Far East Film Festival (FEFF) in Udine, Italy, has announced the line-up of projects selected for its Focus Asia industry platform. The selection includes works from promising new filmmakers including Minh Nguyen-Vo, Tian Guan, Nicole Woodford, Nontawat Numbenchapol and Tan Siyou.
Focus Asia (April 21-29) will present projects in two categories: All Genres Project Market selects projects with Asian and European co-production potential, while Far East In Progress is a works-in-progress section (see full line-up below).
Projects selected for Far East In Progress were first incubated and developed through the All Genres Project Market or the Ties That Bind workshop, which takes place at FEFF each year.
Previous projects presented in this section have included Martika Ramirez Escobar’s Leonor Will Never Die, which premiered at Sundance 2022; Jake Wachtel’s Karmalink, which premiered in Venice Critics Week in 2021; and Chie Hayakawa’s Plan 75, which premiered at Cannes last year.
The Focus Asia selection committee comprises Thomas Jongsuk Nam, head of the NAFF projects market at Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan), Sten-Kristian Saluveer of Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, filmmaker Mike Hostench (Spain) and Valeria Richter of Denmark’s Nordic Factory.
In addition to All Genres Project Market and Far East In Progress, Focus Asia also hosts a programme of panel discussions and networking activities.
New this year, Focus Asia and Ties That Bind are launching a partnership with international funding institutions to offer around 20 producers a bespoke programme to explore collaboration between Europe and Asia. The producers have been selected and supported by the British Film Institute (BFI), Canada Media Fund, Ciclic: Centre-Val de Loire, Norwegian Film Institute, Netherlands Film Fund and Polish Film Institute.
All Genres Project Market 2023:
Ama, by Yuki Kawamura, produced by Les Films Fauves (Luxembourg)
Amoeba, by Siyou Tan, produced by Akanga Film Asia (Singapore, Netherlands)
Cold, by Dicky Chalmers, produced by JHT Entertainment (Taiwan)
Ella Arcangel: Ballad Of Tooth And Claw, by Mervin Malonzo, produced by Twenty Manila, Rocketsheep Studio (Philippines)
Lake Of Stars, by Jake Wachtel, produced by 802 Films Production (Cambodia), Human Eyes Media (US)
Monsoon, by Arfan Sabran, produced by Cineria Films (Indonesia)
Penumbra, by Russell Morton, produced by Potocol (Singapore)
Picturehouse, by Minh Nguyen-Vo, produced by Girelle (France, Vietnam, Philippines)
Shotoku Taishi Under The Lens, by Tatsuo Kohayashi, produced by Cogitoworks (Japan)
The Poison Cat, by Tian Guan, produced by Guanyu Film (China), Uluka Productions (Hong Kong)
Wandering Taxi, by Mayu Nakamura, produced by Dub (Japan)
Far East In Progress 2023:
Blue Imagine, by Urara Matsubayashi, produced by Cobalt Pictures, Wa Entertainment (Japan, Philippines)
Doi Boy, by Nontawat Numbenchapol, produced by Mobile Lab Project (Thailand), Anti-Archive (Cambodia)
Fruitcake, by Joel Ferrer, produced by Create Cinema, CS Studios (Philippines)
Last Shadow At First Light, by Nicole Woodford, produced by Potocol (Singapore, Japan, Slovenia)
Pierce, by Nelicia Low, produced by Potocol (Singapore, Taiwan, Poland)
Salli, by Chien-Hung Lien, produced by Bole Film, ENLA Media Limited, The Graduate (Taiwan, France)
The Imaginary, by Yoshiyuki Momose, produced by Studio Ponoc (Japan)
The Prize!, by Paul Fauzan Agusta, produced by Gandheng Ceneng Films (Indonesia)