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Kim Jiseok Award, the competition of new features from leading Asian directors, will be juried by: Christian Jeune, Prasanna Vithanage, and Shin Suwon

(From left) Christian Jeune, Prasanna Vithanage, and Shin Suwon

Kim Jiseok Award was created to remember and honor the late Biff Program Director Kim Jiseok, who devoted his whole life to discovering and supporting the growth of Asian cinema. The competition category features new works by veteran Asian directors selected for the Jiseok section. Two best films are selected and each awarded a prize of Usd 10,000. The jury for the Kim Jiseok Award at the 29th Busan International Film Festival has been appointed as follows: Christian Jeune, Director of Film Department at the Cannes Film Festival, who has contributed greatly to discovering and promoting Asian films to the world for the past 30 years; Prasanna Vithanage, an influential South Asian director and film educator, and the winner of...

Molder from Filipino director Kenneth Dagatan has scooped the top Bucheon Award at the 17th Network of Asian Fantastic Films (Naff) project market, which runs alongside South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (Bifan).

As well as a cash prize of KRW15m, the upcoming horror thriller also won the Blood Window Award, which includes an expenses-paid invitation to the Blood Window project market at Ventana Sur in Argentina.

Scroll down for full list of winners

It marks the next feature from Dagatan, whose fantasy horror In My Mother’s Skin was the first ever Midnight section selection from Asia...

It is not just Korean actors that are trying their hand at directing. After Moon So-ri made a promising directorial debut with “The Running Actress”, it is “The Villainess” actress Jo Eun-ji who steps behind the camera for the upcoming comedy “Perhaps Love”.

Synopsis

“Perhaps Love” is a comedy about a best selling writer named Hyeon who’s been in the slumps for 7 years meeting a wannabe writer Yoo-jin.

The feature, which was previously titled “Not the Lips”, stars Ryoo Seung-ryong, one of Korea’s most bankable stars and whose last released film was the smash-hit “Extreme Job”, in the lead role of writer Hyeon. Joining the cast are Oh Na-ra (“Casa Amor: Exclusive for Ladies”), Kim Hee-won (“The Man from Nowhere”), Lee Yoo-young (“Grass”) and Sung Yoo-bin (“Moonlit Winter”). “Perhaps Love” is scheduled for a November, 2021 release.

As an actress, Cho Eun-ji has starred in films including Jung Byung-gil’s The Villainess.

South Korean sales company Contents Panda is launching international sales on Perhaps Love (aka Not On My Lips), the directorial debut of Cho Eun-ji, who is well-known as a character actress from Cannes titles such as Im Sang-soo’s The President’s Last Bang and Jung Byung-gil’s The Villainess.

Described as a sort of comedic, Korean Love Actually, the multi-character romantic comedy stars Ryu Seung-ryong from hit thriller Extreme Job, Oh Na-ra (Because I Love You), Kim Hie-won (Pawn), Lee You-young (Diva), Sung Yu-been (Moonlit Winter) and MuJin-sung.

Queer East Film Festival is delighted to unveil its full programme centred on queer storytelling and activism from East and Southeast Asia. This year’s programme includes a selection of 37 features, short films and artists’ moving image works from 15 countries, ranging from new releases to classic retrospectives, mainstream box office hits to radical independent works, accompanied by pre- screening introductions and filmmaker Q&As. A series of online panel discussions with international guests will run throughout the festival period, covering topics such as women in the film industry, queer film festivals, and the development of Asian LGBTQ+ movements.

Launched in 2020, Queer East is a new film festival that aims to amplify the voices of Asian communities in the UK, who have often been excluded from mainstream discourse, despite Asians being one of the country’s fastest-growing ethnic groups. Queer East seeks to facilitate a better understanding of the richness of queer Asian heritage,...

Leading Korean film sales company Finecut has added mystery-horror movie “Guimoon” to its pre-Cannes and Cannes Market slates. The film was specially shot in order to be released in ScreenX and 4Dx special versions, as well as conventional 2D presentations.

Now in post-production, after lensing in 8K, the film is set to be delivered by the third quarter of this year. A promo will be available in time for Cannes.

The action takes place in a community center where a mass murder took place years earlier and involves a paranormal investigator who discovers a door to another world. (The film’s current working title translates into English as “Ghost Door”.)

The film is directed by directed by Sim Deok-geun and stars Kim Kang-woo and Kim Sohye (Moonlit Winter”).

The film is presented by Jupiter Film and Cj Cgv the Cj Group company that is the largest movie theater operator in South Korea.

The producers hope to lure buyers into releasing the film in the panoramic ScreenX format.

South Korean sales agency Finecut has picked up international rights to horror mystery Guimoon, a working title which translates as ‘ghost door’.

Taking place in a secluded community centre rumoured to be cursed after a mysterious mass murder in 1990, the film follows a renowned paranormal investigator who lost his mother during an exorcism and three college students intrigued by the rumours who enter through the door and cross into another dimension.

Now in post-production, it is directed by Sim Deok-geun and stars Kim Kang-woo (Recalled...

In today’s Global Bulletin, “The Terror” sets sail on BBC Two and iPlayer, “The Man Standing Next” tops South Korea’s Blue Dragon Awards, Banijay announces two European remakes of “Lego Masters,” Discovery Plus is now available on Samsung Smart TVs and Amazon Fire TV in the U.K. and Ireland, Tms announces “Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet” will release in several territories in April, and Mrs hires Nick Royak.

Acquisition

BBC Two and BBC iPlayer have acquired AMC Studios International’s horror anthology “The Terror” for linear and streaming in the U.K. The series is executive produced by Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions and showrun by David Kajganich (“True Story”) and Soo Hugh (“The Whispers”).

Inspired by true events, “The Terror” is a fictionalized version of what happened to Captain Sir John Franklin’s lost Arctic expedition in which the Royal Navy ventured into uncharted waters braving sub-zero temperatures,...

More than half of the programme of this year’s cancelled Hkiff is screening at K11 Art House in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hkiff) usually takes place over the Easter holidays in March-April, but this year was first postponed to late August, then eventually cancelled, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

While many festivals in Asia have managed to take place with physical screenings, albeit without international guests, Hkiff fell victim to unfortunate timing. A third wave of Covid-19 emerged in the city in July, just weeks before the festival was scheduled to take place, forcing Hong Kong...

Queer stories are tricky business in South Korea, which more often than not do not succeed at the box-office, thanks to local attitudes towards the subject. Though these perceptions are slowly changing, there’s still a long way to go. While Park Chan-wook’s “The Handmaiden” did see a great deal of success, the slightly unrealistic portrayal of a homosexual relationship was widely criticised and when such relationships are realistically portrayed, the productions tend to be severely ill-received. This makes director Lim Dae-hyeong’s “Moonlit Winter”, his follow-up to the excellent “Merry Christmas, Mr. Mo”, a giant step in the right direction.

“Moonlit Winter” screened at Florence Korea Film Fest

Sae-bom lives with her mother Yoon-hee, who has divorced her police officer husband after years in an unhappy marriage. Though they live together, Yoon-hee is a bit of an enigma for her daughter, who doesn’t know much about her mother yet loves her unconditionally.

Korean-made war film “Battle of Jangsari,” which features Megan Fox in a key role as a front line reporter, is set to play in multiple European and Asian territories.

The film already had a deal with WellGo USA for North America. Seoul-based sales agent, Finecut said that it had additionally licensed the film to Pandastorm Pictures for Austria, Germany and Switzerland, to Ace Entertainment for France, VII Pillars Entertainment for Hong Kong, Klockworx for Japan, Viva Communications for The Philippines, Film Media for Poland, Cj E&m Hong Kong for Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and Thailand, and to Moviecloud for Taiwan. Directed by KT Kwak, the film also stars K-pop idol Choi Minho (from boy band SHINee) and George Eads.

Other post-Berlin deals include sales to Pt Falcon for Indonesia and mm2 Entertainment for Singapore on debut film “Bring Me Home,” and sales on “Gang” to Fine Films for Japan,...

The Florence Korea Film Festival is back on the 19th of March 2020. Now in its 18th edition, it’s a moment of well-deserved celebration and recognition for South Korean cinema which – as every year – is presented with the usual enthusiasm and pride.

Guest of honor is the star Cho Jin-woong, an extraordinary interpreter with one of the most formidable careers of his generation to his credit. From a terrible “bad guy” in numerous thriller films, in recent years he has explored more dramatic and intimate roles with unchanged talent. A retrospective and a master class will be dedicated to him. Cho Jin-woong is also the protagonist of the opening film “Black Money” by Master Chung Ji-young.

“Parasite” is scheduled as an event out of competition: an opportunity to watch, or watch again, on the big screen a film that has already entered the history of cinema.

The most successful films...

The full programme and tickets for the 13th edition of CinemAsia is now available online. This year, CinemAsia will introduce films from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, India, Bhutan, Thailand and The Philippines. Enjoy the biggest box office hits, like “Exit”, “Gundala”, and “The Wild Goose Lake”, and check out the work by upcoming and young directors from Asia, like “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom”, “Moonlit Winter” and “Dolly Kitty and Those Twinkling Stars”. There is something for every Asian cinema lover!

Online ticket sales start today. Explore the complete programme below or check out their website for more details about their complete film selection.

Special Focus Diaspora: “Neither Burned, nor Banished”

CinemAsia Film Festival traditionally screens a wide variety of Asian diaspora films. This year we’ve asked veteran film programmer and critic Léo Soesanto to guest curate a special selection of five films that represent...