Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Brazilian co-production Ship Is Yet To Come and an adaptation of Slumdog Millionaire author Vikas Swarup’s Six Suspects are among the 25 projects that have been selected for this year’s Tokyo Project Gathering (TPG).
Sponsored by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), UniJapan and the Japan Institute of Development and Promotion for Pictures, the financing and co-production market will take place Oct 19-22 at Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills complex.
The four-day event runs at the same time as the TIFFCOM contents market (Oct 20-22) and the Tokyo International Film Festival (Oct 17-25).
The total number of projects is down from 34 last year, although entries from higher profile participants have increased.
UK-based producer Paul Raphael will represent a big-budget UK-India adaptation of Swarup’s second novel Six Suspects, which is written by Trainspotting screenwriter John Hodge.
In addition to Kore-eda’s Ship Is Yet To Come, Japanese projects include Departures and Thirteen Assassins producer Toshiaki Nakazawa’s Jibaku and Berlin best first feature winner Izuru Kumasaka’s sophomore effort Family Restaurant.
Also joining with domestic drama Family Matters is Australian writer-director Max Mannix, whose screenplay for Tokyo Sonata won best film and script at the Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong this March.
Taiwanese filmmaker Chung Mong-hong, whose feature debut Parking screened in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard last year, returns with sophomore effort The Fourth Portrait. Hong Kong writer-director Pang Ho-cheung serves as producer on Hong Kong Film Award nominee Heiward Mak’s The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name.
Last year’s TPG award went to Li Xinman’s drama The Red Dragonfly from mainland China.
TokyoProject Gathering 2009 Project List:
1 The Angelus (Japan) Prod: Atsuko OCHIAI, Dir: Katsumi SAKAGUCHI
2 Audrey Hepburn’s Neck (France/US) Prod: David C. BARROT, Dir: Alan BROWN
3 The Boy With Capiz Eyes (Philippines) Prod: Joseph David SANTOS, Dir: Paolo Alessandro HERRAS
4 Clean Love (Taiwan) Prod: WU Nien-Jen, Dir: FU Tien-Yu
5 Dirty Verdict (Japan/Malaysia) Prod: Kosuke ONO, Dir: HO Yuhang
6 Drink More Water (Malaysia) Prod: YEO Joon Han, Dir: YEO Joon Han
7 Family Matters (Australia) Prod/dir: Max MANNIX
8 Family Restaurant (Japan) Prod: Yuji HIRATAI, Dir: Izuru KUMASAKA
9 Fellers (USA) Prods: Yoko NARAHASHI, Lucas FOSTER, Dir: TBC
10 The Fourth Portrait (Taiwan) Prod: Rita CHUANG, Dir: CHUNG Mong-Hong
11 Goldfish Go Home! (Japan) Prod: John WILLIAMS, Dir: Shohei SHIOZAKI
12 Good News (Kyrgyz Republic) Prod: Timur CHERIKOV, Dirs: Mirlan ABDYKALYKOV, Nurbek BERDYBEKOV
13 Goodbye Leslie (South Korea) Prod: Leslie PARK, Dir: TBC
14 Hush (South Korea) Prod: KIM Hyo-Jung, Dir: LEE Cheol-Ha
15 I Am Dancing, Choe Seung Hui (South Korea) Prod:LEE Joon-Dong, Dir: TBC
16 Jibaku (Japan) Prod: Toshiaki NAKAZAWA, Dir: TBC
17 The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name (Hong Kong) Prods: PANG Ho-Cheung, Subi LIANG, Dir: Heiward MAK
18 Look At Only Me (South Korea) Prod:LEE Tae Hun, Dir: JANG Hee-Sun
19 Real Fiction (Singapore) Prods: TAN Fong Cheng, LAU Chee Nien, Dir: HAN Yew Kwang
20 Ship Is Yet To Come (Japan/Brazil) Prod: Wakako MIYAKUNI, Dir: Hirokazu KORE-EDA
21 Six Suspects (UK/India) Prod: Paul RAPHAEL, Dir: TBC
22 This Land Is My Land (China) Prod: Peggy CHIAO, Dir: LI Dawei
23 Undefeated (Japan) Prod: ZHANG Yunhui, Dir: Takayuki NAKAMURA
24Yoi Ga Sametara, Uchi Ni Kaero (Japan) Prod: Tetsujiro YAMAGAMI, Dir: Yoichi HIGASHI
25 Yuki To Pineapple (Japan) Prod: SUGIRA Mikio, Dir: O Mipo
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