News

Indian animated feature Heirloom won two awards at the closing of this year’s Hkiff Industry Project Market (March 11-13) in Hong Kong, where 21 cash and in-kind awards worth $223,000 were handed out.

Heirloom, which will be the feature debut of Upamanyu Bhattacharyya and is produced by Arya A Menon and Shubham Karna, won the Wip award for a non-Hong Kong project as well as being one of five films selected for the Haf goes to Cannes programme.

It centres on a married couple who come into conflict when the husband inherits a handloom trade and wants to maintain traditions while...

Yin Chen-Hao’s Call Of Lobster and Gao Linyang’s Dying Fire were presented with the inaugural Hcg Awards, a joint initiative of Hkiff Industry and CAA China, as the Hong Kong projects market wrapped with 21 cash and in-kind prizes worth more than US$223,000.

The objective of Hcg [Hkiff Industry – CAA China Genre Initiative], according to CAA China CEO Mary Gu, is to provide the next generation of filmmakers in the region with a network of support to help them launch their careers, both locally and in the international marketplace.

Two animation projects were the big winners in the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf). The Excreman – On The Road, from McDull creator and veteran animator Brian Tse, won the Idp Award for Hong Kong projects, while Indian animation feature Heirloom, from Upamanyu Bhattacharyya, won the Wip Award as a non-Hong Kong project.

“Both projects demonstrate lively reimaginings of local tales and a strong connection to their domestic social landscapes,...

The honors were evenly distributed at the 2024 Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum awards with no film project winning more than two prizes.

Zhang Zhongchen’s work-in-progress “The Land is Our Navel” (China), that tracks a surreal journey beginning in a village, will be one of five projects invited to go to Cannes. It will be joined by Upamanyu Bhattacharya’s animation “Heirloom” (India), which examines the dark side of nostalgia while celebrating Indian textiles; and Oliver Chan Siu-kuen’s “Montages of a Modern Motherhood” (Hong Kong), where a troubled new mother seeks an immediate solution to her problems.

“The Land is Our Navel” also won the AimMedia Award, while “Heirloom” and “Montages of a Modern Motherhood” won the market’s Work In Progress award for non-Hong Kong and Hong Kong project respectively.

In all, awards worth $223,000 were handed out on Wednesday at the market. In total of 47 projects were...

The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (Hkiffs) has unveiled 26 in-development projects for the 22nd Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf), which will become part of the newly expanded Hkiff Industry Project Market.

The lineup features both veteran and rising filmmakers including Koji Fukada, Hong Khaou, Jang Kun-jae, Qiu Jiongjiong, Patiparn Boontarig, Wang Xiaoshuai, Teruhisa Yamamoto, and Zhang Lu. The projects cover comedy, horror, action, romance and family drama, including seven first features, two animations and a string of cross-country collaborations.

Scroll down for full list of projects

“The selection is a testament to the resurgence of diversity and the revitalisation of international collaborations,...

Leading Asian film directors including Josh Kim, Fukada Koji and Patiparn Boontarig line up to pitch their in-development projects at the March edition of the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf).

Leading directors Wang Xiaoshuai and Zhang Lu will also be on the ground at Haf, operating as producers. So too will established producers Yamamoto Teruhisa (“Drive My Car”) and Michael J. Werner.

The 22nd edition of the Haf project market will run March 11-13 and sit alongside the four-day FilMart (March 11-14) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Haf is operated by The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society and this year will showcase 26 in-development projects. This year it will also be accompanied by the first edition of the Hkiff Industry – CAA China Genre Initiative (Hcg), which aims to support the development of Chinese language genre films.

Among the highlights: Wang Xiaoshuai will produce Zhang Yushan...

Sometimes the most horrifying things are made for the kiddies, and the Cantonese animated movie McDull, Rise of the Rice Cooker is cooking up some Japanese-style giant robot vs. giant monster action for the wee ones. Animator Brian Tse is… Continue Reading →

The post Cantonese Cartoon Kaiju Action Steams Up in the Trailer for McDull, Rise of the Rice Cooker appeared first on Dread Central.

McDull, a little pig with a big heart, comes from a long line of adorable yet pointed social commentary created by writer Brian Tse and cartoonist Alice Mak over the past 20 years. A little too plump and not too smart by his own admission, McDull has found his place in the limelight with a handful of feature length films and a batch of colorful characters and salty observations. The world, and all its subdued pleasures and inevitable disappointments, is reflected through the misadventures of McDull and his Kindergarten classmates made up of various little animals and an occasional human. This latest installment, McDull: The Pork of Music, highlights Springfield Kindergarten's resilient Headmaster and his love for singing that he attempts to instill in his...

The 28th annual Vancouver International Film Festival (Viff) will be held October 1-16, 2009. Founded in 1982, Viff's mandate is "...to encourage the understanding of other nations through the art of cinema, to foster the art of cinema, to facilitate the meeting in British Columbia of cinema professionals from around the world and to stimulate the motion picture industry in British Columbia and Canada..." Over 150,000 people are expected to attend 640 screenings of 360 films from 80 countries. Here is an up-to-date list of directors, confirmed to attend Viff 2009, along with their films : "1428" Du Haibin "1999" Lenin Sivam "65_RedRoses" Philip Lyall & Nimisha Mukerji "Adelaide" Liliana Greenfield-Sanders "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector" Vikram Jayanti "Ana & Arthur" Larry Young "The Anchorage" Anders Edström & Curtis Winter "Antoine" Laura Bari "Argippo Resurrected" Dan Krames "The Art of Drowning" Diego Maclean "At Home By Myself... With You" Kris Booth "At The Edge Of The World" Dan Stone...

HONG KONG -- For the first time in Hong Kong's film industry, a series of locally produced shorts made to help boost the post-SARS morale of the territory will accompany the screening of mainstream releases here over the next few weeks. The 11 shorts, funded to the tune of HK$5 million ($641,000) by the Hong Kong Government, boasts the participation of many of the country's most acclaimed filmmakers, including Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai; Fruit Chan; Teddy Chen; Tsui Hark; Stephen Chow; Joe Ma Wai-ho; Mabel Cheung and Alex Law; Dante Lam and Gordon Chan; Brian Tse; Peter Chan; and Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. The series will make its premiere in a shopping mall's open-air piazza Monday night before being screened in pairs with normal screenings at Hong Kong cinemas for the next few weeks.