‘A Wild Roomer’ and ‘Shivamma’ Share Busan Festival’s New Currents Awards

The songwriter who accused Mariah Carey of ripping off her festive hit ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ from an earlier song he wrote of the same name has voluntarily dismissed his song theft lawsuit.Vince Vance sued Carey in June explaining that he co-wrote a song called ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ back in 1989, a version of which was recorded and released, enjoying “extensive airplay”, in 1993. That was the year before Carey released her album ‘Merry Christmas’ on which her much more famous song ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ appears.Carey’s hit, Vance argued, was a derivation of his song, but no permission was ever sought to exploit his work in that way, which means his copyright was infringed.

Nick Clement The Newport Beach Film Festival is attracting more interest from Hollywood as it opens its 23rd edition Oct. 13. The festival, which runs through Oct. 20 will feature a battalion of acclaimed films and attract talent for its numerous awards. This year’s opening night screening is the Daniel Radcliffe-led biopic “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” while the closing night selection is “Glass Onion,” which is Rian Johnson’s hotly anticipated follow-up to “Knives Out,” a big critical and box office success in 2019.  “We’re seeing all of the major studios and distribution companies seeking to work with us, as they understand the many benefits and opportunities of screening at festivals that are growing, and bringing in an enthusiastic crowd to their films,” says CEO and co-founder Gregg Schwenk. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Singapore has banned the release of “#LookAtMe,” a feature film by local director Ken Kwek. The InfoComm Media Development Authority said that the film exceeds film classification guidelines because it denigrates a religious community. Supposedly based in true events, the film depicts a man who is offended by a pastor who preaches against homosexuality, but whose behavior contradicts his teachings. The protagonist’s viral video about the aberrant priest lands him in jail, causing the man’s gay identical twin to fight for justice. “#LookAtMe,” premiered at the New York Asian Film Festival and local media report that the film has been selected for next month’s Singapore International Film Festival. But the IMDA ruling means that it cannot now be shown in any form in Singapore unless Kwek is successful with an appeal.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief BTS, the biggest names in K-Pop, announced Monday that they will sign up for Korea’s mandatory military service, with Jin initiating the process at the end of October. The move means that the septet will become temporarily inactive as a group. But, “both the company and the members of BTS are looking forward to reconvening as a group again around 2025 following their service commitment,” said label Bighit Music. “The members of BTS are currently moving forward with plans to fulfill their military service. Group member Jin will initiate the process as soon as his schedule for his solo release is concluded at the end of October. He will then follow the enlistment procedure of the Korean government. Other members of the group plan to carry out their military service based on their own individual plans,” Bighit said in a statement. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Australia’s SLR Productions has announced production on season two of the award-winning original CGI animated series, “Space Nova” for ABC ME. The 15 x 22-minute season has received significant production funding from both Screen Australia and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation as well as development funding from ABC ME and Create NSW. “Space Nova” will be co-produced with Giggle Garage in Malaysia and distributed internationally by ZDF Studios, with ACTF representing the series across Australia and New Zealand. Targeting a six- to ten-year-old global audience, the first season sold to broadcasters or streamers in Germany, the U.K., Norway, Finland, Sweden, Poland, the U.S, Singapore, East Asia, Indonesia, and Brazil.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief While the Busan International Film Festival was busily hailing a return to normality the slump at South Korea’s commercial box office deepened dramatically over the most recent weekend. Cinemagoing nationwide was worth only $4.20 million between Friday and Sunday, the lowest weekend total since April and a time before Korean cinemas shed their COVID restrictions. The weekend’s top film “Life Is Beautiful” managed the lowest first place score of any film this year, with a weekend haul of just $777,000, according to data from Kobiz, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).

Beckham family members are often in all different corners of the globe, and in a new Instagram post, shared by David Beckham, suggests the father-of-four is reminiscing over times when the clan were all together.READ: How David Beckham's kids helped him during mental health battleDavid, who is currently in New York, shared a picture of his wife Victoria, and their four children, Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper, on a hike, captioned: "Love you all." The photo looks to have been taken a few years ago, as ten-year-old Harper looks tiny in the snap.WATCH: Victoria Beckham blows sweet kiss to son BrooklynDavid followed the wholesome snap with a photo of his eldest and youngest child, Brooklyn and Harper, snugged up in what appears to be a safari wagon, hinting the family was on a hike somewhere rather exciting!MORE: Victoria Beckham sends message to family and Nicola PeltzSEE: Victoria Beckham REUNITES with Nicola Peltz and son Brooklyn in Paris - all the photosVictoria, who is also in New York currently, and Romeo both reposted the hiking photo, suggesting they too miss family times.The mum-of-four also reshared David's photo of Brooklyn and Harper, writing: "We love you Brooklyn." David Beckham posted this throwback photo of a family hikeVictoria was overcome with emotion when she spotted Brooklyn in the front row of her Paris Fashion Week show in September.MORE: Nicola Peltz gushes about mum Claudia in new pictures with Brooklyn BeckhamThe star put her hands to her mouth as she passed by son Brooklyn, who lovingly smiled at his mother as she blew a kiss to him.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The free concert by K-pop sensation BTS in Busan, Korea, was viewed by upwards of 49 million people on Saturday. The free-of-charge “BTS ‘Yet to Come’ in Busan” concert was held in support of Busan’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo and represented an attempt to introduce the city and Korean culture to global audience. After a change of venue, the physical component was held at the city’s Asiad Main Stadium and attracted some 50,000 in-person guests. An additional 10,000 people in the city watched a live retransmission at the Busan Port, and a further 2,000 gathered in Haeundae, the tourist area that recently played host to the Busan International Film Festival.

Victoria Beckham is certainly not afraid of an outfit repeat. Since launching her eponymous label back in 2008 she has proved that she knows exactly what suits her and has stuck to a wardrobe of classic elevated separates, adopting a “If it ain't broke, don't fix it” approach to her style.MORE: 5 things we desperately want from Victoria Beckham's final Reebok dropRELATED: Victoria Beckham shares photo of Nicola Peltz and Brooklyn sitting front row at her Paris Fashion Week show Victoria teases a dress from her upcoming dropYesterday she stepped out in a white dress in a flowing trench silhouette (from her own brand of course), worn with pointed red patent and perspex Saint Laurent Chica pumps, as well as black boxy VB 70s shades and a brown bucket bag - it was a real life game of spot the difference. Case in point? The day earlier she sported the exact same silhouette in green and the same accessories down to the shoes and bag.

Korean filmmaker Lee Jeong-hong’s A Wild Roomer and Shivamma, from India’s Jaishankar Aryar, were the winners of the New Currents Awards at the close of an encouragingly busy Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, October 5-14).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Kamila Andini’s “Before Now and Then” (aka “Nana”) topped the nominations for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, with nods in four categories including best film and best director. The film, about a gentlewoman’s memories of escaping from a Communist purge, narrowly headed three films with three nominations each: “Poet” (aka “Akyn”) by Kazakhstan’s Darezhan Omirbayev; “This Is What I Remember” (aka “Esimde”) by Kyrgyzstan’s Aktan Arym Kubat; and Philippines director Lav Diaz’s “When The Waves Are Gone” (“Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon”). APSA casts its net wide, seeking honors for cinematic excellence from 78 countries and territories defined as Asia Pacific. The awards will be presented at a ceremony at HOTA on Australia’s Gold Coast on Nov. 11, 2022.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japanese director Kawase Naomi will lead the international competition jury of the 44th Cairo International Film Festival (Nov. 13-22). Kawase won the Caméra d’Or for best debut feature film at Cannes for “Moe no Suzaku” (1997) and also won awards there for “Mogari no Mori” (2007) and “Hikari” (2017). In 2000, her film “Hotaru” won the FIPRESCI award at Locarno. Cairo festival president Hussein Fahmy said that Kawase has had a distinguished career and possesses great experience that qualified her to obtain prestigious awards from various international festivals.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Future Laobans,” a project directed by Maung Sun and produced by Maung Sun and Ma Aeint, claimed the Busan Prize, the top award at the Asian Project Market, on Tuesday. The awards were made at an event held at the Paradise Hotel in Busan’s Haeundae district at the end of three days of quick-fire meetings between producers and directors and an array of potential co-producers, financiers and distributors. Organizers said that they put together 705 such one-on-one meetings. The CJ ENM Award went to Indonesia’ “Gaspar,” to be directed by Yosep Anggi Noen and produced by Yulia Evina Bhara and Cristian Imanueli.

Victoria Beckham is one of them. On Monday, the fashion designer stepped out in New York to spend an evening with her family - and she glimmered in emerald green.SEE: Nicola Peltz Beckham rocks flared jeans for highly-anticipated family affairIn images captured by the MailOnline, Victoria, 48, exuded forest fairy magic in the fern-toned number which featured long sheer sleeves, an all-over leafy green sequin print, a midi length and a figure-hugging cut.WATCH: Victoria Beckham blows sweet kiss to son BrooklynThe star paired her whimsical ensemble with some barely-there heels – infusing her earthy aesthetic with a pinch of sass.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Rithy Panh, director of “Rice People” and “S21 The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine” is an icon of art-house cinema, at once political, unique, and charming. The iconic image may be another of his confections – a palatable work built on uncomfortable facts. On the incomplete evidence of a 50-minute on-stage dialog at the Busan International Film Festival on Sunday, Panh comes across as simultaneously contrarian and principled. A curmudgeonly veteran and yet a filmmaker still curious to learn. “If there were no Khmer Rouge maybe I would not be a filmmaker,” he said of the Communist insurgents, who won the Cambodian civil war in 1975 and whose brutality and atrocities he has spent a lifetime documenting and exposing.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean indie production house, IMTV is developing and will produce a drama series based on the New York Times best-selling novel, “The Island of Sea Women” by Lisa See.  The story is set largely on the remote Korean island of Jeju, among the community of ‘haenyo,’ women who earn a living by free diving for mollusks, seaweed and other sea life from the depths of the ocean. Representatives of a rare semi matriarchal society, the women work while the menfolk typically stay at home, though property is passed down along male lines. Celebrated activist and Nobel Prize-winner Malala recently boarded a documentary project about the haenyo of Jeju that is set up at the A24 U.S. indie studio.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japan’s Toei Animation and Korea’s CJ ENM unveiled a volley of new projects on Saturday flowing from their previously-established cooperation pact. The new shows include: a series that will be produced in both live action and animated formats; a live action series; and a third animation series. “The genesis of this co-operation was the notion that we should play to the strengths of Korean content and Japanese animation,” said Yi Jongmin, the CJ executive who heads the joint venture’s shared control unit. “That was before we factor in language barriers and cultural differences and suffered the disruptions of the COVID pandemic.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean sales agent Finecut has added “Secret: Untold Melody” and “The Dinner” to its burgeoning Asian Contents & Film Market slate. Both titles are sourced from a deal with Hive Media Corp. (“Inside Men,” “The Man Standing Next”). An adaptation of 2007 Taiwan hit “Secret,” “Secret: Untold Melody” is a romance film about pianist and a student. While the original film starred Jay Chou and Gwei Lun-mei, the Korean retread stars Doh Kyung-soo (a.k.a D.O. from celebrated K-pop group EXO) who has acting credits including “Swing Kids” and the “Along With The Gods” franchise, and rising star Won Jin-a (“Netflix’s “Hellbound”). Now in post-production, the film is directed by Seo You-min (“Recalled”).

Rebecca Souw Independent Korean film sales agent, M-Line Distribution is bringing a total of 26 films to Busan’s Asian Content & Film Market (ACFM) this year. Eight of them are screening at the Busan International Film Festival and a handful have planned releases in the fourth quarter of 2022 or early 2023. M-Line is handling sales on “Jiseok,” the documentary feature about the Busan festival’s co-founder and former head programmer who died in 2018 and now has a festival section named in his honor. The film plays at the festival as a BIFF Special Screening. “A Letter From Kyoto” depicts the story of a widow who raised her three daughters after her husband passed away. One of her daughters chanced upon a letter written in Japanese which sparked her curiosity. As mother and daughter delved deeper into her mother’s past life, secrets buried for decades begin to surface. Directed by Kim Min-ju, this is her debut feature and stars Cha Mi-kyeong and Han Seon-hwa. The film was also selected for BIFF’s Panorama section. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japanese director Miike Takashi, who is known for slasher film “Ichi The Killer” and stomach-churning “Audition,” Friday claimed that he does not like bloody horror scenes. “I’m not a fan of bloody scenes. But that’s what I’m known for. And it is what I get offered. It’s what I was offered by [Korean TV studio] Studio Dragon,” said Miike at a press event in Busan to launch his new genre series “Connect.” The show premieres in the Busan International Film Festival’s series section and will release as a Star Original on the Disney+ streaming service.