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Malaysian director Chong Keat Aun’s latest feature “Pavane for an Infant,” starring acclaimed actor Fish Liew, makes its world premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival, taking on the pressing social issue of abandoned babies and women’s rights in Malaysia.

The film follows a female social worker operating a baby hatch facility, exposing the challenges women face in Malaysia’s male-dominated society. Liew, known for her roles in “Lazy Hazy Crazy,” “A Guilty Conscience” and “Anita,” leads the social drama that aims to resonate beyond Malaysian borders.

The project originated from Chong’s encounter with a baby hatch organization in 2016. “I will never forget the heartbreaking words of a female activist: ‘We work tirelessly day and night to save newborns, but many religious leaders accuse us of being a place that promotes incest. They say one day we will face divine punishment,'” Chong recalls.

The film, backed...

Being a parent is almost never easy. But probably one of the scariest times is when you’re expecting for the first time. All those nagging fears, insecurities, excitement, apprehensions and outside interference can really do a number on the mind when it is at its most vulnerable. “Lazy Hazy Crazy” director Luk Yee-sum delves into exactly these issues with her breezy sophomore effort “Baby: The Secret Diary of a Mom To Be”.

“Baby: The Secret Diary of Mom To Be” is screening at Fantasia Festival

Seeing her best friends suffering and based on her own rocky relationship with her mother, career woman Carmen has decided she never wants to have a baby and live a happy life with her professional basketball player husband Oscar. Her mother-in-law Margaret, however, isn’t making things any easier with her well-intentioned meddling ways. So, when one day, she finds out that she is pregnant,...

Johnnie To’s Chasing Dream and Tran Thanh Huy’s Rom are among the wealth of final titles announced for Fantasia’s 24th edition.

The Fantasia Film Festival announces today a massive new assortment of feature films for its 24th edition, and here are all the Asian titles that are announced:

The Incredible Johnnie To Make Our Dream Come True

When Tiger and Cuckoo meet, it’s a match made in heaven. Both involved with moneylenders, one is an over-enthusiastic rising star in the Mma world; the other a resourceful, aspiring singer on-the-run who will stop at nothing for a spot on ‘Perfect Diva’! Following Three (Fantasia 2016), master filmmaker Johnnie To is back with Chasing Dream: an unexpected blend of mixed-martial-arts drama and high-stakes musical comedy, taking the viewers back to the madcap energy of his mid-2000s collaborations with Wai Ka-Fai and the themes of his sports-and-destiny masterpiece Throw Down.

A brace of personal tales from China and Hong Kong are among the 23 projects vying for attention at the 17th Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum.

Liu Miaomiao is a rare female ethnic Hui Muslim filmmaker. She came to international prominence with 1993’s “Chatterbox” that won the President of the Italian Senate’s Gold Medal at the Venice Film Festival. Her last film, “Red Flowers and Green Leaves,” won the People’s Choice Award at the Pingyao Intl. Film Festival in 2018. Her Haf project, “12×4,” is informed by a 1995 experience, where, three days after her 33rd birthday, she was sent to a mental hospital for bipolar disorder.

“12×4” will follow a 48-year-old former ping pong champion in Beijing who has bipolar disorder and must learn to cope. “Mental disorders are incurable, so is life,” says Liu in her director’s statement. “I want to do a film about bipolar disorder based on...