All Asia articles – Page 529

  • News

    Mehruji to head Pusan's New Currents jury

    2007-08-28T06:07:00Z

    The 12th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) has announced the jury for its New Currents award, which will be headed by Iranian cineaste Darjush Mehruji (The Cow). The jury will award $30,000 each to three films by first-time directors in the New Currents section. Mehruji will be joined by Chinese ...

  • News

    Cineclick Asia picks up Pang Ho-cheung's Exodus

    2007-08-27T12:29:00Z

    Korea-based sales agent Cineclick Asia is repping Hong Kong director Pang Ho-cheung's new thriller Exodus - recently announced in the Toronto and San Sebastian film festival line-ups. Licensor Filmko Entertainment reserves rights to Chinese-speaking territories (mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore), along with Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Pang, whose ...

  • News

    UTV strikes DVD on-demand deal with TitleMatch

    2007-08-27T04:21:00Z

    Indian producer-distributor UTV Motion Pictures has signed a DVD on-demand deal with US-based TitleMatch Entertainment Group for distribution of its library titles via retailers and e-tailers in North America. TitleMatch is a subsidiary of Protocall Technologies Inc, developer of the world's first CSS enabled DVD on-demand service. Titles covered by ...

  • News

    Thailand selects Naresuan Part 2 as Oscar entry

    2007-08-27T03:50:00Z

    Thailand has selected The Legend Of King Naresuan Part 2 as its official entry for the best foreign-language film category of the 2008 Academy Awards. The selection was made by a committee of 22 members from Thailand 's Federation of National Film Association, including president Chaiwat Taveewongsangthong. The lavish historical ...

  • News

    China 2007 box office expected to reach $400m

    2007-08-24T12:24:00Z

    As the number of cinemas and admissions continues to grow, China's 2007 boxoffice is expected to break the $400m (RMB3bn) milestone, industry players have estimated. According to monthly statistics from the Film Bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), total box office for the first half ...

  • News

    Kitano to receive newly-created director prize in Venice

    2007-08-24T11:00:00Z

    The Venice International Film Festival has announced that director Takeshi Kitano will be the inaugural recipient of the newly-created 'Glory To The Filmmaker Prize'. The prize is named after Kitano's latest feature Glory To The Filmmaker! (Kantoku Banzai!) and will be awarded for recognition of directorial talent. Kitano is set ...

  • News

    Bong Joon-ho begins shoot on his part of Tokyo omnibus

    2007-08-23T16:17:00Z

    The Host director Bong Joon-ho this week started shooting Shaking Tokyo, starring Japanese actress Aoi Yu as his segment of the multinational Tokyo omnibus. Following in the steps of Paris Je T'aime, the Tokyo project has three directors - Bong, Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), and Leos ...

  • News

    Asian trio join Hartnett in I Come With The Rain cast

    2007-08-23T09:47:00Z

    Korean star Lee Byung-hun, Japan 's Takuya Kimura and Hong Kong 's Shawn Yue have joined Josh Harnett in the cast of Tran Anh Hung's I Come With The Rain. The $18m film, which marks the Vietnamese director's English-language debut, has been shooting in Hong Kong for the past two ...

  • News

    Korea's nTorino scores $2m pre-sale to Japan

    2007-08-22T10:35:00Z

    Korean investor nTorino Corp has announced the $2m pre-sale of the film Sookmyung (original title) to Japan's Formula Entertainment. The film features pan-Asian stars Kwon Sang-woo (Once Upon A Time In High School), Song Seung-hun (Make It Big) and Ji Sung (Blood Rain) in a story of four friends who ...

  • News

    Yang named as PIFF Asian Filmmaker of the Year

    2007-08-22T10:19:00Z

    The Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) has named the recently deceased Taiwanese director Edward Yang as Asian Filmmaker of the Year. The festival also announced that the Korean Cinema Award will go to Sabrina Baracetti of the Udine Far East Film Festival and Jean Francois Rauger of the Cinematheque Francaise. ...

  • News

    Pusan unveils slate of 27 projects to receive ACF backing

    2007-08-22T07:05:00Z

    The Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) has announced the 27 projects that will receive backing from its recently-established Asian Cinema Fund (ACF). The fund provides support for Asian documentaries and independent feature films in all stages of production to the total amount of $840,000, with matching funds and/or services provided ...

  • News

    Warner Bros enters Hindi-language film production

    2007-08-22T06:21:00Z

    Warner Bros has announced its long-anticipated move into local production in India by boarding action comedy Made In China, to be directed by Nikhil Advani and star action hero Akshay Kumar. Indian production houses Ramesh Sippy Productions and Orion Pictures, founded by Advani and Mukesh Talreja, will produce the film ...

  • News

    Pal lines up live-action version of Studio Ghibli's Fireflies

    2007-08-21T04:04:00Z

    Tokyo 's Pal Entertainment is set to produce a live-action version of Akiyuki Nosaka's semi-autobiographical novella Grave Of The Fireflies (Hotaru No Haka), to be directed by Taro Hyugaji. The story was famously adapted into an animated feature directed by Isao Takahata in 1988 and released on a double bill ...

  • News

    Ausfilm appoints Pitcher as chief executive

    2007-08-21T04:00:00Z

    Ausfilm, the organisation that markets Australia 's filmmaking talents to the world, has appointed Caroline Pitcher as its new chief executive. She is no stranger to the requirements of a locations role or to Ausfilm: she has spent the last four years as general manager of the Melbourne Film Office, ...

  • News

    Kadokawa, Miike join forces to solve God's Puzzle

    2007-08-20T12:08:00Z

    Japanese producer Haruki Kadokawa has announced that his next production will be an adaptation of Shinji Kimoto's award-winning science fiction novel Kamisama No Puzzle (God's Puzzle), to be directed by Takashi Miike. The film will star Hayato Ichihara (All About Lily Chou-Chou) playing the dual role of identical twin university ...

  • News

    Andy Lau's Focus plans Brothers and new Fight series

    2007-08-20T01:00:00Z

    Following on the successful launch of Focus First Cuts in 2005, Andy Lau's Hong Kong-based production company Focus Films is gearing up for a new Focus Fight series and is in production on a new gangster drama, Brothers, to star Lau.Focus Fight aims to produce a new wave of action ...

  • News

    Fantastic Four postponed as China cools down foreign film market

    2007-08-19T21:37:00Z

    The opening of Fox's Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer in mainland China release date has been postponed to an indefinite date, Beijing's cinema owners confirmed today. The film, originally scheduled for August 29, will be replaced by a few smaller foreign titles imported on a flat-fee basis.Twentieth ...

  • News

    Goa to host new script development workshop with NFDC

    2007-08-16T18:10:00Z

    India's National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), in collaboration with the Directorate of Film Festivals, will conduct a script development workshop from Nov 18-24 in Goa during the International Film Festival of India. The Indian Script Development Workshop (ISDW) 2007 is designed for Indian scriptwriters who have finalized their scripts for ...

  • News

    New Thai production outfit Extra Virgin kicks off with media documentary

    2007-08-16T02:00:00Z

    Thai film-maker Pimpaka Towira has set up a new Bangkok-based production outfit Extra Virgin with former Bangkok International Film Festival programmer Mai Meksawan and former Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) executive Ruengsang Sripaoraya.'The company aims to start with independent and low-budget productions and branch out to a more diverse range ...

  • Reviews

    The Drummer

    2007-08-15T12:28:00Z

    Dir. Kenneth Bi. Hong Kong / Taiwan , 2007. 115 mins.Conceived as a vehicle for Jaycee Chan (Jackie Chan's son) but more likely to serve as a showcase for the talents of the U Theatre drummers, this gangster-movie-meets-rites-of-initiation picture has a hard time deciding which way to go among the ...