Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s ‘Evil Does Not Exist’ Sets North American Distribution After Venice Competition, Toronto Debuts

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The main competition section of the Busan International Film Festival is set to showcase two new features from Bangladeshi directors, the feature debut of Japanese documentary maker Mori Tatsuya and ruminations on Hong Kong by mainland Chinese director Choi Ji. The festival on Wednesday unveiled its New Currents competition section, reserved for films by directors making their first or second works of fiction, as well as its Jiseok section, a showcase for somewhat more established Asian auteurs. In addition to the Bangladesh duo, New Currents includes two films from Japan, two from Korea and one each from China, Thailand, Malaysia and India. From Bangladesh, Iqbal H. Chowdhury’s “The Wrestler” sees an old fisherman challenge a wrestling champion to combat, and in “The Stranger” Biplob Sarkar tells a coming-of-age, gender-identity tale. From Japan, Mori recounts the events of the Great Kanto earthquake in “September 1923,” while Yamamoto Akira delves into profound and shocking love in “After the Fever.” New Currents’ Korean contributions come from Lee Jong-su, whose “Heritage” tracks a man who opts out of military service and his supervisor, and Sohn Hyun-lok, whose “That Summer’s Lie” blurs truth and fiction in memories of a past romance. India’s Rajesh S.

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Naman Ramachandran The 67th BFI London Film Festival has unveiled the titles that will compete in its official, first feature, documentary and short film competitions. Festival director Kristy Matheson said: “The films represented in each of these competitive strands offer audiences an exciting array of U.K. and global filmmaking voices and cinematic forms.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Triple Oscar nominee Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border,” which will premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival, before going onto Toronto Film Festival and New York Film Festival, has sold to multiple territories. Variety has been granted access to an exclusive clip from the film, and Holland’s notes on the production, which we quote from below, again exclusively.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Lost in Perfection,” the second film by journalist-turned-filmmaker Sung Hsin-yin (“On Happiness Road”), has set Oct. 27 as the date of its commercial release in Sung’s native Taiwan. Ahead of the Taiwan release, the film is expected to have its world premiere at a major festival.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor “Evil Does Not Exist,” the new film by the Oscar-winning auteur Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, has sold to several additional territories. The film will world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival, will have its North America premiere as a special presentation at Toronto, and will go on to screen at New York and San Sebastian. Hamaguchi received Oscar nominations last year for directing and adapted screenplay, shared with Takamasa Ôe, for “Drive My Car.” The film was also nominated in the best picture category and won the international feature film Oscar.

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Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Noted Japanese director Ando Momoko (“Kakera: Pieces of Our Life,” “0.5mm”) has been named as the ambassador for this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival. She also features, alongside her father Okuda Eiji in the festival’s newly-released poster, which recreates a scene from Ozu Yasujiro’s “Tokyo Story” and in which Okuda and Ando represent the classic film’s Ryu Chishu and Hara Setsuko characters. The poster image, shot at the rooftop garden of Kitte Marunouchi Building, with Tokyo Station in the background, was designed by Koshino Junko, who has created the festival’s key visuals for the past three years.

The SAG and WGA strikes threatened to really ruin the fall film festival season for a minute there. And while some films eventually did bail, not wanting to risk the idea of now acting talent there to promote it— “Challengers” and “Dune 2” for two examples—despite the challenges of promotion and worries around it, the 2023 fall film festival selections have been excellent at all of the festivals.

Madonna has announced rescheduled dates for what was meant to be the first leg of her ‘The Celebration Tour’, which was cancelled after she was hospitalised in June.At the time her manager Guy Oseary told fans that Madonna had “developed a serious bacterial infection which lead to a several day stay in the ICU. Her health is improving.

UPDATED, 10:29 AM: Madonna’s Celebration Tour is ready to get back into the groove.

Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired all North American rights to Academy Award-winning Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist ahead of its world premiere in Competition at the Venice Film Festival next month.

Naman Ramachandran Auteurs Agnieszka Holland, Wim Wenders, Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Aki Kaurismaki are among the filmmakers featured in the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) Centrepiece program. The strand, previously known as Contemporary World Cinema, which honors and celebrates global cinematic achievements, features 47 titles from filmmakers representing 45 countries.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Netflix is further expanding its slate of unscripted TV content from Japan, its most lucrative market in East Asia. The new shows cover the reality, variety and dating genres. “We’re excited to move into a new phase of our content strategy, ramping up our investments in unscripted and bringing new concepts to the screen.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hybe Corp., the Korean pop music giant behind BTS, has further expanded the scale of its empire by buying out its partner in Belift Lab, the firm backing another K-pop powerhouse Enhypen. The company said that it has signed an agreement to acquire CJ ENM’s 51.5% stake in Belift. Deal terms were not disclosed.

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Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Ryu Seung-wan’s female-led crime caper “Smugglers” topped the South Korean box office for a second weekend, ahead of new release title “Ransomed.” “Smugglers” enjoyed a strong hold in its second weekend of release and commanded 42% market share. It delivered $7.09 million, a drop of only 20% on its opening weekend, giving a 12-day cumulative of $26.2 million, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

EXCLUSIVE: Cineverse has acquired all North American rights to body-swap psychological thriller Devils, which is receiving its international premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal.