Vietnam projects among Purin Pictures fund spring 2023 recipients

Bangkok-based film fund Purin Pictures has selected five projects from Southeast Asia as the recipients of its spring 2023 funding round, which will receive a combined $120,000 in production grants.

The titles include Duong Dieu Linh’s feature debut Don’t Cry, Butterfly and Quang Nong Nhat’s documentary Baby Jackfruit, Baby Guava.

“Over the past several years, Vietnam in particular has proved to be a bright spot in the region for cinema,” said Aditya Assarat, co-director of Purin Pictures. “You could say we are in the midst of a Vietnamese New Wave,” adding that these two projects have a confident personal style that is indicative of a new generation of Vietnamese filmmakers.

A third recipient is Farid by rising Malaysian filmmaker Emir Ezwan, whose debut feature Roh was a breakout horror hit and selected as Malaysia’s submission to the 2020 Academy Awards. Aditya describes Farid as “a fantasy-comedy that straddles the gap between independent and mainstream genre cinema”.

Rounding out the selection are two projects developed at other Southeast Asian regional labs. Ah Girl by Singaporean first-time feature director Ang Geck Geck, was awarded at SEAFIC Lab in 2018, and The Itinerant, from Thailand’s Ukrit Sa-nguanghai, won the most promising project from Singapore International Film Festival’s Southeast Asian Film Lab in 2021.

Each fiction project will receive $30,000 while the documentaries will be granted $15,000.

Purin Pictures spring 2023 grant recipients

Don’t Cry, Butterfly (Viet-Sing)
Dir. Duong Dieu Linh
Prod. Tan Si En, Tran Thi Bich Ngoc
Prodco. Momo Film, An Nam Productions
After discovering her husband’s affair, Tam decides to voodoo him back into love, not knowing that her actions may spawn something peculiar at home. 

Ah Girl (Sing)
Dir. Ang Geck Geck
Prod. Yeo Zhi Qi
Prodco. Aggregate Films
Following her parents’ divorce, seven-year-old Ah Girl must choose between living with her mother or father, a decision that will change her life forever. 

Farid (Malay)
Dir. Emir Ezwan
Prod. Nandita Solomon
Prodco. Apparat
Hafiz, an unemployed man mired in debt, befriends a flesh-eating djinn who grants him wealth and success but exacts a large payment in return.

Baby Jackfruit, Baby Guava (Viet)
Dir. Quang Nong Nhat
Prod. Trang Dao Thi Minh
Prodco. Doc Cicada, Flaneur Films
A personal documentary about a conservative mother, mentally ill daughter and gay son as they prepare for the arrival of an unplanned baby into their family. 

The Itinerant (Thai)
Dir. Ukrit Sa-nguanhai
Prod. Tuntita Nititsopon
Prodco. Khrueamas Films
A documentary that explores the propaganda film operations in Cold War Thailand through memories, historical documents and fragments of old films.

• Cannes Marche unveils first Spotlight Asia programme