’s mother died in California during the height M - [email protected] of the pandemic there but she was in Hong Kong at the time. T - + 852 9365 1350 She couldn’t return for the funeral in the US. She had a virtual WEDDING 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 the Sundance Film Festival. COUNTRY TONY(66)’s emotional virtual funeral brings together family In 2010, Bi directed GIRL$, a topical social drama. Hong Kong SAR China 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 cameras off. PISON and MIHOKO. Katherine Lee 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 (20,30,40), Martin Yan, and Melanie Laurent was bestowed GENRE RAY (30), knows Tony’s health is declining so he wants to get “Top Ten Chinese Language Films of 2005” by the Chinese Drama married soon. With the safety of everyone being in different countries, Ray can marry his partner, YOAL, an Israeli male Film Critics Association and earned Bi the “Best New Director TOTAL BUDGET cellist. Tony and the Jewish-in-laws in Israel surprise everyone Award” at the 25th Hong Kong Film Awards. The Drummer, $ 3 M 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 well as the first film from Hong Kong and Taiwan selected for LOOKING FOR expose Tony’s past. Pison’s father was Tony’s partner and he competition at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was named Co-production was murdered 25 years ago. Tony fled. Now that Tony is dead, 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 filmBoxes .

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PARTNER

FAR EAST IN PROGRESS

ADEMOKA P. 26 BIRD EYES P. 28 DAY TRIPPER P. 30 REBORN P. 32 ZOMBIE CRUSH IN HEYRI P. 3 4 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 - [email protected] ADEMOKA The film focuses on the personalities of the characters, on the SHORT BROTHERS LLC people. A minimum of effects, music and action: nothing should Kazakhstan distract the viewer from the people. Their feelings and inner M - [email protected] 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 - [email protected] 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 with the major in “Film directing”. COUNTRY 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 The surly principal considers all Lyuli to be potential thieves, Olga Khlasheva, Serik Abishev, Short Brothers LLC, film production company, founded in 2004 so he turns Ademoka away. But a discreet woman directs the Guillaume De Seille 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 get into college. Olga Khlasheva | Producer Arizona Productions, Paris based, is led by Guillaume de Seille DIRECTOR After some epic lessons, during a shooting or a short stay in to mainly produce and coproduce art-house feature films Adilkhan Yerzhanov 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 and daughter in an accident for which he was responsible. Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan), Kerr by Tayfun Pirselimoglu (Turkey), After the Ademoka finally gets the right to study at the university. LOOKING FOR 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.

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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. InReturn 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 - [email protected] imagination — fiction that she materializes through this film that [email protected] 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 filmStone 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 featureReturn of the Owl, The Philippines apartment with her son, Rudie, who has plans of migrating to which and first documentary featureTell 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 COMPANY PROFILE Monster Jimenez | Producer Martika Ramirez Escobar 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 independent filmmaking. Our short and full-length features LOOKING FOR Ronwaldo, whose sudden disappearance propels her to become 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 and recognition from the local industry, critics and the press. Agent, Italian Distributor vanishes into thin air, and the lines between her action fantasy 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

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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 can control. M - [email protected] DAY However, the tone of the film is not that heavy, but humorous and absurd. We can watch the present society of China in a TRIPPER 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 namedDeep 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 He doesn't know where to go. PRODUCER Factory Gate Films is a production company founded in 2017 His mother wants a new life and to break up with her secret Xufeng Huang 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 and upcoming directors, Factory Gate’s mission is to produce DIRECTOR a bus that seems to never arrive. The owner of a barbershop Liang Ying | Producer unique and high quality films for both Chinese and international Yanqi Chen 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. When night falls, all these people end their day and come to the Yanqi Chen Factory Gate’s production line-up includes Summer Blur by Han new nightclub. They lose themselves in the gorgeous illusion. LOOKING FOR 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.

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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 simple and fierce folk customs coexist, jumbled with numerous M - [email protected] SONG cultures and legends. [email protected]

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, PRODUCERS PROFILE the story starts 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 IFF 2020) PRODUCER The two of them, with very different personalities, help each 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 They become closer, but Ran’s expectation of intimate Mountains by Gu Xiaogang (Cannes Critics’ Week 2019), Factory Gate Films relationship was never allowed by her. One day, Ran’s father’s Summer Blur (Busan Fipresci Prize 2020, Berlin Generation 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 Orizzonti 2016), Chinese Portrait by Wang Xiaoshuai (Busan LOOKING FOR sickness, then sets off before dawn… 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".

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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 - [email protected] deal with it. Some people choose to cry everyday and takes a REBORN 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 is vegetarian. However, Xiaoyun did not like to eat these foods PRODUCER the company in early 2017, with a mission to produce highquality much. Suddenly, Xiaoyun told Xueqing that his chest is not feeling Joanne Goh 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 in Malaysia. The company is comprised of a committed team of DIRECTOR day, Xueqing is preparing dinner in the kitchen, and Xiaoyun film enthusiasts; they are aspired to bring in more diverse movies Danny Pang 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 Xueqing is completely at a loss when she turns around to see the Danny Pang talents to deliver fresh and relevant content for the local and situation. Unluckily the doctor informs the death of Xiaoyun to LOOKING FOR international audience. To expand the local film and TV projects both Haohua and Xueqing. Festival Release, Sales Agent abroad, Jazzy Pictures starts to engage in int.

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DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS

Girl Crush. Their Conversation. Action. Ensemble. It's more than GATE6 PRODUCTION ZOMBIE Quentin Tarantino. Local Cinema. A fiction that preserves the South Korea characteristics of the existing Heyri Art Village! Existing artists, M - [email protected] Seoul Action School, cafes, and galleries appear in the scenes. CRUSH Simple Story. Save Heyri Art Village where the zombie crisis broke out! Acting-Oriented. The main locations were minimized to four. IN HEYRI A story is led by the actors' acting. Questions in the Present. At first, the audience will enjoy watching the movie, but they will also think about the underlying themes (atonement, generational conflict, achievement, growth, youth, patriarchy, and gender issues).

The three women friends struggle to protect a village from the turmoil DIRECTOR’S PROFILE caused by the sudden appearance Debuted in 2013, he has made 5 feature films. He uniquely of zombies. unfolds different genres of film every time, such as, adolescence, melodrama, noir, horror, and zombie comedy.

Hyun Sang Chang | Director & Writer

PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS In the peaceful Paju Heyri Art Village, a zombie incident suddenly COUNTRY occurs. For the opening of the Heyri Arts Center, three friends, South Korea Jinseon, Hyuna, and Gayeon, gather together. They decide to face PRODUCER the Zombie crisis with the help of a newbie YouTuber and a coffee Ji Hoon Yeo factory manager. PRODUCTION COMPANY Gate6 production DIRECTOR Hyun Sang Chang WRITER Hyun Sang Chang LOOKING FOR Gap Financing, Festival Release, Sales Agent, Italian Distributor

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TIES THAT BIND (TTB) has become the reference for developing European-Asian co-productions in the past decade, combining producer training, project development and co-production meetings, and it focuses on co-operation between European and Asian producers. TTB offers European producers a platform where they can acquire an in-depth knowledge of the Asian market. TTB takes place over a year and is conducted through 2 workshops. The first workshop is held in Singapore in parallel to the Southeast Asian Film Financing Forum (SAFF) and the Asia TV Forum & Market. The second workshop is held in Italy in parallel with FOCUS ASIA, the Industry Section of the Udine Far East Film Festival. TTB brings together 10 European and Asian producers focusing on project development and 5 European professionals focusing on career development such as sales agents, financiers, distributors, festival programmers, funds and co-production market representatives who are interested in working with Asia. During the two workshops, the selected participants benefit fromhigh-level development under the guidance of the programme’s experts and unique access to a network of leading industry players, professional feedback, decision makers and financiers. To name just some of the success stories from the last few years, Moneyboys by C.B. Yi (Un Certain Regard in Cannes 2021), The Seen and Unseen by Kamila Andini (Grand Prize of the Generation 14plus International Jury at Berlinale 2018), A Yellow Bird by K. Rajagopal (Cannes Critics’ Week 2016), Dog Days by Jordan Schiele (Berlinale’s Panorama 2016), INTERCHANGE by Dain Iskandar Said (Locarno’s Piazza Grande 2016), Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories by Di Phan Dang (Berlinale’s Competition 2015), Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere by Hoang Diep (Best Film at Venice Critics’ Week 2014). TIES THAT BIND is organised by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Fund, EAVE, Udine Far East Film Festival and Southeast Asian Audio-Visual Association (SAAVA), and supported by the Creative Europe - MEDIA sub-programme of the European Union and Aurora Media Holdings. TIES THAT BIND is held in conjunction with Asia TV Forum & Market and ScreenSingapore..

TTB SELECTED PROJECTS

DANCING THE TIDES P. 38 FRUIT GATHERING P. 40 THE GREENHOUSE P. 42 LOST & FOUND P. 44 LOST DAUGHTER P. 46 MRS RAFFLES P. 48 PURPLE SUN P. 50 THE ROPE P. 52 YOUTHFULLY YOURS P. 54

TTB CAREER PARTICIPANTS P. 56 TIES THAT BIND | Selected Projects

DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS

While working on a documentary about the sea-dwelling Sama DALUYONG STUDIOS Badjao community in my hometown in Southern Philippines, 23 Florida Street, Greenhills East, DANCING I met a colorful group of teenaged gays and transwomen who Mandaluyong City, 1556, Metro earn money by dancing in weddings and public spaces fully Manila, The Philippines THE TIDES made-up and decked in gowns with the help of their boyfriends. M - [email protected] I discovered that the Sama Badjao gays and transwomen T - +63 917 811 0217 are accepted as integral parts of their community, free from bullying and discrimination. While they are given freedom, they are still expected to eventually succumb to heteronormative expectations by marrying a woman and raising a family. Defying this tradition is equivalent to dishonoring their family. A Muslim transwoman from a Telling their story is very important for me as a gay Mindanaoan. community of sea gypsies is torn After witnessing the plight of the real life Astris and Tambulahs in between living blissfully with her conservative Muslim Mindanao, I feel a responsibility to tell their boyfriend and following her tribe’s story of courage, sacrifice, honesty and pride. customs by marrying a woman betrothed to her at birth. DIRECTOR’S PROFILE XEPH SUAREZ, a Mindanaoan filmmaker in the Philippines, is Alemberg Ang | Producer an alumnus of the ASEAN-ROK Film Leaders Incubator (FLY) organized by the Busan Film Commission. He has directed a PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS number of short films includingSi Astri maka si Tambulah, which won Best Director and received a Jury Citation at the Cinemalaya ASTRI, a Muslim transwoman, lives with her boyfriend, Philippine Independent Film Festival 2018. The film screened in COUNTRY TAMBULAH, in their Sama Badjao people [sea gypsies] several international film festivals, including PÖFF Shorts and The Philippines community. Before going to bed, Astri playfully dances the Tampere Film Festival. Shot with actual Muslim trans and queer PRODUCER pangalay, the traditional wedding dance, but Tambulah stops members of the indigenous Sama Badjao community as actors, her and makes her promise to dance for him at their wedding. Alemberg Ang the short is the basis for his first full length feature. Astri knows this is impossible but promises nonetheless. PRODUCTION COMPANY When Astri turns 16, her father reminds her that as a “man,” she Daluyong Studios must honor their tradition by marrying SITTI, the girl promised COMPANY PROFILE DIRECTOR to Astri when they were born. Astri is torn. She cannot dishonor Xeph Suarez | Director Daluyong Studios (formerly vy/ac Productions) aims to produce Xeph Suarez her father but she loves Tambulah. Having to marry a woman is films that give a voice to cultural minorities in world cinema. WRITER worse than death. Astri begs Sitti to refuse the marriage, but Sitti Working with new and young filmmakers, it has tackled various is also afraid to defy her parents. Cenon Palomares advocacies such as violence against women, LGBTQ rights, Astri, Tambulah, and Sitti form an unlikely friendship devising GENRE mental health and social justice. These productions won local ways to stop the wedding. Desperate, the three think of a way to Trans love story and international awards and have screened in festivals in Busan, turn the tides in their favor. Tambulah agrees to marry Sitti. This TOTAL BUDGET Torino, Warsaw, Cairo and Tokyo. will prevent Sitti from marrying a stranger, and more importantly, In 2018, the company started developing international co- € 722,048 set Astri free from her responsibilities. She is free to live her productions successfully presenting these projects at HAF, FINANCING IN PLACE life anyway she chooses. During the wedding, Astri, at her most Busan’s APM, CineMart, Cannes Cinefondation Atelier, Cannes € 20,848 beautiful, dances for the man she loves, keeping her promise to Docs, Tribeca Film Institute Network, Berlinale Talents Project dance the pangalay for Tambulah at his wedding. LOOKING FOR Market, Locarno Open Doors, and La Fabrique Cinema. Co-production, Financing, Sales Agent, Festival

40 41 TIES THAT BIND | Selected Projects

DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS

I am an only son, brought up by my mother, and never close to THIRD FLOOR FILM PRODUCTION my father. During my late teens, I experienced a certain feeling 15(3B), Ohbo Street, Pazundaung FRUIT towards the kindness of male friends. I experienced the process Township, Yangon, 11181, Myanmar of getting attached to an individual, obsessed with affection in M - [email protected] a selfish manner, and the self-destructive affair of realization of T - +959 4211 478 52 GATHERING oneself. The script explores the friendship between two women; through the process of falling for each other, it exposes their inner demons and vulnerability. The portrayal of unresolved queer impulse reflects the lack of self-realization while living in a At the factory, San becomes fond repressive society; characters who are not aware of their desires of Theint, a woman with a troubled make the story poignant for me. past. San wants to bring Theint along The film is set up during the democratic transition of Myanmar to her village during the season of and aims to portray the lives of common people struggling with fruit gathering to relive her childhood life and simultaneously trying to reconcile the conflicts within memories. Their relationship develops themselves. into torment. DIRECTOR’S PROFILE Aung Phyoe | Director & Writer Aung Phyoe earned a Diploma in Editing at Whistling Woods International. His short Seasonal Rain was screened at the Open PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS Doors Screening in 2017. His second short filmCobalt Blue was selected to Pardi di Domani International Competition at the After SAN's father has passed away, mother EI worked 72nd Locarno Film Festival. COUNTRY as a domestic helper overseas. San (18) was left with her His project Fruit Gathering won the Main Jury Prize at the Myanmar, France, Czech Republic grandmother OHM. At work, San gets to know THEINT (25). Myanmar Script Fund and Autumn Meeting Grand Prix. He co- PRODUCER While getting closer to her, San develops a feeling of attraction, founded 3-ACT Cinema Magazine, the first informative magazine but she is unable to understand her desire. Thaiddhi and Thu Thu Shein on film culture in Myanmar. After six years, Ei (48) returns to care for Ohm’s (70) fragile PRODUCTION COMPANY health. Ei and Ohm plan an arranged marriage for San with Third Floor Film Production PHONE (40), while Theint suddenly gets married to her COMPANY PROFILE DIRECTOR boyfriend and follows him outside Yangon. Months later, San Thaiddhi| Director Third Floor Production was established in 2013 by Thaiddhi Aung Phyoe is informed about Theint’s unsuccessful marriage. San brings and Thu Thu Shein, the founders of Wathann Film Festival. It WRITER her back to Yangon with the promise of going to work abroad. focuses on producing independent films and documentaries But things lead to the darker dimension when Theint tries to go Aung Phyoe by local filmmakers. The company also aims to promote local behind San’s back for job opportunities through Ei and Phone. GENRE films and filmmakers to international festivals and is developing Drama international collaborations and co-productions. It has co- TOTAL BUDGET produced Asian Three-Fold Mirror 2018: Journey – Hekishu € 596,635 (Fiction, 30’, 2018), premiered at the Tokyo IFF 2018. FINANCING IN PLACE € 254,635 LOOKING FOR Co-production, Sales Agent, Festivals

42 43 TIES THAT BIND | Selected Projects

DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS The Greenhouse is about the desire for communal living, the FÜNFERFILM deeply felt satisfaction of self-determined loneliness and the Otzenstr 12, Hamburg, 22767, THE incompatibility of both experiences. There is a conflict within Germany myself between the longing for communal living and the yearning M - [email protected] for solitude. Often, I feel misunderstood in the community of T - +49 176 632 048 92 GREENHOUSE people and too little alive in the solitude. In this film, I want to trace the power of the two experiences in the first two quite rigid settings and translate the despair that arises from the incompatibility of the two into film. The viewer should be able to feel the fulfilment of the experiences from the first two parts of the film, and from this develop the understanding that When the Berlin wall falls, a contract compromise cannot be a solution for THU HUYEN. Society is worker leaves for the forest to live inside us, as well as its history, and yet as individuals we will never there in solitude. 30 years later she be able to be completely one with it. reappears to a changed society, without having aged a bit. DIRECTOR’S PROFILE Luise Donschen studied film at the Hamburg Academy of Fine Arts (HFBK) and European ethnology and German language and Julia Cöllen | Producer literature studies at the Universities of Hamburg and Belgrade. From 2010 to 2017 she was an artistic-scientific assistant at the PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS HFBK with Wim Wenders and Angela Shanelec. Since then she has been working as a freelance filmmaker in Berlin. THU HUYEN lives in a home for Vietnamese contract worker in Her debut film Casanovagen had its world premiere at the Forum COUNTRY a small town in eastern Germany. She shares her life with her of the Berlin International Film Festival 2018. In spring 2020, she Germany friend BIAN and the many plants that surround her bed. One day stayed at the Villa Kamogawa in Kyoto on a scholarship from the PRODUCER a CHILD stands in the doorway of her room, and from then on Goethe-Institute. Julia Cöllen visits THU HUYEN again and again. But soon the aftermath of the German reunification in 1989 radically changes her life: she loses PRODUCTION COMPANY her job, the home is dismantled and Bian is deported. COMPANY PROFILE Fünferfilm Shortly after, Thu Huyen pitches her tent a hidden spot in a With its repertoire of artistic and unconventional feature films, DIRECTOR light forest, carrying a backpack and a rifle. Time passes as Luise Donschen | Director documentaries and short films Fünferfilm has established itself Luise Donschen the seasons move and we watch her weaving a basket, washing as a young company in Hamburg and Germany. Our first feature WRITER clothes and growing potatoes. Until one day Thu Huyen overhears filmDrift by Helena Wittmann celebrated its world premiere at the two children talking to each other nearby and tempting her to Luise Donschen Venice Film Festival in 2017, our first feature length documentary finally leave the forest. GENRE Olanda had its world premiere at the Forum of the Berlinale 2019. 30 years have passed when she reappears in a small town in Drama In January 2020, Karsten Krauses documentary At the Bottom east Germany, even though Thu Huyen has not aged a bit. She TOTAL BUDGET of the Sea (2020) had its world premiere in Rotterdam. Most shares a flat with her cousin ANH and her cousin’s son DAN. With recently Helena Wittmann's second feature Human Flowers of € 1.050.150 Dan she strikes up a close relationship, until one day the young Flesh (WT) was selected for Locarno’s Films After Tomorrow FINANCING IN PLACE man leaves to continue his studies somewhere else. On a summer programme in 2020. € 100.000 evening Thu Huyen climbs into the stately tree on the main square LOOKING FOR of the small town and never reappears. Co-production, Financing, Sales Agent, Festival

44 45 TIES THAT BIND | Selected Projects

lead to loneliness and despair when one has the remedy of COMPANY CONTACTS “companionship.” In five years’, Taiwan will cross the threshold of “super-aged” HOUSE ON FIRE INTERNATIONAL society - 20% of the population over 65-year-old. Therefore, 5F.-3, No. 184, Sec. 3, Tingzhou LOST & I’m urged to tell the story Lost & Found, hope to comfort all the Rd., Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei, people currently facing their loved ones’ inevitable aging, illness, Taiwan FOUND deceased separations, and to encourage them to discover a silver M - [email protected] lining that may be everlasting in their lives. T - +886 939 978 771

DIRECTOR’S PROFILE A nearly blind reclusive physics Coming from an advertising art-based creative background professor is forced to share a hospital with Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival recognition, room with a weird old-lady photographer Natasha Sung received her MA degree in Filmmaking in 2009 at on the verge of losing her memory. Goldsmiths College, University of London. Despite his wish to isolate himself, he She has made two documentaries focus on aging society finds himself even more drawn into in Taiwan, one follows a senior- citizen cycling team on the her puzzling world, and surprisingly road, Grand Riders Born to be Young, and the other follows a he needs her presence to prevent the seventy-year-old Taiwanese female rocker, Return. These two fading light from disappearing for good. documentaries have inspired her director’s debut Lost and Found, which was selected for 2017 Produire au Sud Taipei workshop Natasha K. Sung | Director and 2020 Ties That Bind workshop. She has recently co-written with award-winning film director Wi Ding Ho for his latest feature PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS Terrorizers, which is currently in post-production. PROFESSOR CHEN, a nearly blind reclusive physicist is forced COUNTRY to share a hospital room with AUNTIE HUA, a photographer COMPANY PROFILE Taiwan suffering from dementia. He can't stand her quirky habits, also House On Fire International was co-founded in 2013 by the PRODUCER provoking him with his subject about light, time, and space. Taiwanese-French producer Vincent Wang and Nobu Tsai. For Hsin-Hung Tsai Despite his wish to isolate himself by requesting a private room, he is determined to regain respect. more than a decade, Vincent Wang has been producing films PRODUCTION COMPANY However, things go wrong when she catches him lying to his using a combination of funding and talent from across Europe House on Fire international estranged son about having cancer. She confronts him, but and Asia to help directors make their creative visions come alive. DIRECTOR he retaliates: “What truth would you tell your family?” This He produced films such asThe Wayward Cloud (Silver Bear at Hsin-Hung Tsai | Producer Natasha K. Sung interrogation unwittingly triggers a past closet relationship from Berlinale 2005), Face (Official Competition in Cannes 2009), WRITER Hua; the secret is hidden in her missing photograph. He now finds Stray Dogs (Grand Jury Prize in Venice 2013), Oblivion Verses Natasha K. Sung, Alex Lin himself more drawn into her puzzling world, and surprisingly he (Orrizonti Award for Best Screenplay in Venice 2017), and A Gentle Night (Palme d’Or in Cannes 2017). GENRE needs her presence to prevent the fading light from disappearing for good. Nobu Tsai has been involved in three of Tsai Ming-Liang’s films Drama - Comedy since 2006, and he is also focused on developing films with new TOTAL BUDGET author-directors in Taiwan. With the goal of bringing more great € 691,376 DIRECTOR’S NOTE films to festivals and international markets, together Vincent FINANCING IN PLACE In 2014, I made a documentary Grand Riders Born to be Young Wang and Nobu Tsai have built a co-production platform that € 31,376 about a Taiwanese senior cycling club and the oldest riders are in bridges the resources of Taiwan and Europe with new strategies in production and marketing. LOOKING FOR their nineties! With each other's accompaniment, they managed House On Fire International creates original, high quality films, for Sales agent, Festival, to complete several long-distance rides locally and abroad. Their understanding the present and defining tomorrow. Co-production Partners internal clocks have been counting down, but they view their situation with humorous wisdom and didn’t seem to be lonely or fearful. With this inspiring experience, I realise that aging won't

46 47 TIES THAT BIND | Selected Projects

DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS

In 1982, I was adopted from South Korea to Denmark. Today, BEO STARLING South Korea is a thriving nation and considered one of the richest Wildersgade 32, Copenhagen, LOST countries in the world, but even though the country has a low birth 1408 K, Denmark rate, the business of international adoption persists. Adoption is M - [email protected] exclusively framed as a generous and benevolent action, but this T - +45 298 64 890 DAUGHTER hides a much more complex reality of suppressed rights, ignored racial, cultural understanding and corrupt institutions. I’m interested in exploring the emotional spectrum of parents of children who are adopted. My ambition with Lost Daughter is to tell the story of an emotionally complex man who races toward absolution, risking absolute ruin at every turn. I believe a movie that ultimately becomes about a father’s reaction to losing his Korean businessman Do-Won finds child - in equal parts horrific and uplifting – is a new path to forge out he had a daughter 22 years ago on a personal level and as a professional female filmmaker. who was given up for adoption, and travels to Denmark to find her. DIRECTOR’S PROFILE Sun Hee Engelstoft (1982) is a Korean-Danish film director and photographer born in South Korea and based in Copenhagen. She Sun Hee Engelstoft | Director graduated as documentary director from the Danish Film School in 2011 and as photographer from Fatamorgana in Copenhagen PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS in 2007. Sun Hee has focused on a vast array of international projects with a focus on the documentarian approach. Her debut When the middle-aged Korean businessman DO-WON learns he film, the documentaryForget Me Not, was shot in South Korea COUNTRY had a daughter, Sora, who was given up for international adoption and focuses on Sun Hee's search for her mother. It premiered in Denmark, South Korea 22 years ago, he decides to travel to Denmark to find her. competition at some of the most prestigious Nordic film festivals PRODUCER In Denmark, Do-Won is surprised to meet a young girl named in 2019, CPH:DOX and Nordic Panorama. Amalie Lyngbo Quist ANNA who, like Sora, was adopted from South Korea and does not know her birth parents. He is hoping that Anna might be his PRODUCTION COMPANY daughter, but she turns out to have been adopted by a different COMPANY PROFILE Beo Starling Danish couple. Do-Won tracks down Sora’s adopted mother Beofilm is an internationally renowned Danish film production DIRECTOR Elisabeth, who initially tells him that Sora is missing, but later Amalie Lyngbo Quist | Producer company. Under the Beofilm umbrella is Beofilm Post Production, Sun Hee Engelstoft reveals a much darker truth that prompts a violent confrontation. film office collective Wildersgade Filmhus, and several sub- WRITER Feeling untethered, Do-Won goes to stay with Anna and her production companies led by independent producers that work adoptive parents, who seem controlling of Anna. Joan Rang Christensen in close creative and financial collaboration. Anna and Do-Won begin to bond, as they each represent GENRE One of Beofilm’s offshoots is Beo Starling, owned by producer something that the other has lost. But when Anna’s parents Drama Amalie Lyngbo Quist. The company was established in 2016 find out that Elisabeth has been found dead in her house, they TOTAL BUDGET and has produced three feature films with several currently become suspicious of Do-Won and demand that he leaves. This in development. A major aim of Beo Starling is to become an € 1,385,000 upsets both Anna and Do-Won more than they had imagined and, established international co-producer, focusing on new territories. FINANCING IN PLACE already beginning to imagine themselves as father and daughter, Beofilm was a first mover in Denmark by initiating minor co- € 65.000 they decide to go back to South Korea together. productions with Eastern European countries like Croatia and LOOKING FOR Slovenia. Several of Beofilm’s sub-companies have co-produced Co-producers, Financing, features with Asian film companies: Danish/Korean docudrama Filming Locations, Sales Agent The Return (2019) and Made in Bangladesh (2019).

48 49 TIES THAT BIND | Selected Projects

DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS I am really excited to be directing Mrs. Raffles. It’s a fabulous 108 MEDIA adventure of two extraordinary British women – and the man 8 Wilkie Road, 03-01, Wilkie MRS they both married – a humble clerk who became the founder of Edge, Singapore, 228095, modern day Singapore and a leading abolitionist. Singapore RAFFLES Southeast Asia in the first half of the nineteenth century is a time M - [email protected] and place untouched by television drama – providing a gorgeous T - +44-(0)7958-991944 backdrop to explore fresh, challenging and thought provoking, unusual and diverse stories. I can’t wait bring Rosie Milne’s incredibly rich novel Olivia & Sophia and Alison Hume’s script to the screen and to share this extraordinary and overlooked time in history with modern audiences A multi-season TV drama series based the true story of the visionary imperialist Sir Thomas Stamford DIRECTOR’S PROFILE Raffles, the man who founded Lisa has always been passionate about stories. Having studied Singapore, as told through his two theatre direction at Central School of Speech and Drama, she went wives - Olivia and Sophia. on to win the highly sought-after Carlton/Donmar Traineeship and spent a year as assistant director to Sam Mendes. Lisa directed a number of successful theatre productions before making the Mewis Richard | Producer crossover from stage to screen to direct on the BAFTA-winning soap EastEnders before going on to direct other popular television PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS dramas including Doctors, Holby City and WPC56. In 2017, Lisa was selected to be part of the BAFTA Elevate Mrs. Raffles is based on the true story of the visionary imperialist scheme for talented female directors looking to progress in high- COUNTRY Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, famous as the man who founded end television and features. USA, UK, Singapore Singapore - but little is known about his extraordinary adventures PRODUCER in the early 1800’s with his two wives - Olivia and Sophia. Pat Tookey-Dickson Based on the novel 7,5 pt by Rosie Milne, Mrs. Raffles takes the COMPANY PROFILE facts of original diary entries by the two women and weaves them PRODUCTION COMPANY Headquartered in Singapore with offices in London, LA, Tokyo, into an immersive drama transporting viewers into beautiful vistas 108 MEDIA Toronto and Kuala Lumpur, 108Media consists of the following: and involving them in the making of new lives in the pre-colonial 108 Network houses our expanding VOD channels business. DIRECTOR trading ports of Southeast Asia. 108 Media encompasses 108's global distribution business. Lisa Clarke During the development of , careful consideration Mrs. Raffles 108 Productions is our global creative and production business. WRITER will be given to Malaysian, Indonesian and Singaporean cultures, Past Productions include theatrical features Eerie, The Long Walk sensibilities and traditions in the creation of characters and Alison Hume and Midnight’s. Dramahan’ is a television series from Egypt - a storylines. Advice will be sought and taken from indigenous GENRE long-running 104x30’ period drama in Arabic and English. sources. It’s our ambition to make an inclusive show and not TV Drama Alongside Mrs Raffles 108Media have a number of projects on an “Us & Them” drama as so commonly happens in “colonial TOTAL BUDGET their slate in active development, a selection of which include The dramas”. Undone Years, a limited 8x60’ period drama series, Inspector Approx. € 2.5m per episode This is an addictive new world for international television viewers. Singh is a returnable 8x60’ contemporary adaptation of a Series 1: Approx. € 20m Never before has this incredible part of the world, the pre-colonial crime and investigation series based across Asia. BlowBack is FINANCING IN PLACE trials and tribulations of both British and Asian protagonists and another book adaptation - a returnable 6x60’ true crime drama - the forces behind the creation of the “Lion City” state of Singapore series. Darklands is a returnable 8x60’ original supernatural been dramatised. LOOKING FOR drama series. Singapore Black is a limited 6x60’ period crime Co-production Partners, series and Inspector Low is a character driven returnable 8x60’ Financing contemporary crime series.

50 51 TIES THAT BIND | Selected Projects

DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS

Love, as simple as it may sound, can be defined and shown in JACKFRUIT INTERNATIONAL different ways. In its ambiguity and paradoxical nature, people 229 Mountbatten Road #03-38 PURPLE go through a mixture of emotions when in love or even by merely Mountbatten Square, Singapore, wanting and desiring. It can be just red for others, or blue to few. 398007, Singapore SUN But there are kinds of love more complex than that, colours that M - [email protected] are more hybrid. T - +65 93 39 57 44 With the intricacy of human emotions, this film is first and foremost a love story. Intertwining tales of two Filipino men and a Japanese lady, reflecting the shared history of these two countries that is fraught with pain, devastation and forgiveness in the end. Purple Sun aims to find the truth in each of its characters, set in A love triangle between a younger man their simple or unique situation made either by their own choices, who wants to possess his mentor - a twist of fate or destiny. man born an orphan, who never wants to be possessed - and a woman who has suffered from an over-possessive DIRECTOR’S PROFILE husband. Carlo’s second feature filmWaiting for Sunset was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the 2019 Fantasporto IFF Director’s Week Competition, Audience Choice Award at the 2019 Vesoul IFF of Carlo Enciso Catu | Director Asian Cinemas, Best Feature Film at the 14th Cinemalaya Film Festival, and the NETPAC Jury Prize. PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS Catu’s debut feature Ari: My Life With a King was awarded Best World Film at the 2015 Harlem IFF, Best New Wave Film at the Charles and Aldo were raised as brothers in an orphanage in the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival. Carlo is also awarded Best New COUNTRY Philippines, but as they become teenagers, they explore their Talented Director (2015 London IFF), and Best Debut Feature The Philippines, Japan, Singapore sexuality, and their relationship becomes more complex. Film Director (All Lightsndia IFF) for the same film. PRODUCER Years later, Charles comes to Japan to keep a healthy distance Naoko Ishise from Aldo, who is becoming more and more needy for Charles, and starts his new life with a Japanese dancer Izumi who divorced COMPANY PROFILE PRODUCTION COMPANY her possessive husband after the tragic death of their son. Jackfruit International Jackfruit International works closely with young indie filmmakers They happily live together until Aldo suddenly shows up. Izumi in Asia and especially focuses on international co-productions DIRECTOR welcomes him as Charles’ brother, but they cannot hide their past Naoko Ishise | Producer produced in Southeast Asia and Japan. We co-produced Demons Carlo Enciso Catu and start a secret love affair. Izumi, who already suspects this (2018 Singapore) directed by Daniel Hui, which premiered at the WRITER affair, chose to overlook it because she trusts Charles and doesn’t Busan International Film Festival 2018 and had its European want to be possessive. Carlo Enciso Catu premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival 2019. The story reaches its climax when Izumi crosses their male GENRE Our upcoming project On the Zero Line (2020 Iran, Singapore, boundary and joins them in a threesome act, however, all three Drama Japan) is in post-production and it will be released in 2021. Since realize that to possess someone is to not love someone and decide TOTAL BUDGET 2018, we expanded our business to film distribution and released to separate in the end. Three damaged souls come together in the One Cut of the Dead (2017 Japan) and We Made a Beautiful € 470,000 cold winter of Japan, hoping to free each other, but no one is Bouquet (2021 Japan) in Singapore. FINANCING IN PLACE able to hold the gaze of their loved one, under the shadow of the € 210,000 ever-present third. LOOKING FOR Sales Agent, Financing

52 53 TIES THAT BIND | Selected Projects

DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS

This film was born from an image that came to me: a man seen NEFERTITI FILM from behind, standing in front of a wall of fog - a man without a Via P. Amalteo 68/B, San Vito al horizon, in a surreal and complete silence. This image speaks to Tagliamento (PN), 33078, Italy THE ROPE an emotion shared by my generation and maybe, not only mine. M - [email protected] Nonetheless, I cannot wait powerlessly for the fog to dissipate, T - +39 0434 874 197 because the anxiety that I feel is like a propeller that leads me on the search for a resolution. Making this film is the first action on the path toward the awareness of the importance of making a choice, choosing a direction, deciding how to live without taking anything for granted. This film talks about the efforts of the protagonist to get A child born in space, dreams about back his earthly self. Pawl ends up wanting what everybody else the Earth. But his dream is forbidden wanted to escape: the earthly life in its transience, in its tragic and the Program, the artificial narrative that makes us Humans. intelligence that guides Humanity towards eternity, intercepts it. DIRECTOR’S PROFILE Alberto Fasulo is director and Nefertiti Film’s producer. During his twenty years of experience, he has delved into different Alberto Fasulo | Director & Writer techniques and genres, departing from traditional paths and focusing his artistic and narrative research on the Human Being. PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS His films have participated in international festivals and have been distributed in Italy and abroad. Pawl is a child of 7, born on a spaceship and raised listening His last filmMenocchio was presented at the International COUNTRY to stories his mother tells him about the Earth. When the new Competition of the Locarno Festival in 2018 and was declared Italy space community realizes that the only way to aspire to eternity the Critic’s Film by the National Union of Italian Cinematographic PRODUCER is to cut all ties to their earthly past, the Program – artificial Reviewers (SNCCI). Nadia Trevisan intelligence that governs the ship – guides them through this process: every memory, every habit, all references to having PRODUCTION COMPANY been terrestrial beings is forbidden, and a new form of existence COMPANY PROFILE Nefertiti Film will be reached thanks to long periods of sleep. Nefertiti Film is an independent cinematographic and audiovisual DIRECTOR However, in his sleep, Pawl dreams about the Earth. His is a Nadia Trevisan | Producer production company headquartered in Northeast of Italy since Alberto Fasulo forbidden dream, and it is intercepted by the Program, which 2013 and Rome since 2021. Nefertiti operates both nationally and WRITER insinuates events into his dream with the aim of suppressing his internationally, and strongly favors stories that speak honestly to the desire to return as a warning to the entire community. Thus, a Emanuele Bertossi, hearts of its public, dedicating particular attention to the discovery game of chess begins between the unsuspecting Pawl and the Alberto Fasulo of new talent but also involving prominent directors and authors. Program, where a dream generated by a desire of the one is GENRE Nefertiti Film has also been an independent distributor since 2018. manipulated by the other. Sci-Fi Selected Filmography: Small Body by Laura Samani (IT-FR-SLO), But Pawl is, nonetheless, a child and despite all the trials he TOTAL BUDGET Feature Film Competition of Semaine de La Critique, Cannes 2021. must face, he succeeds in changing the meaning of events Menocchio by Alberto Fasulo (IT-RO), International Competition € 2.661.000 thanks to his pure soul. One of the two will win, but sometimes, of Locarno FF 2018, Special Mention of the Youth Jury. FINANCING IN PLACE it is the loser who wins. History of Love by Sonja Prosenc, (SLO-IT-NO), Official € 161.000 Competition of Karlovy Vary IFF 2018, Special Jury Mention for LOOKING FOR Artistic Achievement. TIR by Alberto Fasulo (IT-HR), Marc’Aurelio Co-production, Sales Agent, Rome FF 2013 Private Investors, Filming Locations, we are open to artistic contribution from other partners

54 55 TIES THAT BIND | Selected Projects

DIRECTOR’S NOTE COMPANY CONTACTS

The protagonist is a man who perpetually feels trapped, an EAST FILMS unfulfilled artist who fails to achieve artistic freedom. He has a 42 Nguyen Hue, 6th Floor, #42-61, YOUTHFULLY fateful encounter with a boy who embodies the youth that he had Ward Ben Nghe, District 1, Ho Chi lost, and the transcendental beauty that he never possessed. Minh City, Vietnam YOURS For the first time in a very long time, he feels alive and hopes M - [email protected] he can draw inspirations from the boy's liberating sexual fluidity. T - +1(512)-299-3938 However, he will eventually learn that in order to liberate himself, WhatsApp - +84 8 5454 0989 he has to first face his secret desires and past mistakes. On the other hand, the boy who is seemingly comfortable in their own skin, has his own inner demons. Therefore, their liberty is just the form, only on the outside. As our protagonist discovers this, he will realize that you can only achieve true freedom when you A divorced fine arts lecturer reunites are free both on the outside and on the inside. If the inner and the with a wild ex-lover from his youth outer are not in sync, it is just a faux freedom that will come back who asks him to mentor her beguiling to haunt and torment you. cross-dressing 16-year-old son. DIRECTOR’S PROFILE TRINH Dinh Le Minh is a film director from Vietnam. After making Luong Hang Nguyen | Producer & Writer documentary short Where does the Wind Blow, which was shown in AMPAS' New Voices from Vietnam, he received a Fulbright PROJECT INFORMATION SYNOPSIS scholarship to pursue an MFA in Film Production at the University of Texas at Austin. HUNG (40) is an alcoholic fine arts lecturer whose life is falling His narrative short The Scent of Fish Sauce (2015) has travelled COUNTRY apart after a failed marriage. He reunites with THUY (42), an to prestigious film festivals including Palm Springs, BFI London Vietnam ex-lover from his youth and meets her beguiling cross-dressing and BiFan. His debut feature Goodbye Mother (2019) had its PRODUCER 16-year-old son, LINH. Thuy denies Hung's question that Linh is international premiere at the Busan IFF and won Best Narrative his son, asking him instead to act as a father figure and mentor Luong Hang Nguyen Feature at the Reeling Chicago LGBTQ+ IFF. Linh. Hung agrees as he wants to draw inspirations from Linh and PRODUCTION COMPANY their liberating sexual fluidity. EAST Films While modelling for Hung's new commissioned sculpture, Linh COMPANY PROFILE DIRECTOR constantly provokes him, making him drawn to them. After Hung Dinh Le Minh Trinh | Director Formed in 2019, EAST is a feature film production company Dinh Le Minh Trinh gets hurt while trying to protect Linh, they console Hung with they comprised of an award-winning experienced team of directors WRITER like him and it was them who chose him to be their father. Hung and producers that share a bold, consistent standard of artistic now tries to avoid Linh, until Linh has an argument with Thuy and Luong Hang Nguyen and commercial excellence for Vietnamese filmmaking. EAST runs to Hung. Hung at last is able to sculpt the boy's beauty. They GENRE partners have over 50 years of combined experience in leading get intimate. Drama / Queer the Vietnamese film market and aim to expand on transnational Thuy senses something has happened between them, so Hung TOTAL BUDGET stories from Southeast Asia for the global film market. tells Linh to come live with him, but Linh says he is just another € 526,500 pervert who falls for their psychological games. Hung receives Selected Filmography: FINANCING IN PLACE Thuy's old pregnancy papers. He is horrified that he might have Ròm (2019), narrative feature, director: Tran Thanh Huy € 0,000 committed incest with his own son, or is this yet another game? New Currents Award - Busan International Film Festival 2019 Best First Feature - Fantasia International Film Festival 2020 LOOKING FOR 3 years later, Hung meets Linh again and realizes he no longer has Be Water (2020), documentary feature, director: Bao Nguyen Co-production, Financing feelings for them as Linh is now fully a man. Hung, confronting his disappointment, castrates himself in front of Linh's sculpture. U.S. Documentary Competition - Sundance Film Festival 2020 Cannes Classics - Cannes Film Festival 2020

56 57 TIES THAT BIND | Career Participants

GEREMIA BIAGIOTTI SILJE GRÜNER SIGMUND ELIAS HOLM AGATHE VINSON

Geremia Biagiotti started working on domestic Silje Grüner has worked in the Development & Western Norway Film Commission provides free of After completing a Master Degree in ‘Cinema, Doc- distribution and international co-productions in Production Department as well as the Promotion charge location services, and assists producers in umentary & Media’ in France, Agathe VINSON 2004. During the years, he gained experience Department at the Norwegian Film Institute and is identifying financing opportunities and production worked for a few years in production companies with production management and as production now the Head of Marketing and Distribution at Evil partners. With 10+ years of experience in location and based in Paris. She then joined in 2013 the Marché coordinator for international co-productions, as well Doghouse Studios & Europafilm. Evil Doghouse is production support in the film and television industry, du Film at the Festival de Cannes for two editions, as content manager for a VOD platform. From 2012, an international production studio creating both Holm has assisted over 50 international projects working at the Marketing and Sales Department with he started working on international distribution feature film and series content. Headquartered in shooting in Norway. Western Norway is now emerging all exhibitors of the Marché and Village International. with acquisitions, sales, marketing and festivals. Oslo, with offices and production facilities throughout as a favoured production destination, backed by After four years at the Paris Region Film Commis- He is currently Sales & Marketing Manager and Scandinavia, America, North Africa, and Eastern spectacular and accessible locations, Norway’s 25% sion where she organized events and programs, she Acquisition Assistant for Intramovies. Intramovies Europe, we create local stories with global appeal. cash rebate and the regional media fund Zefyr. moved to Manila in 2019 to support the Film Devel- is an independent international distributor, with Established in 1933, Europafilm is Norway’s longest Recent projects shot in the region include blockbusters opment Council of the Philippines as a Technical particular focus on first and second feature films by running film distribution company servicing both such as No Time to Die, Mission: Impossible, Dune Consultant on incentives, programs and marketing. talented directors. Established almost fifty years ago, theatrical, SVOD, TVOD and terrestrial television. We and Black Widow as well as European co-productions it has constantly been the helping arm for creative deliver quality films from around the globe targeting such as Wild Men and More Than Ever. producers and new directors. a wide audience.

COMPANY CONTACTS COMPANY CONTACTS COMPANY CONTACTS COMPANY CONTACTS

INTRAMOVIES EVIL DOGHOUSE STUDIOS & EUROPAFILM WESTERN NORWAY FILM COMMISSION FILM DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL OF THE PHILIPPINES Via E. Manfredi, 15, 00197 Rome, Italy Kristian Augusts gate 11, 0164 Oslo, Norway Georgernes Verft 12, 5011 Bergen, Norway Manila, Philippines T - +39 333 33 05 054 T - +47 988 62 061 T - +47 97149153 / +91 88264 22182 T - +63 (0)917 189 00 34 / +33 (0)6 73 44 06 16 M - [email protected] M - [email protected] M - [email protected] M - [email protected] W - www.intramovies.com W - www.staronfilm.pl W - www.europafilm.no W - www.fdcp.ph

58 59 SECOND-HAND FILM MARKET -RECENTLY RESTORED AND READY FOR THE FUTURE-

Focus Asia 2021 presents the first edition of the Second-Hand Film Market, a brand-new section designed to showcase a selection of restored titles from the recent past ready to be re-released again. Although the heritage of classic cinema has always been perceived as an essential factor in building and re-shaping collective imagination, this phenomenon has experienced a substantial increase over the last few decades. Restoration and digitalisation have opened up a landscape of surprising opportunities for films of the past to be distributed for the second time: as a result a new, vibrant and profitable market is rapidly growing. Our Second-Hand Film Market is a tailor-made space entirely dedicated to buyers and sales, where a unique compilation of recently restored works - from box-office hits to hidden gems - will be presented. All the titles have been released in the last 40 years and they are now ready to take-off again. Be ready, don’t let anything get left behind.

Live session - July 2 @ 9.30 CEST A combined online-onsite pitching session where a selection of sales companies from both Asia and Europe will present their renewed flagship titles. Panel: In the mood for Restoration - July 2 @ 11.00 CEST An in-depth conversation on the opportunities and developments of restoration and re-release with five outstanding guests. Success stories such as Caro Diario by Nanni Moretti and In the Mood for Love by Wong Kar-wai will be used to kick-off the discussion. With Louise Kerouanton (International Distribution Project Manager – Library, Studiocanal, France), Vincent Paul-Boncour (Director, Carlotta Films, France), Mireille Van Helm (Head of International Legal and Business Affairs, Block 2 Distribution, Hong Kong) Maxime Vauthier (VP International Library Sales, Studiocanal, France) and moderated by Michele Crocchiola (Cinema Manager, Fondazione Culturale Stensen, Italy).

SECOND-HAND FILM MARKET OFFICIAL LINE-UP

— Mulholland Drive by David Lynch, 2001 / The Outsiders by Francis Ford Coppola, 1983 STUDIOCANAL, France — Vengeance is Mine by Shohei Imamura, 1979 / Demon Pond by Masahiro Shinoda, 1979 SHOCHIKU CO., LTD, Japan — Japòn by Carlos Reygadas, 2002 COPRODUCTION OFFICE, France/Germany — Chinese Take-Away by Sebastian Borens, 2011 / Thesis on a homicide by Hernan Golfrid, 2013 LATIDO FILMS, Spain — The Postmodern Life of My Aunt by Ann Hui, 2006 GOLDEN DRAGON PICTURES LIMITED, Hong Kong — Demonia by Lucio Fulci, 1990 COCCINELLE FILM SALES, Italy

— Darklands by Julian Richards, 1996 JINGA FILMS, United Kingdom — Battle Royale by Kinji Fukasaku, 2000 TOEI COMPANY, LTD, Japan

60 61 FOCUS ASIA 2021 ATTENDEES

Droandi Martina | Sales | Autlook Filmsales — Austria Meadeb David | Sales / Producer | Pulsar Content — France Auderlitzky Christa | Sales | Filmdelights — Austria Lovadina Matteo | Sales | Reel Suspects — France Rehekampff Loredana | Producer | Samsara Filmproduktion Gmbh — Austria Kerouanton Louise | Sales | StudioCanal — France Lefaible Lize | Producer | Potemkino — Belgium Vauthier Maxime | Sales | StudioCanal — France Fulvi Giovanna | Festival | Toronto Int’l Film Festival — Canada Corbin Agathe | Sales | Udi - Urban Distribution International — France Brown Todd | Sales | XYZ — Canada Urizzi Marco | Sales | Wide — France Lin Chi-An | Producer | Coolie Films — China Vallé Marie-Pierre | Sales | Wild Bunch — France Bai Pamela Lingyan | Buyer | Hugoeast — China Guillaume de la Boulaye | Producer | Zobra Production — France Leung Alice | Sales | IQIYI — China Vinson Agathe | Consultant | Film Development Council of the Philippines — France / Philippines Tsao Bryce | Sales / Buyer | IQIYI — China Meinzolt Gudula | Producer | Autentika Films — Germany Cao Liuying | Sales | Parallax Films — China Esposito Lorenzo | Festival | Berlinale — Germany ZHOU Difei | Director | project: Little Bastard — China Bendeck Marjorie | Market | Connecting Cottbus — Germany Xu Jing | Sales | Rediance — China Pezzini Cecilia | Sales | Coproduction office — Germany Xu Jing Koko | Buyer | Virtual Cinema — China Bleis Martina | Market | Efm (european Film Market) — Germany Chen Yanqi | Director | wip: Day Tripper — China Buder Bernd | Festival | Filmfestival Cottbus — Germany Lin Sunan | Producer | wip: Day Tripper — China Greiner Gabor | Sales | Films Boutique — Germany Ying Liang | Producer | wip: Day Tripper — China Manthey Dirk | Producer | La Mosca Bianca Films Gmbh — Germany Čajkova Michaela | Sales | Filmotor — Czech Republic Koronkiewicz Justyna | Sales | Media Move — Germany Horyna Martin | Festival | Karlovy Vary International Film Festival — Czech Republic Tjio Rudy | Buyer | MFA+ — Germany Rosak Hugo | Market | Karlovy Vary International Film Festival — Czech Republic Olsson Rickard | Sales | Picture Tree International GmbH — Germany Liang Debra | Sales | Levelk — Denmark Novelli Manola | Sales | Pluto Film Distribution Network GmbH — Germany Richter Valeria | Producer | Nordic Factory Copenhagen — Denmark Holl Stephan | Producer | Rapid Eye Movies Gmbh — Germany Engelstoft Sun Hee | Director | TTB project: Lost Daughter — Denmark Cöllen Julia | Producer | The Greenhouse — Germany Lyngbo Quist Amalie | Producer | TTB project: Lost Daughter — Denmark Donschen Luise | Director | TTB project: The Greenhouse — Germany Sepping Mati | Buyer | Estinfilm — Estonia Weydemann Jonas | Producer | Weydemann Bros. — Germany Saluveer Sten-Kristian | Storytek — Estonia Ruggieri Maria A. | Sales | Asian Shadows — Hong Kong Pukšta Edvinas | Festival | Tallin Black Nights Film Festival — Estonia Van Helm Mireille | Sales | Block 2 Distribution — Hong Kong Guillaume de Seille | Producer | Arizona productions — France Lung Andy | Sales | Gold Dragon Pic — Hong Kong Glachant Isabelle | Producer / Sales | Asian Shadows — France Tsang Felix | Sales | Golden Scene Company Limited — Hong Kong Paul-boncour Vincent | Sales | Carlotta Films — France Chan Pearl | Sales | Good Move Media — Hong Kong Desquiens Lucie | Sales | Charades — France Poon Matthew | Market | HAF - HK — Hong Kong Dubas Marie | Producer | DeuxiÈme Ligne Films — France Ki Nate | Director | project: Back Home — Hong Kong Tran Bich-Quan | Buyer / Producer | Dissidenz — France Man Mani | Producer | project: Back Home — Hong Kong Aitouna Karim | Producer | Hautlesmains Productions — France Bi Kenneth | Director | project: Three Funerals and a Wedding — Hong Kong Wang Vincent | Producer | House On Fire Productions — France Lee Katherine | Producer | project: Three Funerals and a Wedding — Hong Kong Zelnik Jérémy | Festival | Les Arcs European Film Festival — France Culleton Brendan | Producer | akajava films — Ireland Danielou Laurent | Sales | Loco Films — France Maldea irina | Producer | akajava films — Ireland Worthington Quentin | Sales | Mpm Premium — France Pontarelli Raffaella | Producer | Amarena Film — Italy Fomin Aleksandr | Sales | Pulsar Content — France Bertolin Paolo | Festival | Biennale di Venezia — Italy FOCUS ASIA 2021 ATTENDEES

Visintini Clara | Producer | CG Ent — Italy Yerzhanov Adilkhan | Director | wip: Ademoka — Kazakhstan Ferrari Ardicini Lorenzo | Buyer | CG Home Video — Italy Tohme Sacha | Buyer | Moving Turtle — Lebanon Breccia Francesca | Sales | Coccinelle Film Sales — Italy Pastore Alessandra | Market | Vilnius Iff “kino Pavasaris” — Lithuania Amato Alessandro | Producer | Disparte — Italy Bruncher Christophe | Head of Studies | Eave — Luxembourg Chimienti Luigi | Producer | Disparte — Italy Sajatovic Tanika | TTB coordinator | Eave — Luxembourg Crocchiola Michele | Exhibitor | Fondazione Culturale Niels Stensen — Italy Trapp Tina | CEO | Eave — Luxembourg Paggiarin Valentina | Producer | Hive Division S.r.l. — Italy Solomon Nandita | Producer | Apparat — Malaysia Biagiotti Geremia | Sales | Intramovies — Italy Bahir Muhammad | Producer | project: Mayang — Malaysia Fusco Marco Valerio | Sales | Intramovies — Italy Hamzah Nadiah | Director | project: Mayang — Malaysia Oertwig Flavia | Producer | Intrigo Internazionale — Italy Narayanan Priya | Producer | project: Mayang — Malaysia Moino Francesca | Producer | K+ — Italy Goh Joanne | Producer | wip: Reborn — Malaysia Pozzi Davide | L’immagine Ritrovata — Italy Tye Zi Qing | Producer | wip: Reborn — Malaysia Maltoni Massimiliano | Festival | La Cappella Underground - Trieste Science+fiction Festival — Italy Aung Phyoe | Director | TTB project: Fruit Gathering — Myanmar Roccati Gigi | Director | project: MISHIMA, The Roses of Vendetta — Italy Thaiddhi | Director / Producer | TTB project: Fruit Gathering — Myanmar Santovincenzo Leopoldo | Buyer | Rai 4 — Italy Tee Lorna | Festival | Cinemasia — Netherlands Mac Call Isotta | Buyer | Rai Cinema — Italy Bendall Daniela | Sales | Fortissimo Films — Netherlands Manno Francesca | Sales | Summerside Media — Italy Driessen Nelleke | Sales | Nine Film — Netherlands Toffolo Chiara | Producer | Tesla Production — Italy Saivosalmi Kirsi | Producer | Revolver — Netherlands Bertuzzi Lorenzo | Festival | Trieste Science+Fiction Festival — Italy van der Kaaij Raymond | Producer | Revolver — Netherlands Evangelisti Luca | Festival | Trieste Science+Fiction Festival — Italy Ruwhiu Tui | Producer | Tauihu Media Limited — New Zeland Tiberi Francesca | Sales | True Colours — Italy Renno Fernanda | Sales | As Fidalgo Film Distribution — Norway Fasulo Alberto | Director | TTB project: The Rope — Italy Grüner Silje | Distributor | Evil Doghouse Studios & Europafilm — Norway Trevisan Nadia | Producer | TTB project: The Rope — Italy Holm Sigmund Elias | Film Commission | Western Norway Film Commission & Fiction Norway — Norway Faccio Samantha | Distributor | Tucker Film — Italy Alcain Mil | Film Development Council of the Philippines — Philippines Montacchini Billy | Sales | Tvco — Italy Ang Alemberg | Producer | TTB project: Dancing the Tides — Philippines Alfieri Serena | Producer | Vivo Film — Italy Balbuena Bianca | Producer | Epicmedia — Philippines Aihara Hiromi | Producer | Bewiz Inc. — Japan Cruz Sol | Film Development Council of the Philippines — Philippines Sadai Yuji | Buyer | Bitters End Inc. — Japan Dino Liza | Organization | FDCP — Philippines Koido Kana | Buyer | Klockworks — Japan Fabros David | Film Development Council of the Philippines — Philippines Mizuno-Gray Eiko | Producer | Loaded Films — Japan Macalanda Martina | Film Development Council of the Philippines — Philippines Kaneko Yuki | Buyer | New Select Co. Ltd — Japan Torlao Jo Andrew A. | Organization | Film Development Council of the Philippines — Philippines Kai Sayaka | Director | project: ADABANA — Japan Paulino Mary Grace | Film Development Council of the Philippines — Philippines Ueno Hiroyuki | Producer | project: Adabana — Japan Pantoja Vanessa Kaye | Film Development Council of the Philippines — Philippines Imai Taro | Producer | project: MISHIMA, The Roses of Vendetta — Japan Suarez Xeph | Director | TTB project: Dancing the Tides — Philippines Komatsu Shion | Sales | Shochiku Co. Ltd. — Japan Enciso Catu Carlo | Director | TTB project: Purple Sun — Philippines Takata Shiori | Sales | Toei Co. Ltd — Japan Cornejo Mario | Producer | wip: Bird Eyes — Philippines Tsutsui Ryohei | Producer | Trixta — Japan Jimenez Monster | Producer | wip: Bird Eyes — Philippines Fudesaka Kenta | Organization | Unijapan — Japan Ramirez Escobar Martika | Director | wip: Bird Eyes — Philippines Khlasheva Olga | Producer | wip: Ademoka — Kazakhstan Skalkowski Kamil | Producer | Kalejdoskop — Poland FOCUS ASIA 2021 ATTENDEES

Ferreira António | Producer | Persona Non Grata Pictures (portugal) — Portugal Yang Desmond | Sales | Mandarin Vision — Taiwan Sacilotto Tathiani | Producer | Persona Non Grata Pictures (portugal) — Portugal Liu Sharleen | Sales | MirrorFiction — Taiwan Beckovic Danilo | Producer | Gargantua — Serbia Hsu Berton | Producer | project: Low-End — Taiwan Tadena Micah | Producer | 108 Media — Singapore LIN Lynn Hsin-Yi | Producer | project: Low-End — Taiwan Quek Vincent | Buyer | Anticipate Pictures — Singapore Yao Albert | Producer | project: Low-End — Taiwan Lai Weijie | Producer | E&W FILMS — Singapore Yao Gene | Producer | project: Low-End — Taiwan Chia Thomas | Buyer | Lighthouse Pictures — Singapore Chen Shao-Yi | Buyer | Screenworks Asia Ltd. — Taiwan Chua Sam | Producer | project: Pierce — Singapore Chiu Tony | Market | Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival — Taiwan Chua Jeremy | Producer | project: Pierce — Singapore Wu Christy | Market | Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival — Taiwan Low Nelicia | Director | project: Pierce — Singapore Tsai Nobu Hsin-Hung | Producer | TTB project: Lost and Found — Taiwan Chua Joyce | Reed Exhibitions — Singapore Centini Stefano | Producer | VOLOS Films — Taiwan Deimen Justin | Investor | SAAVA - Southeast Asian Audio-Visual Association Ltd. — Singapore Thipsena Supatcha | Producer | Mobile Lab Project — Thailand Kay Wee Thong | Festival | Singapore IFF — Singapore Lim Gilbert | Buyer | Sahamongkol film — Thailand Ishise Naoko | Producer | TTB project: Purple Sun — Singapore / Japan Mewis Richard | Producer | TTB project: Mrs Raffles — UK / Singapore Ikovic Bostjan | Producer | Arsmedia — Slovenia Smith Rod | Investor | 108 media — United Kingdom Virc Bostjan | Producer | Studio Virc — Slovenia Laszlo Krisztina | Sales | Bankside — United Kingdom Park Seri | Market | APM / BIFF — South Korea Ramirez Angelica | Sales | Bankside — United Kingdom Nam Dong Chul | Festival | Busan International Film Festival — South Korea Henry-rashid Xavier | Sales | Film Republic — United Kingdom Park Sun Young | Festival | Busan International Film Festival — South Korea Ravani Marta | Sales | Hanway Films — United Kingdom Chang Yejin | Sales | CJ ENM — South Korea Rai Ajay | Producer | In Front Films — United Kingdom Lee Bruce D. | Buyer | EnterMode — South Korea Richards Julian | Sales | Junga Films — United Kingdom Shin Wonsun | Producer | Hanmac Culture Group — South Korea Cumic Mili | Sales / Producer | Locomotive Entertainment — United Kingdom Chang Hyun Sang | Director | wip: Zombie Crush in Heyri — South Korea Beeson Robert | Buyer | New Wave Films — United Kingdom Yeo Ji Hoon | Producer | wip: Zombie Crush in Heyri — South Korea Granier-Deferre Christopher | Producer | Poisson Rouge Pictures — United Kingdom Carro Cristina | Sales | Filmax — Spain Comer Kevin | Producer | Psychonaut — United Kingdom Palazzo Fabrizia | Sales | Latido Films — Spain Marty Claire | Buyer | Terracotta Distribution — United Kingdom D’Ursi Carlo | Producer | Potenza Producciones S.l./veobeo Distribution — Spain Ersoy Evrim | Festival | BeyondFest — United States Cueto Roberto | Festival | San Sebastian Iff / Festival Internacional De Cine De San SebastiÁn — Spain Page Anna | Festival | Hawaii Int’l Film Festival — United States Mahnert Annick | Producer | Screen Division — Spain Wilson G | Writer | project: Ash Valley — United States Scheynius Ignas | Buyer | Edge Entertainment — Sweden Zhu Shu | Director | project: Ash Valley — United States Olsson Freddy | Festival | Goteborg Film Festival — Sweden Eliasoph Ellen | Producer | project: Little Bastard — United States Jobin Thierry | Festival | Fribourg Int’l Film Festival — Switzerland Steinberg Valerie | Producer | Steinberg Valerie — United States Schiesser Sarah | Market | Locarno Film Festival — Switzerland Sung Natasha K. | Director | TTB project: Lost and Found — Vietnam Bankuti Zsuzsi | Market | Locarno Open Doors — Switzerland NGUYEN Luong Hang | Producer | TTB project: Youthfully Yours — Vietnam Gandar Helene | Festival | Visions du Réel — Switzerland TRINH Dinh Le Minh | Director | TTB project: Youthfully Yours — Vietnam Wu June | Sales | Ablaze Image — Taiwan Hsu Gino | Buyer | Cineplex Development Co. — Taiwan Chiou Zi-Ning | Producer | Fennec Pictures — Taiwan Huang Patrick Mao | Producer | FFE — Taiwan BADGES

The “FOCUS ASIA” and the “TIES THAT BIND” badges allow entry to the Focus Asia venue and permit professionals to attend all the FOCUS ASIA activities.

The “FEFF WHITE TIGER” badge is valid for the entire Festival and grants access to all the screenings* (pre-booking is required for each screening until capacity is reached).

VENUES

The FOCUS ASIA activities will take place at CASA DELLA CONTADINANZA (first floor) and the workshop TIES THAT BIND will be held in a reserved area on the ground floor. 2 1 The FEFF screenings will be at CINEMA VISIONARIO and CINEMA CENTRALE.

10 8 MAP 9 1 CASA DELLA CONTADINANZA (PIAZZALE DEL CASTELLO, N°2) 2 CINEMA VISIONARIO (VIA ASQUINI, N° 33) 3 CINEMA CENTRALE (VIA POSCOLLE, N°8) 3 HOTELS 6

4 HOTEL ALLEGRIA (VIA GRAZZANO, N°8) 5 HOTEL AMBASSADOR (VIA CARDUCCI, N°46) 6 HOTEL ASTORIA (PIAZZA XX SETTEMBRE, N°24) 7 AL VECCHIO TRAM (VIA BRENARI, N°28) 7

RESTAURANTS

8 ANTICA MADDALENA (VIA PELLICCERIE, N°4) 4 5 9 CAFFE’ TOMASO (VIA DELLA PREFETTURA, N° 16) 10 VITELLO D'ORO (VIA VALVASON, N°4) FAR EAST FILM FESTIVAL 23

Focus Asia (6th Edition) Produced by Far East Film Festival C.E.C. – Centro Espressioni Cinematografiche with the support of with IDEAZIONE E REALIZZAZIONE CON / WITH ORGANIZATION MiC - Ministero della Cultura Direzione Generale per il Fondo Regionale per l’Audiovisivo Cinema La Cineteca del Friuli (Gemona Film Archive) in collaboration with Visionario Friuli Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Fund, Udine and with the collaboration of Eave Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine European Film Promotion Artistic Direction and Organisation CON IL CONTRIBUTO DI / WITH THE SUPPORT OF International Partners by C.E.C. Golden Horse Film Project Promotion, Taiwan Sabrina Baracetti (President) HAF, Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum Thomas Bertacche (Festival General Coordinator)

All Genres Project Market Partners Giulia Cane (Educational Program) BIG – Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, Luca Censabella (Program Coordinator) South Korea Max Mestroni (Creative Director) Nordic Factory, Denmark Tina Peressutti (Human Resources) Black Nights Film Festival – Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Giorgio Placereani (Program Coordinator) Event & Storytek, Estonia Daniele Vidussi (Technical and Security) Far East in Progress Partner Marco Villotta (Program Coordinator) 108 Media PROGRAMMING ASSOCIATE IN COLLABORAZIONE CON / IN COLLABORATION WITH Ties That Bind (12th edition) June Kim Friuli Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Fund and Far East Film Festival P.R. & Marketing EAVE – European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs Linda Carello, Ippolita Nigris Cosattini SAAVA – Southeast Asian Audio-Visual Association Limited, Singapore Programming Office with the support of Suomi Sponton (Senior Manager) CON LA PARTECIPAZIONE DI / WITH THE PARTECIPATION OF Creative Europe - MEDIA sub-programme con Anna Bertolli, Tommaso Priante of the European Union Aurora Media Holdings Registration Office in collaboration with Eleonora Russo Asia TV Forum Market and Screen Singapore with Emiliana Tomba Database Eventival: Thomas Prasek MAIN SPONSORS Focus Asia 2021 Alessandro Gropplero (Project Coordinator) Press Office Elena Bertoni (Project Manager) Gianmatteo Pellizzari, Ippolita Nigris Cosattini Tommaso Priante (Second Hand Film Market Coordinator) Finance and Administration Luka Venturin (Meetings Coordinator) Lorena Beltramini, Ilaria Nesta and Marta Basalisco Focus Asia - All Genres Project Market OFFICIAL SPONSORS FESTIVAL PARTNERS Project Selection Committee: Festival Artwork FOCUS ASIA CON IL SUPPORTO DI/WITH THE SUPPORT OF Mike Hostench, producer (Spain) Roberto Rosolin Thomas Jongsuk Nam, Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (South Korea) Graphic Department Valeria Richter, Nordic Factory CPH (Denmark) Massimo Miani (GraphicPlayer), Gianluca Pisacane Sten-Kristian Saluveer, Black Nights Film Festival - with Ivan Moreale (Catalogue) Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event (Estonia) and the collaboration of Gabriele Barbaro International Partners: IN COLLABORAZIONE CON/WITH COLLABORATION WITH INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS Matthew Poon (Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum) Photographers MAIN MEDIA PARTNERS MEDIA PARTNERS Tony Chiu, Christy Wu (Taipei Golden Horse Film Project Alice Durigatto Promotion) Ricky Modena and Francesco Cecconi

Far East in Progress with the collaboration of: Justin Deimen (108 Media) PROJECT MARKET PARTNERS FAR EAST IN PROGRESS PARTNER Selection Committee headed by: Marie-Pierre Vallé, Wild Bunch (France) TECHNICAL PARTNERS Second Hand Film Market / Asian Gates with the collaboration of: Susanne Davis, Cornelia Klimkeit, Jo Mühlberger (European Film Promotion)

Ties That Bind Paolo Vidali, Alessandro Gropplero, Elisa Bordon (Friuli Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Fund), Christophe Bruncher, Kristina Trapp, Tanika Sajatovic (Eave), Justin Deimen (SAAVA-Southeast Asian Audio-Visual Association Limited, Singapore)

TIES THAT BIND

CON IL SUPPORTO DI/WITH THE SUPPORT OF IN COLLABORAZIONE CON/WITH COLLABORATION WITH

CAMPUS CON IL SUPPORTO DI/WITH THE SUPPORT OF CON LA PARTECIPAZIONE DI/WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF WWW.FAREASTFILM.COM