Laos Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Samsara. The feature, from director Lois Patiño, premiered under the Encounters section at the Berlinale this year.Here’s a little more about it.In the temples of Laos, teenage monks accompany a soul in transit from one body to another through the bardo.

ITV viewers have been left "in bits" following an emotional episode of Paul O'Grady's Great Elephant Adventures on Sunday night. It marked the last time the late star will appear on television.

Paul O'Grady fans have been left in tears as the late comedian's final TV appearance aired following his death last year. Paul died aged 67 from sudden cardiac arrhythmia in March 2023. The comedian's final series of ITV1's Great Elephant Adventures aired on Sunday 7th April, which saw Paul visit Thailand's biggest wildlife hospital and communicate with elephants in Laos.

A new Paul O'Grady documentary filmed months before the entertainer's unexpected death will air on ITV tonight (Sunday March 31). The 67-year-old sadly died on March 28 last year from sudden cardiac arrhythmia.

Paul O'Grady's final TV appearance has been confirmed and will air to mark the first anniversary of his death. The TV star, fondly known for his drag queen persona Lily Savage, passed away "unexpectedly but peacefully" at his Kent home in March 2023.

EXCLUSIVE: Buenos Aires-based Filmsharks has sold a series of its EFM titles, including Spanish horror pic The Boogeyman: The Origin of the Myth (El Hombre Del Saco) and a new 4K remastered version of the cult Argentinian thriller Nine Queens, to multiple international territories. 

Naman Ramachandran The second Asia TV Forum and Market IP Accelerator (AIPA) closed with four winners bagging prizes valued at more than S$80,000 ($59,700) from the three sponsors of the event. The 108 Media Development Award of S$15,000 towards project development went to Thailand’s “My Chef in Crime,” a crime-comedy series by producer Bo Rattanavich and director Cheewatun Pusitsuksa of My Shot Co.

EXCLUSIVE: Ahead of the 33rd annual Gotham Awards Ceremony, taking place live and in person on Monday, November 27, 2023 in New York City, The Gotham Film & Media Institute announced the winners of its fifth annual Focus Features & JetBlue Student Short Film Showcase.

Little Britain, David Walliams and Matt Lucas‘ anarchic noughties sketch show, is causing trouble again.

Emiliano De Pablos In standout results that suggests the strength of select Spanish arthouse films on the current international market, Bendita Films Sales, the Santa Cruz de Tenerife-based boutique world sales agency, has closed a formidable raft of deals to Galician auteur Lois Patiño’s multisensory journey film “Samsara.” Winner of a Special Jury Award at Berlin’s 2023 major sidebar Encounters and the Audience Award at Mexico’s Ficunam festival, “Samsara” has just screened in main competition gathered “Samsara”(Oct. 20-28), running up more than a dozen international film festival selections. Bendita Film Sales has clinched commercial release pacts in the U.K.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Vietnam-based sales agent Skyline Media has closed multi-territory deals for two of its current titles “The Soul Reaper” and “Vietnamese Horror Story.” The deals follow Skyline’s recent trip to Busan’s ACFM and come ahead of its participation as exhibitor at a string of further final quarter sales events – Tokyo’s TIFFCOM, Santa Monica’s American Film Market and Taipei’s Taiwan Creative Content Fest. Folk horror film “The Soul Reaper,” currently in the final stages of post-production, was licensed to GaragePlay for Taiwan and to Westec Media Limited (WML) for Laos, Cambodia and nine other Southeast Asian territories. The film, adapted from Thao Trang’s best-selling horror novel “Lunar New Year in Hell Village” (aka “Tet O Lang Dia Nguc”), is set to be released in Vietnam cinemas on 08 December. GaragePlay is one of Taiwan’s leading distributors, and recently handles releases of “Suzume,” “John Wick: Chapter 4” and “Someday or One Day.” WML is the biggest content distributor in Cambodia and has distributed more than 1,000 titles theatrically since its establishment.

APPOINTMENTSDeezer has appointed Florence Lao as its General Counsel. “Deezer is leading the way for the future of the music industry and I’m looking forward to contributing to continued success, together with the talented teams in France and across the globe”, she says. “The music landscape is changing quickly, with Deezer playing a key role for its partners, the industry, and fans alike.

Oscar Qualifying AwardsBest of the Festival Award - Winner received $5,000 cash prize courtesy of Harold Matzner, Palm Springs International Film Society’s Immediate Past ChairmanJury: Angel An (VP of Acquisitions, Roadside Attractions); Kiva Reardon (Vice President of Film, PASTEL); Clay Pruitt (Head of Programming, Impact Distribution, Impact Distribution, Seed&Spark)Winner:  The Old Young Crow (Japan/USA), Directed by Liam LoPintoSpecial Mention:  48 Hours (Iran), Directed by Azadeh MoussaviSpecial Mention:  Away (Hungary/Belgium/Portugal), Directed by Ruslan FedotowBest Animated Short – Winner received a $1,000 cash prize.Jury: Geoff Marslett (Animator/Director/Writer/Producer); Irene Soriano (Writer/Film Curator); Gabe Van Amburgh (Film Programmer and Senior Manager, SXSW)Winner:  Way Better (Lithuania), Directed by Skirmanta JakaitėSpecial Mention:  Ashkaska (Spain/Argentina), Directed by Lara MaltzSpecial Mention:  Eeva (Croatia/Estonia), Directed by Lucija Mrzljak and Morten TšinakovBest Documentary Short – Winner received a $1,000 cash prize.Jury: Eugene Yi (Director/Editor/Writer, Free Chol Soo Lee); Maria Santos (Funds Program Officer, International Documentary Association); Opal H.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The International Olympic Committee said on Thursday that Swiss-based, Chinese-owned Infront Sports & Media would handle broadcast right sales in much of Asia for the next series of Summer and Winter games. The deal covers 22 territories including Afghanistan, Brunei, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam – but not China, Japan or South Korea, and runs 2026-2032. That means it will cover the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Summer games. The 2030 Winter Olympics, which have yet to be allocated a host, and all Youth Olympic Games during this period will also be covered.

Martyn Ford (“Shao Kahn”), Desmond Chiam (“King Jerrod”), Ana Thu Nguyen (“Sindel”), and Damon Herriman (“Quan Chi”) have been cast in the sequel to New Line’s hit 2021 action adventure “Mortal Kombat” based on the blockbuster video game franchise, New Line announced on Thursday morning.The new additions join a cast which include Karl Urban as “Johnny Cage,” Tati Gabrielle as “Jade,” and Adeline Rudolph as “Kitana.”The returning cast from “Mortal Kombat” includes Lewis Tan as “Cole Young”; Jessica McNamee as “Sonya Blade”; Josh Lawson as “Kano”; Tadanobu Asano as “Lord Raiden”; Mehcad Brooks as “Jax”; Ludi Lin as “Liu Kang”; Chin Han as “Shang Tsung”; Joe Taslim as “Bi-Han” and “Sub-Zero”; Hiroyuki Sanada as “Hanzo Hasashi” and “Scorpion”; Max Huang as “Kung Lao.”Simon McQuoid, who directed the 2021 film, is set to return. Jeremy Slater (“Moon Knight,” “The Umbrella Academy”) wrote the screenplay for the sequel.The previous film was a new adaptation of the popular video-game franchise that offered a grittier, more violent take on the material than the 1990s films.

New Line has rounded out its cast for Mortal Kombat 2, with Martyn Ford (Red Sonja), Desmond Chiam (Joy Ride), Ana Thu Nguyen (Suka) and Damon Herriman (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) coming aboard for roles.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Major Cineplex, Thailand’s largest movie industry conglomerate, has announced that it has completed a deal to sell M Pictures Entertainment, one of the country’s leading film distributors. The buyer is local music star Khanngoen Nuanual. The deal was first announced in February and has now been completed, according to a regulatory filing. Both Major Cineplex and M Pictures are companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Major Cineplex said that Nuanual had purchased 1.2 billion shares, representing 92.5% of the company, at THB0.54 apiece, implying a total transaction valued at THB650 million ($18.8 million). The filing added that Nuanual is now obliged to make a tender offer to the remaining minority shareholders and that this step is expected to be completed by the end of July.

Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) has unveiled the major competition selections for its 25th edition (June 9-18), which will be the first to be held in a fully physical format with international guests since before the pandemic. 

He’s in a New York state of mind. When it comes to dining, there’s no greater place than New York City.

A woman who visited a fishmonger for her dinner was shocked to discover the fish was still alive when she started to prepare it, after it spent nearly 48 hours on ice. Cindy Lao was baffled when she noticed the gills of the Crucian carp she had purchased were still moving and immediately ran a bath of water where the fish would live for the next two weeks.

A new Miss Universe was crowned in New Orleans, Louisiana from the 84 beauty queens that entered the pageant. Harnaaz Sandhu, the representative from India and the titleholder from the previous year, crowned R’Bonney Gabriel of USA as the new Miss Universe.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Netflix has come on board for the second year to support the Short Film Camp, a film industry training program for professionals from Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. The SFC is led by Purin Pictures, a film funding body backed by the Purin Foundation. The event, running for ten days (Dec. 2-12, 2022) in Bangkok, Thailand, will involve 12 teams of directors and producers. The 24 participants will receive mentoring that aims to hone their writing, producing and directing skills. The workshop culminates in a live pitch of their short film projects, where four winners will receive funding and post-production support to produce their short films.

It feels like most current women in Spanish-language music have been influenced by Rosalia!

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Fresh from a chaotic Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, TV coverage of Formula One motor racing is set to shift broadcasting partner in Asia-Pacific. Sports Business reports that pay-TV broadcaster beIN Sports is finalizing a multi-year deal beginning in 2023 reaching across most of its Asia-Pacific footprint, but excluding Australia, where Foxtel recently renewed its deal, and New Zealand.

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.

Seeking a fair contract, costume shop workers at the Los Angeles Opera will be handing out leaflets to patrons at the opera’s opening-night gala on September 30.

Thania Garcia After two years of a pandemic-induced hiatus, the Pencils of Promise gala will return for an in-person ceremony on Oct. 20 at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. The benefit for the organization, a non-profit that builds schools and increases educational opportunities in the developing world, will be hosted by Scooter Braun and Brad Haugen of Westbrook Media. This year’s host committee includes PoP founder (and younger brother of Scooter) Adam Braun and PoP CEO Kailee Scales, along with stakeholders Gabe Bourgeois, Gary Vaynerchuk, Ricky and Lisa Novak, and Rob Hamwee. New global ambassador Meadow Walker is set to receive this year’s activist award to honor her advocacy work for the organization.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefEpic Pictures Releasing has licensed North American rights to Korean action film “Hot Blooded,” from leading Seoul-based film sales agency Finecut. The deal is one of several struck by the agency ahead of Cannes, where it is also launching sales on Critics’ Week title “Next Sohee.”Starring Bae Doona and Kim Si-eun, “Next Sohee” is directed by Jung July, whose acclaimed “A Girl at My Door” played in Un Certain regard in 2014.

The family of a man who was left paralysed from the neck down by a mosquito bite are asking for help to pay for a new electric wheelchair. John Barber, a University of Edinburgh graduate and then communications officer, was travelling in Thailand and Laos with a friend in 2015 when he was bitten by a mosquito just 12 days before he was set to fly to Australia.

EXCLUSIVE: Horror-thriller All Fun And Games, starring Asa Butterfield (Sex Education) and Natalia Dyer (Stranger Things), begins production today in Canada with joining cast including Benjamin Evan Ainsworth — who has the title role in Disney’s upcoming Pinocchio — Keith David (Greenleaf) and Annabeth Gish (The Fall of the House of Usher).

EXCLUSIVE: Indonesian helmer Joko Anwar (Impetigore) is preparing to make his English-language debut with Fritzchen, an adaptation of the classic short story by Charles Beaumont, which is in development at Village Roadshow.

Aaron Carter is honoring his late sister, Leslie Carter, with a new tattoo. The 34-year-old singer took to Instagram on Saturday to share a picture of a blue butterfly above his right eye.«Life is such a valuable learning lesson, IF you always it to be that. With that being said, this is my body and this tattoo by @tattoo_mike_13 is to commemorate the passing of of my sister Leslie Barbara Carter,” he captioned the pic of his new ink.

Aaron Carter is sporting some new ink on his face.

We love Latina pop gurls that are pushing the envelope sonically!

Editors note: Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series debuts and celebrates the scripts of films that will be factors in this year’s movie awards race.

We had never heard of of Lao Ra before – but we are feeling it!