Latest in Filmart

We’re back again, Insiders. Jesse Whittock with you this week, as Netflix showcased its latest wares, Hong Kong welcomed the entertainment world and Argentinian film was plunged into crisis. Here we go. Sign up to the newsletter here.  Slates Of The…

This year's Filmart was definitely bigger and busier than last year, which was the first physical edition following the reopening of Hong Kong and mainland China's borders after the pandemic. According to Filmart organizers, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), more than 750 exhibitors and…

Hong Kong Film Development Council (HKFDC) has announced the first ten projects to receive grants under its Content Development Scheme for Streaming Platforms. The ten projects, which will now enter phase two of the scheme, include series to be directed and/or produced by leading Hong Kong filmmakers…

Yin Chen-Hao's Call Of Lobster and Gao Linyang's Dying Fire were presented with the inaugural HCG Awards, a joint initiative of HKIFF Industry and CAA China, as the Hong Kong projects market wrapped with 21 cash and in-kind prizes worth more than US$223,000. The objective of HCG [HKIFF Industry – CAA…

The fact that both Asia and Europe are finding it more difficult to finance movies following the pandemic may drive the two regions to start working together more closely, despite the huge differences in their funding systems, said a group of leading producers on a two-session Filmart panel. In the…

EXCLUSIVE: US-based Filipino filmmaker Isabel Sandoval is returning to the Philippines to shoot her fourth feature, Moonglow, starring Arjo Atayde (Trigger, BuyBust). Sandoval, who is known for her award-winning 2019 feature Lingua Franca and directing series in the U.S., is scheduled to start…

EXCLUSIVE: Here's your first look at actor Ravi Patel (Wonder Woman 1984, Animal Patrol) suited up in Kiss Of The Con Queen, the true crime thriller inspired by the life of accused fraudster Hargobind Tahilramani dubbed the "con queen of Hollywood" after allegedly impersonating movie executives in an…

EXCLUSIVE: ANIMA, the Filipino studio behind Venice winner On The Job 2: The Missing 8 and Sundance winner Leonor Will Never Die, is joining with Project 8 Projects to co-produce Antoinette Jadaone's teenage pregnancy drama Sunshine. Maris Racal stars in the film, marking her third collaboration with…

With four TV and film projects in as many years, few filmmakers right now are more prolific than Hirokazu Kore-eda.  The veteran Japanese filmmaker behind titles like the Palme d’Or-winning Shoplifters and Still Walking continued his hot streak after landing his third directing honor from the Asian…

Chinese tech and media giant Alibaba is investing $640M (HK$5BN) into Hong Kong's creative industries over the next five years. The funding will come via multiple divisions in Alibaba's Digital Media and Entertainment Group, including Alibaba Pictures and streaming platform Youku. The plan…

"We don’t need a lot of content, we just need lots of really good content," Kelvin Yau, President of Asia Pacific and Marketing iQIYI, concluded when quizzed on his company's editorial strategy during a keynote session on streaming this morning at Filmart in Hong Kong. Yau took part in the keynote…

Screenworks Asia, the production subsidiary of Taiwan's Catchplay, has acquired international sales rights to the horror anthology series Urban Horror and will present the show at this week's Filmart in Hong Kong. Directed by Jun-Hong Li (Mom, Don't Do That!), Bao-Zhong Chen, and Dan-Chi Huang, Urban…