The Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) has announced the line-up of 32 Co-production Film Pitch and Catch (Co-FPC) projects and eight China Film Pitch and Catch (CFPC) projects. 

The list includes Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Zanussi, Japanese Shunji Iwai, Korean filmmaker Jae-young Kwak and Chinese filmmakers Zhang Yibai and Chen Daming.

The two Pitch-and-Catch sections of SIFF serve as project markets for both Chinese-language films and foreign-China co-production films.  A total of 40 will be presented at the three-day event of June 15-17 in Shanghai.

Among the 32 Co-FPC projects, Zanussi’s Jacquinot A Forgotten Hero a biopic drama about the protected Jewish quarter in Shanghai during WWII, to be produced by US producer Jerry W. Carlson; An untitled project from Shunji Iwai’s about a Tokyo girl and Shanghai girl’s friendship and triangle love affairs, and an Chinese director Chen Daming’s Seventh Steps, an action film set in the Ming Dynasty.

UK filmmaker Phil Agland, winner of Best Film and Best Director with the film Woodlanders at the 7th SIFF, will return to Shanghai with his new project Sleeping With The Devil, a forbidden love story set in China against a backdrop of bandits and civil war.

Also selected:

  • Belgiumfilmmaker Christophe Van Rompaey’s Blue Birds,
  • Swedish filmmaker Maria von Heland’s Mr. Lu’s Blue
  • French filmmaker Philippe Planells’drama Paris, Shanghai
  • Taiwanese filmmaker Leste Chen’s Resurrection
  • Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yibai’s Why Should I Love You,
  • Cao Baoping’s (The Equation of Love and Death) The Heartbeat of Connecticut and Wang Guangli’s (Karmic Mahjong) The Collapsing Summer

In the CFPC section, eight Chinese projects are selected as recommended projects.  Producers of the film will present their projects in an open pitch forum. These include Zhao Tianyu’s (Deadly Delicious) Karaoke, Zhou Yan’s A Street Tailor Named Katrina and Taiwanese Cheng Fenfen’s Again.

The two project markets, now in their third year, have made SIFF more relevant to the Asian and international industry. Among last year’s projects, 35 reached initial financing agreements and four are being produced. The year’s SIFF runs June 13-21.

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