Taiwan Suspends TICP International Co-Production Fund As Part Of Investment Strategy Rethink

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Six projects have been announced as participating in the inaugural edition of the HKIFF Industry – CAA China Genre Initiative, a project incubator in Hong Kong for Chinese-language genre films. The HCG platform will run March 11-13, 2024, alongside the 22nd Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) and the Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FilMart), Asia’s largest film and TV rights market. From the six, two winning projects will each receive a cash prize of $20,000 for development funding.

open letter from the Strike Germany movement, which called for a boycott of state-funded cultural events, claiming that the “use of McCarthyist policies” suppressed “freedom of expression” in relation to displays of solidarity with Palestine and criticism of the Israeli state.The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism cites examples including “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” and “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor”.Strike Germany claimed that the IHRA definition was “increasingly becoming official state policy, effectively censoring criticism of the state of Israel and anti-Zionist perspectives from the German cultural sphere, furthering a dangerous false equivalency that ultimately harms the fight against anti-Semitism”.A post shared by STRIKE GERMANY (@strikegermany)As of Monday (January 22), however, the clause has been dropped. “I must take the legal and critical voices that saw this clause as a restriction on the freedom of art seriously,” said Joe Chialo, Berlin’s culture senator, in a statement (via The Art Newspaper).

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Totem Films, the Paris-based sales and production company known for arthouse breakouts such as “Compartment No. 6” and “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry,” has boarded sales on “My Favourite Cake” by Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha. The Iranian writing-directing duo’s latest feature was just announced in competition at the upcoming Berlinale.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Chinese filmmaker Lin Jianjie‘s debut feature “Brief History of a Family,” which is being sold by Films Boutique, has debuted its trailer (below), following its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section of the Sundance Film Festival. The film, which will make its European premiere in the Panorama program of the Berlin Film Festival, was received warmly by Variety critic Carlos Aguilar. In the review, Aguilar says the suspenseful drama was “elevated by its consistent visual inventiveness.” He adds that although at first it seems to be the story of a “cunning infiltrator wreaking havoc in an unsuspecting household,” it then “reveals itself as a tale of wish fulfillment for everyone involved.” Aguilar says that it is this approach which “turns Lin’s debut into an engrossing brain-tickler.” The drama is put in motion by an incident at the high school attended by Wei, an outgoing only son from a middle-class family, and Shuo, his quiet, perceptive classmate.

Thania Garcia The third iteration of Chicago’s Sueños Music Festival — an exclusively all-Latin music event — has announced Peso Pluma, Maluma, Ivan Cornejo and Rauw Alejandro as headliners for the two-day celebration on May 25 and 26 at Grant Park. Curated by Aaron Ampudia and Chris Den Uijl of La Familia Presenta, the Sueños lineup also includes rising acts like Xavi and Young Miko, along with Mora, Manuel Turizo, Jowell y Randy, Latin Mafia and Gabito Ballesteros, among others.

In an Oscar stunner, two films considered a lock for nominations failed to be recognized Tuesday morning in the Best Documentary Feature category: American Symphony and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie.

The upcoming 74th Berlin Film Festival looks set to be its starriest edition in years with Kristen Stewart, Adam Sandler, Cillian Murphy, Lena Dunham, Sebastian Stan, Amanda Seyfried and Rooney Mara among the talent due to attend this year.

EXCLUSIVE: HanWay Films will represent international sales at next month’s EFM on Berlinale Competition title La Cocina. Fifth Season co-financed the film and is co-representing North America with WME.

Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall continued its prize-winning run on Monday at France’s 29th Lumière Awards clinching Best Film and Best Screenplay, while its German star Sandra Hüller won Best Actress.

Over the past several weeks, we’ve been seeing reports of several films making their debuts at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. However, we haven’t really gotten a full picture of the festival just yet.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Playtime has boarded “The Devil’s Bath,” a period psychological thriller directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, the Austrian filmmaking duo behind the critical and commercial hit “Goodnight Mommy.” The movie reteams Franz and Fiala with Ulrich Seidl, who also produced “Goodnight Mommy.” Set in rural Austria in 1750, “The Devil’s Bath” stars Anja Plaschg, the up-and-coming singer and composer known as Soap & Skin. Plaschg plays Agnes, a young married woman who feels oppressed in her husband’s world which is devoid of emotions and limited to chores and expectations. A pious and highly sensitive woman, Agnes falls into a deep depression, before committing a shocking act of violence that she sees as the only way out of her inner prison.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Leading Korean rights sales firm Finecut is to handle the international distribution of “A Traveler’s Needs,” which on Monday was confirmed as debuting in the main competition section of next month’s Berlinale. Remarkably, it is director Hong Sang-soo’s sixth selection for Berlin since 2020. The picture is also the third time that French acting icon Isabelle Huppert stars in a film by the Korean veteran director, following their previous joint efforts “Claire’s Camera” and “In Another Country.” A synopsis provided reads: “She came from France.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Gaumont has unveiled a first still and trailer for “Black Tea,” Abderrahmane Sissako‘s highly anticipated follow-up to his 2015 Oscar-nominated film “Timbuktu.” The movie will world premiere in competition at the Berlin Film Festival. A lushly-lensed romance drama, “Black Tea” (previously titled “The Perfumed Hill“) tells the story of Joice, who leaves the Ivory Coast after walking out on her wedding day and sets off to start a new life in Guangzhou, China.

The Berlin Film Festival on Monday unveiled the titles selected for its official competition and its sidebar Encounters competitive section.

So, here we are in mid-January, and though we’re staring down the barrel of a tough year ahead, it’s not all wintry doom and gloom on an international box office (and combined global) level. 

Richard Kuipers Taiwan’s transformation from an authoritarian state to a flourishing democracy determined to decide its own future is charted in the engrossing and highly informative documentary “Invisible Nation.” Centered on President Tsai Ing-wen as she promotes her country’s case for ongoing autonomy in the face of mounting political isolation, as well as China’s claim that Taiwan is part of its territory and must unite with the mainland, Vanessa Hope’s skilfully assembled film delivers a compelling picture of Taiwan’s increasingly precarious position in the region and on the world stage. Currently enjoying a substantial festival run, “Invisible Nation” has gained an extra note of urgency and its visibility should only increase in the wake of Taiwan’s elections on January 13, 2024.

EXCLUSIVE: German Films, the agency that promotes German cinema globally, has unveiled the seven participants for the ninth edition of its annual Face to Face campaign, which include talents who have worked on projects ranging from television series such as Deutschland ‘89 and Kafka to feature film Turning Tables. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Mongrel,” a Taiwan-set drama film that has done the round of project markets, will appear at the International Film Festival Rotterdam as a work in progress. In addition to the screening of 15 minutes of footage, Taiwan-based Singaporean director Chiang Wei Liang has confirmed the film’s cast as being headed by Thai actor Wanlop Rungkumjad (“Eternity,” “Manta Ray”) alongside Taiwanese female actor Lu Yi-ching (“The River”, “Stray Dogs”) and rapper Hong Yu-hong (“Bad Education”, “Miss Shampoo”) from Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One. Other key cast include Atchara Suwan (“By the Time It Gets Dark”), and Guo Shu-wei in his debut role.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Salaud Morisset, the Paris- and Berlin-based sales and production outfit, has closed deals on “Excursion,” Una Gunjak’s feature debut which won the Jury Special Mention at the Locarno Film Festival. Salaud Morisset, which also co-produced “Excursion,” has closed sales deals with Angel Films (Denmark), Filmin (Spain), Zero em Comportamento (Portugal), Access Cinema (Ireland), JUNO11 Distribution (Hungary), Hakka Distribution (Tunisia), Fivia (Slovenia), MCF MegaCom (Montenegro & North Macedonia), No Blink Film (Bulgaria) and Silver Screen (Romania).

Vue International, Europe’s largest independent movie theater operator, is in discussions with its shareholders and lenders on a fresh debt-for-equity restructuring. This comes after last year’s dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes caused production delays and pushed a number of titles off of the 2023 and 2024 release calendars. Overall, the industry is facing a severe downturn in ticket sales across the coming year.