Pattaya Film Festival to Launch in Thailand With Competition and Documentary Pitching Strands

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Warner Bros. Discovery has announced three new Thai HBO Asia Originals: action-fantasy blockbuster “Khun Pan 3”; fun-filled cooking series “MarkKim + Chef” and reality series “Deane’s Dynasty.” The shows will be available exclusively to HBO and HBO GO in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Thai TV content is currently growing in popularity among Asian TV audiences and has recently been seen pioneering soft homo-erotic series known as the ‘Boys Love’ genre, that has appeal to mature female audiences. BL is conspicuously absent from the new additions to the HBO Go slate.  “Khun Pan 3” is the final instalment of the “Khun Pan” franchise and represents a journey from 1950 after World War ll, as sorcerer cop Khun Pan is persuaded to take on another dangerous mission. This time he is hunting down two bandits and uncovering a conspiracy that challenges everything, he believes in. 

U.S. NARRATIVE COMPETITIONBest Performance in a U.S. Narrative Feature: Ji-Young Yoo for “Smoking Tigers,” (United States) – World Premiere.

Vanderpump Rules fans are cringing over a newly released scene between Raquel Leviss and Tom Sandoval.

This is so sketchy!!!

This year’s scaled-down, “special one-year iteration” of the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) will open on August 18 with the world premiere of Silent Roar, the debut feature from Scottish writer and director Johnny Barrington.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Seoul Metropolitan Police on Tuesday raided the offices of Korea’s three leading multiplex cinema operators and three film distributors. “The six entities are accused of obstructing the business of the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) by falsely counting the audience numbers for Korean films,” a spokesman for the police is reported to have told Korean media, according to the semi-official Yonhap news agency. The raids were conducted by the force’s anti-corruption and public crime investigation team. Local media named the companies visited by the police on Tuesday as cinema chains CJ CGV, Megabox and Lotte Cinema, and distributors Showbox, Lotte Entertainment and Kidari.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Scottish actor Ewan McGregor and Swedish actor Alicia Vikander will be honored at the 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where they will receive the President’s Award, and present their latest films. The festival will open with “Firebrand,” in which Vikander has the leading role of Katherine Parr. McGregor will present “You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder,” in which he stars alongside his daughter Clara McGregor. McGregor’s role in Danny Boyle’s dark comedy “Shallow Grave” (1994) earned him an Empire Award for best British actor, and their next joint film, “Trainspotting” (1996), was an international sensation. McGregor and Boyle teamed up again for the 1997 romantic comedy “A Life Less Ordinary,” in which McGregor appeared alongside Cameron Diaz.

Love Island winners Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Davide Sanclimenti have reunited with fellow islanders Tasha Ghouri and Andrew Le Page.The four stars from summer Love Island 2022 enjoyed a dinner date on Sunday afternoon, just 12 months after they found love on the show.The four of them sat around the glass dinner table to enjoy a home cooked meal, and shared it on social media - much to fans' delight. Winner Ekin-Su, 28, filmed her dinner guests as they sat down to tuck into their food, showing her fellow winner Davide, 28, up first.

Vanderpump fans are processing a lot right now, but this might be the thing that breaks my brain.Bravo promised the last five minutes of the would be a game-changer and (if you ask me), they weren't lying. A week after the reunion finished taping, Leviss returned to give producers one last interview—in which she recanted all the lies (her words!) Sandoval allegedly encouraged her to stick to at the reunion, including the fact that they while Madix was out of town for her grandmother's funeral.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief U.S. film and television content captures 30% of viewing time in key Asia-Pacific territories, according to a new research report by consultancy Media Partners Asia. Korean product takes 40%. The study “U.S. Content in the Asia Pacific” tracked the video consumption behavior between January and March this year of some 40,000 consumers in ten Asia-Pacific markets: Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Australia, a $2.2 billion SVOD market, exhibits the highest reliance on US entertainment with 72% of measured SVOD viewership, followed by Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines where U.S. content accounts for 40-50% of viewership on average, with Indonesia close behind at 35%.

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains details of the Vanderpump Rules Season 10 Reunion finale.

Buckle up, Bravo fans! The bombshell season 10 reunion of Vanderpump Rules may be coming to a close — but there’s still plenty more revelations to come regarding Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss‘ affair.

Raquel Leviss is telling her side of the story.

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.

Raquel Leviss and Tom Sandoval did whatever they could to hide their affair from everyone, including kicking out one of her and Scheana Shay’s friends from a hotel room during the 37-year-old’s wedding weekend!

Retracing their steps. Scheana Shay reflected on the signs from her wedding weekend that now clearly point at Raquel Leviss and Tom Sandoval‘s affair.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival, Eastern and Central Europe’s leading cinema event, has unveiled its lineup, which includes new works by Pascal Plante, Stephan Komandarev, Tinatin Kajrishvili and Babak Jalali in the Crystal Globes Competition. They will vie against films by up-and-comers Ernst De Geer, Itsaso Arana and Cyril Aris. The section has nine world and two international premieres. Oscar nominated actor Patricia Clarkson is one of the jury members. The Proxima Competition, which made its debut at last year’s KVIFF, presents what the festival defines as “bold works,” directed by young filmmakers and renowned auteurs alike. The section comprises of 10 world and two international premieres. The festival says “playfulness, courage and freshness can be found” in the new films by Swiss auteur Thomas Imbach, Poland’s Olga Chajdas, Cyprus-born Kyros Papavassiliou, French filmmaker Émilie Brisavoine and Romanian documentarist Alexandru Solomon, among others.

is taking aim at the show's namesake. On part one of the Bravo series' highly-anticipated reunion special, much of the cast pushed back at Lisa Vanderpump for appearing to side with Tom Sandoval.The first episode of the reunion came amid Scandoval, the fan-made name for the months-long affair Sandoval had with Raquel Leviss during his nine-year-long relationship with Ariana Madix.Vanderpump entered the «much-needed» reunion prepared to «sort it out» and get to the truth, even complimenting Madix's «revenge dress.» Later in the reunion, though, Vanderpump pushed back at a couple of comments Madix made.When host Andy Cohen asked if a lack of intimacy played a role in the deterioration of Madix and Sandoval's relationship, Madix replied, «No, I think he caused the divide in the relationship because he was f**king other people.»Vanderpump noted that «other people» implies more than just Leviss, and Madix insisted, «He's f**ked more than Raquel.»Later, Vanderpump's business relationship with Sandoval came up, and Cohen asked Madix if that continued relationship would cause her to cut off contact with the matriarch.«We just won’t be as close,» Madix said, as a shocked Vanderpump exclaimed, «Hold on a second! What do you expect me to do?»Vanderpump went on to point out her long-term support of Madix, but Madix insisted she'd have a hard time confiding in Vanderpump in the future.

Not holding back! Ariana Madix revealed a heated conversation with Raquel Leviss during part one of the Vanderpump Rules reunion.  

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief French independent producer Haut Les Mains has come on board “A Useful Ghost,” a film project that is both topical and supernatural. The deal was announced on the margins of the Cannes Film Festival and its accompanying rights market. “A Useful Ghost” follows March and Nat, a happily married couple, and their seven-year-old son Dot. Nat dies of respiratory disease caused by air pollution. A saddened March is worried that the same fate will befall his son, who gradually develops similar symptoms. Nat then returns as a ghost haunting the house vacuum cleaner to try and suck up the dust hurting her son. She also longs to be accepted as part of society and intends to prove that by getting rid of the less useful ghosts.