Exiled Artists Launch Hong Kong Film Festival in the U.K.

Mirror singer and actor Anson Lo has joined the cast of Bizhan Tong’s upcoming action thriller Chungking Mansions. Billed as Hong Kong’s biggest zombie film ever, the Phoenix Waters Productions pic, in co-production with AMM Global and Salon Films Japan, has also added Hong Kong-Canadian actresses Selena Lee and Jeannie Chan, Korea’s Choi Si-Hun and Hong Kong actor Louis Cheung.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAsian sports streaming platform SPOTV has launched in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and The Philippines. The move was announced on the first day of the virtual FilMart rights market.The service is available as a subscription-based app that includes linear channels and on demand event coverage. The sports it covers include MotoGP World Championships and World Superbike Championships; World Badminton Federation Tour; the Korean Baseball League; V.League Japan and Formula E motor racing.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefOrganizers of Hong Kong FilMart, normally Asia’s biggest film and TV rights market, are putting on a brave face despite their prestige event being forced into an online-only format for the third time in a row.The city’s borders are closed to travelers from several key countries and its onerous quarantine on-arrival conditions show no sign of being lifted during the current fifth wave of COVID-19 infections.But, while many Asian industry executives have been unable to attend an in-person festival or market for some two years now, and are keenly awaiting the first opportunity, these days they are also vastly more experienced at dealing with virtual markets, video conferencing and online screenings. The number of companies participating as exhibitors at FilMart 2022 is set to reach 750, compared with 680 last year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefIn support of the Disney Plus streaming service, Disney has expanded its involvement in local production in Asia-Pacific. The company’s APAC head of content and development, Jessica Kam-Engle, gives the keynote presentation on the first day of Hong Kong FilMart.Ahead of her speech she gave a few pointers to Variety readers.Jessica Kam-Engle: From our extensive research, consumers across most Asian markets have a strong preference for local language entertainment content.

**WINNER.Best Film“Belfast”“Don’t Look Up”“Dune”“Licorice Pizza”** WINNER “The Power of the Dog”Outstanding British Film“After Love”“Ali & Ava”**WINNER “Belfast”“Boiling Point”“Cyrano”“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie”“House of Gucci”“Last Night in Soho”“No Time to Die”“Passing”Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer“After Love,” Aleem Khan (Writer/Director)“Boiling Point,” James Cummings (Writer), Hester Ruoff (Producer) [also written by Philip Barantini and produced by Bart Ruspoli]** WINNER “The Harder They Fall,” Jeymes Samuel (Writer/Director) [also written by Boaz Yakin]“Keyboard Fantasies,” Posy Dixon (Writer/Director), Liv Proctor (Producer)“Passing,” Rebecca Hall (Writer/Director)Film Not in the English Language** WINNER “Drive My Car”“The Hand of God”“Parallel Mothers”“Petit Maman”“The Worst Person in the World”Documentary“Becoming Cousteau”“Cow”“Flee”“The Rescue”** WINNER “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”Animated Film** WINNER “Encanto”“Flee”“Luca”“The Mitchells vs.

Big Bang member T.O.P expressed his desire overhaul the K-pop system of training and creating idols and artists.In a new interview with Prestige Hong Kong, the South Korean musician spoke about the “harsh” K-pop system, observing how the current training regime affects younger K-pop idols and their mental well-being.“I, myself, am fortunate that I only spent less than a year as a trainee before I debuted – a relatively short time – but after, I saw all the trainees, the boys and girls, they’re under a very harsh system,” T.O.P said.“They’re told what to do and trained just like robots,” the rapper added. “They might get popular, they might get bigger, but in their heart and in ways we can’t see, they’re being isolated, and feel lonely inside.”To address this, T.O.P expressed his desire to change the system and establish a new type of K-pop record company.

Wilson Chapman editorNetflix has released the first trailer for ‘The Bubble,’ Judd Apatow’s upcoming comedy about a cast and crew of a blockbuster movie in production during the COVID-19 pandemic.In “The Bubble,” Karen Gillan and Pedro Pascal play the lead actors in the action film “Cliff Beasts 6: The Battle for Everest: Memories of a Requiem,” who get stranded at a hotel after the pandemic halts production. Leslie Mann and David Duchovny also star, playing a divorced acting couple forced to quarantine together.

Richard Kuipers Folklore, feminism and film noir come together in Pushpendra Singh’s meticulously crafted fourth feature “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs.” Set in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region in Northwest India, this moody fable about an unhappy young bride plotting her escape from tradition and patriarchy is a gripping character study that stutters slightly in the latter stages before producing a magical finale that no-one will forget in a hurry. Singh’s beautifully shot film has traveled extensively on the festival circuit and picked up awards at Hong Kong and Jeonju since debuting at Berlin in 2020.

Matt Hancock has said he broke coronavirus guidelines - which he created - because he “fell in love” with his aide.

Matt Hancock hit out at host Steven Bartlett on his Diary of a CEO podcast as things turned awkward when the latter began quizzing the former Health Secretary on his "contradictory" behaviour during his affair with now-girlfriend Gina Coladangelo.The 43 year old politician previously said he had looked forward to engaging in a relaxed chat with the Dragons' Den star after spending much of his political career being aggressively questioned on the likes of Good Morning Britain. After a lengthy discussion about his upbringing, and decisions during the pandemic, the topic changed to his mistakes in his family life.

CAPITAL IRISH FILM FESTIVALSolas Nua, the D.C.-based organization dedicated to presenting contemporary Irish arts, readies its annual showcase of films from Ireland the first weekend of March. Co-presented by the AFI Silver Theatre, this year’s festival inaugurates the Norman Houston Short Film Award, named in memory of a former director of the Northern Ireland Bureau in the U.S.

The Hong Kong Film Festival has been forced to alter plans for its 46th edition due to a spike in local Covid cases caused by the Omicron variant.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Hong Kong International Film Festival, scheduled to have taken place from the end of March, has been postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Organizers also canceled remaining screenings in the Cine Fan community outreach program.This decision follows the Hong Kong government’s moves earlier this week to extend social distancing measures until April 20, 2022.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Osaka Asian Film Festival has unveiled its biggest ever program – a total of 76 films – to unspool next month (March 10-20, 2022).Its competition section includes the acclaimed Korean debut film “Aloners,” which offers an exacting critique of the alienating effects upon life of modern capitalist economies; Hong Kong biopic “Anita”; the world premiere of “Angry Son,” which combines LGBT and mixed race themes in a heartwarming comedy; Kong Dashan’s new take on “Journey to the West,” as a ragtag group of people on a UFO hunt; “Mama’s Affair,” the second film by Kearen Pang, whose 2017 debut “29+1” won Osaka’s audience award, “No Land’s Man” from Mostofa Sarwar Farooki and festival circuit hit “Barbarian Invasion.” The spotlight section includes ten titles. Among them are “The Ground Beneath her Feet” from Bangladesh’s Mohammad Rabby Mridha; “A Room of Her own” from China’s Xie Yiran; and Carlo Francisco Manatad’s “Whether the Weather is Fine.”The largest component section is the twenty-title Indie Forum, a platform for Japanese indie films that allow the winner to claim the Japan Cuts Award.

Vivienne Chow Action thriller “Limbo” and “Anita,” a biopic about the late Canto-pop queen Anita Mui lead the nomination race for this year’s Hong Kong Film Awards, which is holding its 40th edition after being postponed from last year.“Limbo,” a Cantonese noir that follows a cop duo’s hunt for a serial killer, received 14 nominations including best film, best director for Soi Cheang, best screenplay, best actor for Lam Ka-tung and best actress for Cya Liu. The film had earlier won the critics heart at the annual Hong Kong Film Critics’ Society Awards, which named “Limbo” as best film and Liu best actress for her role as a young addict.“Anita” received 12 nominations, including best film and best director for Longman Leung.

Vivienne Chow Police in Hong Kong on Tuesday arrested Tommy Yuen, a popular singer and pro-democracy campaigner. Local media and rights groups reported that Hong Kong authorities have also blocked access in the city to a pro-democracy website operated from the U.K.Yuen, a former member of the Canto-pop boy band E-kids, was arrested by national security police over the suspicion of sedition and money laundering.