AFM Buzz: Foreign-Language Films

From China comes Wuxia, a $20m action thriller directed by Peter Ho-sun Chan. Currently shooting, the cast includes Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tang Wei and Donnie Yen, who will also serve as action director. The film tells the story of a killer and the determined detective hunting him. Chan’s We Distribution is handling international sales at AFM.

Among projects from Japan, Nippon Television Network (NTV) will hold an exclusive RSVP screening of part one of Gantz for buyers only, the two-part live-action adaptation of the popular manga and anime franchise. The film tells the story of two friends who die in an accident and are transported to a futuristic afterlife where they are enlisted to hunt aliens. NTV will also preview Second World War drama Oba, The Last Samurai and Hideo Nakata thriller The Incite Mill: 7-Day Death Game.

Tokyo Broadcast System (TBS) will screen sci-fi action spectacle Space Battleship Yamato. The film is based on the legendary 1970s animated series, also known as Star Blazers.

Meanwhile, Toei Studios will unveil the first footage from the 3D reworking of cult classic Battle Royale.

From Korea is the market premiere of Showbox Mediaplex’s erotic comedy Foxy Festival, directed by Lee Hae-young. CJ Entertainment will be debuting crime thriller The Unjust, directed by Ryoo Seung-wan (The City Of Violence). The film follows a detective and prosecutor as they make shady deals to catch a serial killer. CJ is also in production on creature feature Sector 7.

From Spain, 6 Sales will bring Mateo Gil’s anticipated western Blackthorn. Sam Shepard plays the outlaw Butch Cassidy, living in Bolivia under the alias James Blackthorn, who is caught up in a heist of a mining company. 6 Sales will also be promoting Antonio Hernandez’s $12m film Captain Thunder, about a 12th century knight. Latido Films will be promoting Ventura Pons’ A Thousand Fools, based on Quim Monzo’s short stories.

French-language projects include SND’s Livide, a vampire thriller from directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, here reteaming with their A L’Interieur star Beatrice Dalle. SND is also selling family film Beny, Back To The Wild, and new 3D project Asterix: The Land Of The Gods.

StudioCanal will be selling Cédric Klapisch’s My Slice Of The Pie, starring Karin Viard and Gilles Lellouche as an unemployed single mother and a hotshot trader; the film is in post. Also from StudioCanal is Requiem For A Killer, Jérome Le Gris’ thriller which stars Inglourious Basterds’ Mélanie Laurent as a hitwoman. The film is in post.

The Law Of Violence, directed by Pierre Lacan, is on TF1’s roster for the AFM. The thriller sees a family man uncover disturbing truths about his father. Also on TF1’s line up is Ducoboo, a comic book-based family film directed by Philippe de Chauveron.

German projects making their market debuts include Soul Boy, the feature debut of Hawa Essuman, produced by Tom Tykwer and sold by Cinepool. The film which has screened in Rotterdam, Gothenburg and Berlin tells the story of 14-year-old Abila, who has to fulfil seven tasks set by a witch.

Surprise Toronto hit Viva Riva! has already been sold by sales agent Beta Cinema to the US, UK and Australia/New Zealand, and makes its market debut at the AFM. The feature debut of Congolese writer-director Djo Tunda Wa Munga follows the rise of a criminal on the streets of Kinshasa.

And Celluloid Dreams is selling Dennis Gansel’s long-gestating The Dawn (Wir Sind Die Nacht), a story of female vampires on the rampage in Berlin’s clubbing scene.

From Denmark, LevelK will launch the 3D animated feature Ronal The Barbarian while market debuts from NonStop Sales include Swedish drama Dear Alice and Danish dramas Hold Me Tight and My Good Enemy.