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UK festival recently moved online-only due to virus crisis.

The Glasgow Film Festival (Gff) has revealed the programme for its 2021 edition (Feb 24-March 7), which includes several award-winning festival favourites and a focus on South Korea.

The 17th edition of Gff, which recently announced it would shift online-only due to the ongoing virus crisis, includes six world premieres, two European premieres and 49 UK premieres – around a third of the event’s usual programme of 180 titles.

However, Gff co-directors Allison Gardner and Allan Hunter said the reduced number of slots had forced them to raise the bar for selection and produce a stronger programme as a result.

Local film project “SARSTorm” dominated the 2020 edition of the Golden Horse Film Project Promotion, winning three prizes including the Nt$1 million Grand Prize. Lee Sinje, a previous winner of the best actress prize at the Golden Horse Awards, picked up two further prizes with her executive producing debut, “ABang ADik,” featuring producer-turned-director Jin Ong.

The project market, which ran Nov. 16-18, focuses on Chinese-language film-making and consists of three parts: one-on-one private meetings between producers and potential financiers, distributors and sales agents; professional workshops; and industry panels. It also includes a work-in-progress section and for the first time this year opened to projects to be made as TV or streaming series.

Organizers claimed to have facilitated 992 meetings between financiers from around the world and representatives of the 40 selected projects across the three sections.

Past winners have included “Nina Wu,” Lina Yang’s “Spring Tide,” ”Heavy Craving,” “Changfeng Town” and ”Back to the Wharf,...

War film “The Sacrifice” was the most watched title in Chinese theaters for the third consecutive weekend. It earned $9.2 million over the frame and extended its cumulative score to $150 million, since release on Oct. 23.

Over the weekend just completed, U.S.-Canadian animation “Paw Patrol: Mighty Pups” bounced its way to second place with a $5.5 million opening.

Millennium Films’ “Hellboy” came in third with a weekend take of $4.6 million, pushing its seven-day score to $10.4 million. That compares with its $21.9 million haul last year in North America.

Fourth place, and a $3.5 million score, belonged “Find Your Voice.” The Hong Kong-u.S.-shot production stars veteran singer-actor-producer Andy Lau as a musical conductor unexpectedly arriving at a college and training the pupils for an inter-collegiate chorus competition.

It edged out long-legged patriotic omnibus film “My People, My Homeland,” which added $3.1 million in its seventh weekend. Its total is now $422 million.

Dropping out...

Viggo Mortensen’s directorial debut “Falling” and the already acclaimed Chinese film “The Cloud in her Room” form part of the 11-title competition section announced by the International Film Festival & Awards Macao. The festival will take place entirely online this year, running Dec. 3-8.

The competition, which focuses on first and second films, also includes: Wang Xiaozhen’s “Love Poem,” which won the top prize at the First International Film Festival this year; Jeonju prize-winner “Black Light,” by Bae Jongdae; Cannes 2020 Label titles “Limbo,” by the U.K.’s Ben Sharrock, “Spring Blossom” by France’s Suzanne Lindon, and “Sweat” by Magnus von Horn; and “Back To The Wharf,” by China’s Li Xiaofeng.

Three other titles joining the competition are: “Servants,” by Ivan Ostrochovsky of the Czech Republic; “Shorta,” by Frederik Louis Hviid and Anders Olholm from Denmark; and “Tragic Jungle,” by Yulene Olaizola, from Mexico.

Prizes will be...

Programme includes competition section of 11 features from first and second-time directors.

The International Film Festival & Awards Macao (Iffam) has confirmed that it is moving online for its fifth edition (December 3-8) and announced its full programme, including an international competition for first and second-time filmmakers.

The competition line-up of 11 features including actor Viggo Mortensen’s directing debut Falling; Cannes 2020 Label titles Limbo, Spring Blossom and Sweat; Jeonju film festival winner Black Light; and Chinese titles Love Poem, which won the top prize at this year’s First International Film Festival, and The Cloud In Her Room, which took the Tiger...

‘Rams’, ‘Radioactive’ and ’Honest Thief” liven up the reopened Australian market.

‘The Witches’ posts $3.5m in second session

With cinemas now closed again across most of Europe, Warner Bros will be pretty happy with a decline of just 29% for The Witches in its second session. Robert Zemeckis’s new version of the Roald Dahl tale grossed an estimated $3.5m from 26 international markets (down from $4.9m for the opening weekend), and $10.1m after 10 days of play.

Russia was once again the top territory, with an estimated $869,000 at the weekend, followed by Mexico with $515,000 and Taiwan with $491,000.

Germany – the fourth-best market on...

Local war epic Sacrifice held on to the top spot and has reached a cume of $134.2m since opening on October 23.

Local war epic Sacrifice held on to the top spot at the China box office over the weekend (November 6-8), grossing $14.3m, according to figures from Artisan Gateway, while Li Xiaofeng’s Back To The Wharf came in second with $7.1m in its opening three days.

Sacrifice, was produced to celebrate the 70th anniversary of China’s entry into the Korean War, has grossed a cumulative total of $134.2m since opening on October 23.

Executive produced by leading actor-producer Huang Bo,...

China had a relatively quiet box office weekend, in which holdover Korean War-set title “Sacrifice” led for the third week in a row thanks to $14.4 million in sales, according to data from industry tracker Maoyan.

This week’s most notable new release was the blood-stained, tear-soaked, seaside-set local crime thriller “Back to the Wharf,” which came in second with a $7.09 million debut. It stars Zhang Yu and was directed by Li Xiaofeng. His first feature, the 2014 period drama “Nezha,” premiered in the New Currents section at the Busan International Film Festival that year but made just $82,130 in Chinese theaters.

Patriotic omnibus film “My People, My Homeland,” now well over a month in theaters, came in third with $4.86 million. It has now grossed a cumulative $416 million (RMB2.75 billion), making it one of the world’s biggest films of the year and the 21st highest grossing film of all time in China.