Busan Film Festival Selects Ten Titles for New Currents Competition

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean film producer Baek Jaeho has been named as the inaugural recipient of the Choon-yun Award, a prize set up in honor of Lee Choon-yun, the late chairman of the Korean Association of Film Art & Industry. The award, worth KRW10 million ($7,100), will be presented on the sidelines of the Busan International Film Festival on Oct. 6 in conjunction with IOK Company. Baek participated in the production of 2021 title “Snowball” and was previously involved in indie films “Jane” in 2016 and last year’s “Role.” He also acts and directs. Veteran director Kang Je-kyu praised Baek as ”a filmmaker who maintains his values and outspreads his potential in the insufficient independent film environment.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Iranian action drama “World War III,” which won two awards at the recent Venice festival, will feature among the main competition titles at next month’s Tokyo International Film Festival. The festival will operate as an in-person event with foreign filmmakers, media and other guests in attendance from Oct. 24-Nov. 2, 2022. “World War III” is joined in the competition section by the world premiere of Milcho Manchevski’s “Kaymak,” Spanish director Carlos Vermut’s “Manticore” and Roberta Torre’s “The Fabulous Ones,” Michale Boganim’s “Tel Aviv Beirut,” and Youssef Chebbi’s debut film “Ashkal.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Luang Prabang Film Festival held annually in Laos’ cultural hub will make an in-person return to action in December. The festival operated as a virtual event in 2020 under pandemic conditions. But was forced to cancel its 2021 edition. The town has no permanent movie theater and the festival uses temporary facilities, but previous editions have attracted big crowds. All events are open to the public and are free of charge. Over four days (Dec. 8-11, 2022) organizers will put on a mix of some twenty film screenings, public discussions and Q&A sessions with local audiences. This year, the LPFF will add a second night venue.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief South Indian star Varun Tej is to head the cast of a patriotic air force action thriller backed by Sony Pictures International Productions. The untitled picture will begin filming from November. Tej, known locally as ‘Mega Prince,’ has his roots in the Telugu-language regional film industry and achieved fame with the Krish-directed “Kanche” in 2015. With the new picture, he will be making his debut in a film in Hindi, the default language of Bollywood. Production will take place in Hindi and Telugu versions. Jointly produced by SPIP and Renaissance Pictures, the film will be directed by Shakti Pratap Singh Hada – a seasoned commercials maker, cinematographer and VFX aficionado who will be making his directorial debut with this film. Written by Shakti Pratap Singh Hada, Aamir Khan and Siddharth Raj Kumar, the movie will be shot in Telugu and Hindi simultaneously. A release is expected in cinemas in 2023.

Olivia Wilde is looking stunning on the red carpet!

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Veteran film, theater and opera director Julie Taymor has been set as the president of the competition jury at next month’s Tokyo International Film Festival. Taymor (“The Lion King”) will head a small group that selects the winners from the 15 competition titles that unspool in Tokyo between Oct. 24 and Nov. 2, 2022. The other four members of the jury will be announced later. Taymor is the second woman to head the jury in as many years and follows Isabelle Huppert in 2021. There was no competition in 2020 due to COVID. And in 2019, the jury was headed by China’s Zhang Ziyi.

While the Emmys drew mixed reviews, the film festivals closed to strong applause this week, not only for their movies (we’d forgotten some) but for their star turnout (forgot a few of them, too).

Naman Ramachandran “Gangs of London” producer Pulse Films has unveiled the first clip from “Name Me Lawand,” which will have its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. Directed by Edward Lovelace (“The Possibilities Are Endless”), the film is in competition at the festival’s The Grierson Award for documentaries. The documentary, filmed over four years, follows Lawand Hamad Amin, who spent his early years in Iraq unable to hear or communicate. His profound deafness meant he could not learn language, and with no access to a deaf education, Lawand grew isolated and trapped inside himself.

Brent Lang Executive Editor It was supposed to be all about the movies. But even here at the Toronto International Film Festival, an ocean away from the United Kingdom, the death of 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth II has loomed large. It has provided an opportunity for festival organizers, filmmakers and talent to reflect on the life and legacy of a monarch whose 70-year reign ranks as the longest in her country’s history. That’s partly due to Canada’s status as a member of the British Commonwealth, but it’s also because the festival is such an international A-list affair, one that attracts movie stars and directors who have often had personal encounters with the queen.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Fragments of the Last Will,” a post-WWII prisoner of war drama, has been set as the opening title of next month’s Tokyo International Film Festival. It is directed by Zeze Takahisa. The festival, which runs Oct. 24-Nov. 2, 2022, will close with “Living,” directed by Oliver Hermanus and starring Bill Nighy. The film is a reworking of Kurosawa Akira’s 1952 classic “Ikiru,” with a revised screenplay by Ishiguro Kazuo. “Fragments” is based on the true story of Yamamoto Hatao, a Japanese prisoner of war detained in a Siberian gulag. He believed that he would be able to reunite with his wife and children in Japan and for eleven years fought to keep the light of hope alive for his fellow POWs.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Jack Neo, who is by far Singapore’s most commercially successful filmmaker, has begun production on “King of Musang King,” a comedy that he envisages being ready for release at Chinese New Year in January. The narrative gives prominent position to durians, the smelly Southeast Asian fruit that most people either love or hate. Neo (“Money No Enough,” the “Ah Boys to Men” franchise) will co-star, direct and produce through his J Team Productions. The film will be presented by J Team, mm2 Entertainment and Cathay Cineplexes. The story revolves around a man (played by Mark Lee), his abandoned Malaysian wife (played by Yeo Yann Yann), and childhood friend Mao Shan (played by Jack Neo).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief For Asian media operators, the death of Queen Elizabeth II occurred in the middle of the night — Buckingham Palace made its announcement at 6.30 p.m. BST on Thursday — which meant some needed to play catch-up. That was achieved quicker by online and TV outlets than print media. In Australia, a Commonwealth country which has also lost its monarch, public radio and TV broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation newsreaders dressed in black. Programming has switched to reflect the Queen’s life and seven decades of reign. News Corp., which operates major print news brands in Australia, said it will publish souvenir issues on Saturday. These will include the Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph, The Courier-Mail and The Advertiser.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief

Eugene Hernandez has been set as the next Director of the Sundance Film Festival, as well as the Sundance Institute’s Head of Public Programming. The film and media industry veteran joins the Institute as its fourth official Festival Director after spending 12 years at Film at Lincoln Center, most recently as Senior Vice President of FLC, Executive Director of the New York Film Festival and publisher of Film Comment.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Prolific Japanese film director Miike Takashi and Indonesian genre specialist Kimo Stamboel will be among the star names in the ‘On Screen’ section of the Busan International Film Festival given over to TV series. Miike has made “Connect,” a Korean-language crime fantasy thriller about a man who is kidnapped and has one of his eyes removed by a gang of organ harvesters and transplanted into the body of a notorious serial killer. The unwilling donor now has terrible visions as he witnesses terrifying attacks on the residents of Seoul. The show was written by Nakamura Masaru and Heo Dam (“Monstrum”). It features Korean talent including Jung Haein (“Snowdrop,” “Start-Up,” “Tune in for Love”) in the lead role and Ko Kyungpyo (“Decision to Leave,” “Seoul Vibe,”) as the serial killer, and Kim Hyejun (“Inspector Koo,” “Kingdom,” “Sinkhole”) as the mysterious Irang.

Korea’s Busan International Film Festival (October 5-14) has announced its full line-up, including opening film Scent Of Wind, directed by Iran’s Hadi Mohaghegh, while Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-Wai will be honoured as Asian Filmmaker Of The Year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Tony Leung Chiu-wai, the Hong Kong star of “In The Mood For Love” and Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” has been named Asian Filmmaker of the Year by the Busan International Film Festival. Leung will collect his award at the festival’s opening ceremony on Oct. 5. 2022. The festival will open with a screening of “Scent of a Wind” by Iranian director Hagi Mohaghegh. Busan organizers said that the festival will play a total of 243 films (features and shorts) from 71 countries and territories. These include 89 world premieres and 13 international premieres.

of late, from the translucent Interior NYC gown she wore to Westworld’s season four premiere to the dramatic and cycling shorts she sported on the streets of London earlier this summer.Over at Venice Film Festival, the actor has already delivered a series of stand-out moments—arriving in style in , paired with a clashing Vivienne Westwood bag and bright red gloves. This was quickly followed up with a black tulle skirt and oversized blazer by Rodarte, worn with a black bralette underneath.For her latest red-carpet appearance on Wednesday, August 31, Thompson opted for vintage—stepping out for the White Noise premiere in a sci-fi inspired look from Armani Privé’s autumn/winter 2009 couture show.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Kore-eda Hirokazu will be the star turn at Emerging Japanese Films, a Los Angeles showcase organized by Japan’s Visual Industry Promotion Organization. The event, running Sept. 27 – Oct. 1, 2022, at the Harmony Gold Preview House, consists of four newly-released, dramatic and awards-worthy Japanese feature films and a retrospective night that honors Kore-eda, whose “Shoplifters” won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2018. Kore-eda will take part in a live video conversation after the screening of his “Like Father, Like Son,” a child-swap drama film that Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks previously optioned for remake.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Busan International Film Festival will further honor its co-founder and former programmer Kim Jiseok, who died suddenly in 2017, by expanding the existing prize in his name into a fully-fledged competitive section. Previously, the Kim Jiseok Award was given to one of ten films selected from the ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’ sidebar which introduces new films from significant Asian directors, defined as those who have each made more than three films.  “Starting this year, the Kim Jiseok Award nominees have been sorted into a section of their own, namely the ‘Jiseok’ section. Also, Korean films will be included in the ‘Jiseok’ section,” Busan organizers said. “This program section aims to both reinforce the spirit and determination of [Kim], who devoted himself to the growth and support of Asian films, and direct attention to the nominated works.”