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Busan International Film Festival (Biff) has revealed 30 titles chosen for the 2024 Asian Project Market (Apm), including upcoming features by award-winners Kirsten Tan, Iqbal H. Chowdhury, Woo Ming Jin and Daishi Matsunaga.

The investment and co-production market, which runs as part of Biff’s Asian Contents and Film Market (Acfm), is set to take place from October 5-8 in Busan, South Korea.

Scroll down for full list of titles

This year’s Apm selection features an expanded variety of genres, including crime thrillers, horror, queer cinema, and animated films, alongside the more traditional selections of drama, comedy and romance. Organisers said...

Busan International Film Festival has revealed the 30 projects that have been selected for this year’s Asian Project Market (Apm), including several from Asian filmmakers who have previously had films selected for the Korean festival.

The line-up includes Dhakar Nagin, from Bangladeshi filmmaker Iqbal H. Chowdhury, who won Busan’s New Currents Award last year with The Wrestler. Also returning is Indonesia’s Wregas Bhanuteja with Levitating, after his film Photocopier screened in New Currents in 2021.

Other returnees include Japan’s Sotoyama Bunji with Life Redo List after Soiree screened at the festival in 2020, along with Asian Film Academy alumni Aigerim Satybaldy, a Khazakh filmmaker who is producing Leg from Uzbek filmmaker Shokir Kholikov; Sri Lanka’s Ilagno Ram with Rabbit Hole; and Myanmar’s Lin Htet Aung with Making A Sea.

Established filmmakers in the selection include Hong Kong documentary filmmaker Chan Tze-woon with Nothing Happened, Filipino indie filmmaker Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan,...

The Red Sea International Film Festival in partnership with Vox Cinemas, Mbc Group, and Saudia Airlines announced the winners of the Red Sea competition sections. The 16 feature, 18 shorts selection and 21 ground-breaking global virtual reality experiences are a celebration of the most exciting, innovative new films and cinematic storytelling from established and emerging filmmakers from the Arab world and Africa.

This year’s jury included: President of the Red Sea Features Competition, Academy Award-winning Italian director and writer Giuseppe Tornatore, Tunisian actress Hend Sabry, Palestinian-American director, writer, actress, and producer Cherien Dabis, Mexican festival director and founder of the Morelia International Film Festival Daniela Michel and Saudi film director Abdulaziz Alshlahei.

Competition Jury Prize went to the Cannes Directors Fortnight premiering Hit the Road by Panah Panahi from Iran.

Competition Best Film went to Brighton 4th by Levan Koguashvili a coproduction of Georgia, Russia, Bulgaria, USA, Monaco. This is Georgia’s submission for Oscar Nomination for Best International Film and the winner of the Asian World Film Festival, Los Angeles for Best Picture. This film about the Georgian emigrants living in Brighton Beach, USA today captures the heart of the viewers with its open sharing of the Georgians today. Its director Levan Koguashvili graduated NYU Film school. The film is the winner of three prizes at Cottbus Film Festival and three awards at Tribeca as well.

Competition Best Actor and Best Director for Europa went to Amal Ali and Haider Rashid respectively, a coproduction of Iraq, Italy, and Kuwait:

Haider Rashid says, “Regarding the main role, Kamal, I was set on finding an actor who could understand the sense of displacement that we wanted to portray on an emotional level. My colleague Daniele Bernabei ran into a trailer for a short film while at the Short Film Corner in Cannes and sent it to me, as the cast was composed of several Arab actors. As soon as I saw Adam Ali I felt there was something interesting about him, a silent movie face in a way. That made me want to find out more, since we were going to make a film in which dialogue is at a minimum and most of the film is on the protagonist’s shoulders.

While he was in Canada shooting Apple+’s Little America, we had a very interesting conversation and found some common grounds on certain issues like the misrepresentation of certain ethnicities in film and TV and what it feels like to be sometimes torn between two cultures. Adam is of Libyan origins and moved with his family to Manchester when he was a child, so the issue of identity was also a common ground between us.

Of course this film is pretty different as it is so physical and it was clear that we were going to do many things that not every actor would be willing to do. While speaking to Adam, it seemed to me that there was a certain pride about him that would help me in pushing him in certain directions both physically and emotionally by sometimes provoking him. He was great in being determined to do what was necessary and I have to say he was really brave in how he faced the physical and emotional challenges that the story entailed.”

Competition Best Actress Award went to Arawinda Kirana for her role in Yuni a production of Indonesia, Singapore, France, Australia. She also won for best actress in the Asian World Film Festival, Los Angeles. This is a beautifully shot story of the feisy rebellion of a young woman in Indonesia today, a place we have not seen in its contemporary feminine aspects until now.

Best Saudi Film Rupture by Hamzah K. Jamjoom — Saudi Arabia

Audience Award You Resemble Me by Dina Amer — Egypt, France, USA

Immersive Silver Yusr Samsara by Hsin-Chien Huang — Taiwan

Immersive Gold Yusr End of Night by David Adler — Denmark, France

Short Competition Golden Yusr Tala’vision by Murad Abu Eisheh — Jordan, Germany

Competition Special Mention Farha by Darin J. Sallam — Jordan

Competition Best Cinematic Contribution went to Amin Jafari for Hit the Road — Iran

Competition Best Screenplay Neighbours by Mano Khalil — Syria, Switzerland...

A scene from Neighbours, one of the films at the virtual 2022 St. Louis Jewish Film Festival through March 13.

Courtesy of St. Louis International Film Festival and Sljff

The 2022 St. Louis Jewish Film Festival is virtual again this year, meaning all films can be streamed through the festival website through March 13. For tickets and more information, visit their website https://jccstl.com/arts-ideas/st-louis-jewish-film-festival. One the best films at this year’s St. Louis Jewish Film Festival is

One of this year’s best Jewish-interest films is “Neighbours” (Nachbarn), a Swiss film set in Syria 40 years ago, in a small village where Kurdish and Jewish families are neighbors. Actually, at this point, there is only one Jewish family left in the village, although there used to be more, a change due to the increasingly hostile policies of the ruling Baathist party. There is a lot of sly satire and humor in...

Levan Koguashvili’s Brighton 4th has scooped up the Best Film prize at Saudi Arabia’s inaugural Red Sea Film Festival. The title is Georgia’s entry in the Academy Awards international feature category this year.

Elsewhere in the festival’s Yusr Awards, Hamzah K. Jamjoom’s title Rupture was the winner for Best Saudi Film while Egyptian title You Resemble Me from director Dina Amer won the Audience Award.

Meanwhile, the jury prize was awarded to Iranian helmer Panah Panahi’s family road trip effort Hit The Road, which also won the Red Sea’s best cinematic contribution award. That title premiered in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight earlier this year. Murad Abu Eisheh’s Tala’Vision nabbed the Best Short award while Haider Rashid won Best Director for his title Europa.

The festival’s selection included 16 features, 18 short films and 21 virtual reality experiences in a celebration of innovative films...

Giuseppe Tornatore was jury president for the inaugural competition featuring 16 features.

Georgian director Levan Koguashvili’s Brighton 4th has won best film at the inaugural edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival, unfolding in Jeddah from December 6-15.

It follows a raft of prizes for the New York-set father-son drama that world premiered at Tribeca where it won best international feature, actor and screenplay.

There were 16 features from the Middle East and Africa in the inaugural competition.

Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore presided over the main competition jury with Tunisian actress Hend Sabry, Palestinian-American director Cherien Dabis, Morelia...

Levan Koguashvili’s “Brighton 4th” has won best film at Saudi Arabia’s inaugural Red Sea Film Festival, while Hamzah K. Jamjoom’s “Rupture” won best Saudi film.

“Brighton 4th” is Georgia’s entry in the Academy Awards’ international feature category.

Haider Rashid won best director for “Europa” and Adam Ali won best actor for his role in the film. Arawinda Kirana won best actress for her performance in Kamila Andini’s “Yuni,” which is Indonesia’s entry in the Oscars’ international category.

This year’s jury included: president of the Red Sea features competition, Academy Award-winning Italian director and writer Giuseppe Tornatore; Tunisian actor Hend Sabry; Palestinian-American director, writer, actor, and producer Cherien Dabis; Mexican festival director and founder of the Morelia International Film Festival Daniela Michel; and Saudi film director Abdulaziz Alshlahei. The Red Sea shorts competition jury was headed by Egyptian director Marwan Hamed and joined by...

Serhed Khalil as Sero, in the Swiss-Kurdish satiric dramedy Neighbours, playing at the 2021 St. Louis International Film Festival.

Courtesy of Cinema St. Louis

There is a lot of humor and sly satire in this child-centric tale looking at the roots of hate in the Middle East. Swiss-Kurdish director Mano Khalil’s Neighbours (“Nachbarn”) is a Swiss film set in Syria 40 years ago, in a small village where Kurdish and Jewish families are neighbors. Actually, at this point, there is only one Jewish family left in the village, although there used to be more, a change due to the increasingly hostile policies of the ruling Syrian Baathist party. Partly based on the director’s bittersweet memories of his own childhood, he captures the joys and heartbreak of childhood and also explores the absurdity of bigotry, antisemitism, and conflict, through the lens of those childhood memories.

“Neighbours” begins with a framing device in the present,...

The Red Sea International Film Festival has set the lineup for its inaugural edition which runs from December 6-15 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The roster includes 138 titles from 67 countries and will open with MGM’s Joe Wright-directed musical romance Cyrano. The film previously played Telluride and Rome among others and releases domestically on December 31. Among highlights are also Netflix’s Venice Film Festival drama The Lost Daughter. Closing the Red Sea Fest is the world premiere of Egyptian director Amr Salama’s Bara El Manhag.

Sixteen films will run in the competition which is focused on films from Asia, Africa and the Arab world (see full list below). They will vie for the Golden Yusr Award as well as in individual directing, acting and writing categories. Among the titles screening are Hany Abu-Assad’s Huda’s Salon, Georgian Oscar submission Brighton 4th and Panah Panahi’s Hit The Road.

Kaleem Aftab,...

“Neighbours,” the story of a Kurdish Syrian border village where Arabic and Jewish families find themselves pitted against each other but still manage to thwart authoritarian madness, is more than a personal story to writer-director Mano Khalil.

The feature, shot on authentic locations with accurate dialects from the region and its 1980s setting, is screening in the Camerimage Film Festival director debut section – after a decades-long development process. The cinematographer on the film was Stéphane Kuthy.

“The idea of this film came when I was still studying film directing in the former Czechoslovakia,” Khalil says, “with the script completed some 25 years ago.”

The story had to be developed outside Khalil’s homeland in Kurdistan, he explains, because “I made a short documentary called ‘The Place Where God Sleeps.’” The film won an award in Germany in 1993 “and I was arrested in Syria because of that.”

Eventually, like his characters in “Neighbours,...

As the 2021 Locarno Film Festival rounds its final bend, sales deals were still coming through.

In one such pact, San Sebastian New Directors title “That Weekend” has been snapped up by leading Italian sales-production shingle The Open Reel. A debut feature from director Mara Pescio, the film tells the story of Julia who returns to the neighborhood she left years ago to recover money she hid in her home. The reunion prompts a life-changing confrontation with her daughter.

The film is an Argentina-Brazil co-production hailing from Maravillacine, Murillo Cine, Santiago Carabante and Persona Non Grata Pictures. Variety previously spoke with Pescio about her making her directorial bow.

In other late Locarno dealing, Compañia de Cine, a Buenos Aires-based boutique sales operation, announced it had taken world rights to “Mostro,” which world premiered Aug. 11 in Locarno Cineasti del Presente.

Also, Mad Solutions signed all sales and distribution rights for Arab-speaking countries...

The feature film category consists of 13 international titles, all world premieres.

The 24th Shanghai International Film Festival (Siff), which runs from June 11-20, has unveiled the competition titles for its long-standing Golden Goblet Awards.

The feature film category consists of 13 international titles, all world premieres, vying for eight awards. These include three from China: The Chanting Willows by Dai Wei, The Grace Ends by Wu Di, and Manchurian Tiger by Geng Jun.

The only other Asian title is Barbarian Invasion by Malaysian filmmaker Tan Chui Mui who also appears in the film as the lead actress. The rest of the...

After shifting last year to an online format, the Shanghai International Film Festival will return for its 24th edition later this month. The festival will play as an in-person event, while the market sections will be hybrids of in-person and online activities.

The TV festival runs from June 6, while the film festival runs from June 11-20. A prize ceremony for its Golden Goblet awards will be held on June 19.

The jury that will select the competition winners includes: Chinese producer Huang Jianxi as president; Singapore filmmaker Anthony Chen; Chinese director and actor Deng Chao; Italian film festival selector Marco Mueller; Shanghai-based French producer Natacha Devillers; and Chinese actor Song Jia.

Organizers said that the festival was being in the spirit of “strong recovery and leading momentum of Chinese films in the world, with three-fold focuses on Asia, attention to China and support for new talent.

Main Competition

“Amateurs”

Dir. Iwona Siekierzynska (Poland)

“Barbarian Invasion”

Dir.

Arri Worldwide secures North American deal ahead of the Efm, where it will showcase two market premieres.

Arri Worldsales has sealed a North American deal ahead of this week’s European Film Market (Efm) with Vertical Entertainment for Alain Gsponer’s family film The Little Ghost.

Santa Monica-based Vertical acquired all Us and Canadian rights for the adaptation of Otfried Preussler’s internationally bestselling children’s classic, which has been sold to 24 countries worldwide to date.

Vertical Entertainment, which was launched last year by industry veterans Rich Goldberg and Mitch Budin, has previously released such family films as the animated feature Freedom Force and the Russian 3D animated film The Snow Queen. produced by Timur Bekmambetov.

Market premieres

Frederik Steiner’s award-winning Zurich (Und Morgen Mittag Bin Ich Tot) is one of two market premieres being presented by Arri Worldsales at the Efm in Berlin this week.

The film about a young woman suffering from cystic fibrosis...

Arri Worldwide secures North American deal ahead of the Efm, where it will showcase two market premieres.

Arri Worldsales has sealed a North American deal ahead of this week’s European Film Market (Efm) with Vertical Entertainment for Alain Gsponer’s family film The Little Ghost.

Santa Monica-based Vertical acquired all Us and Canadian rights for the adaptation of Otfried Preussler’s internationally bestselling children’s classic, which has been sold to 24 countries worldwide to date.

Vertical Entertainment, launched last year by industry veterans Rich Goldberg and Mitch Budin, had previously acquired Tim Fehlbaum’s apocalyptic thriller Hell from Arri.

Market premieres

Frederik Steiner’s award-winning Zurich (Und Morgen Mittag Bin Ich Tot) is one of two market premieres being presented by Arri Worldsales at the Efm in Berlin this week.

The film about a young woman suffering from cystic fibrosis who travels to Switzerland to end her life received the prize in the Newcomer category at this...