Middle East & North Africa

El Gouna Film Festival Unveils 23 Feature Projects; Launches CineGouna Series

Egypt's El Gouna Film Festival has selected 23 projects for this year’s edition of CineGouna Funding, which is scheduled to take place from October 15-23 during the festival. These projects are in addition to the six previously announced for the inaugural edition of CineGouna Series, bringing

Europe

May El-Toukhy’s 'Woman Unknown' Scores Top Prize At Politically Charged Venice

Danish-Egyptian director May El-Toukhy's post-World War II psychological thriller Woman Unknown won the Golden Lion for Best Film at the 83rd Venice Film Festival (September 2-12). The film's star Mathilde Arcel also took the Volpi Cup for Best Actress. Set in Denmark

Africa

'The Smell Of Apples' Producer Cait Pansegrouw On South Africa’s Indie Funding Landscape

This edition of Streamlined Insights contains an interview with South African producer Cait Pansegrouw, whose latest feature The Smell Of Apples is premiering at Toronto International Film Festival, and who very kindly sat down with us to explain how indie film financing works in South Africa. Indie producers across Asia

Korea & Japan

Streamlined Guides: Japan Indie Producers - From 'The Truth' To 'Renoir'

In the second section of this three-part Streamlined Guide to Japan’s Independent Producers, we profile six producers we believe represent a new generation in the sense that they’re working across borders, tapping into the international sales and festival circuit, and finding innovative methods of financing and distributing

Europe

TORONTO & SAN SEBASTIAN 2026: Titles Selected From Asia Pacific & Africa

UPDATED SEPT 11: Goodfellas boards Kamila Andini's Four Seasons In Java; Cercamon picks up The Smell Of Apples.

Korea & Japan

Streamlined Guides: Japan Indie Producers - Landscape & Pioneers

The first section of this three-part Streamlined Guide to Japan’s Independent Producers includes an overview of the country’s production landscape, from the perspective of the indie sector, along with some notes on that handful of hardy pioneers who have been working outside the studio system for years.

Korea & Japan

Boo Junfeng, Diep Nguyen Hoang & Vincci Cheuk Projects Selected For Tokyo Gap Financing Market

Tokyo Gap Financing Market (TGFM) has selected 24 projects for its 2026 edition including new works from Singapore’s Boo Junfeng, Vietnamese filmmaker Diep Nguyen Hoang and Hong Kong’s Vincci Cheuk.   Boo Junfeng’s multi-territory co-production Trinity and Vincci Cheuk’s Hong Kong-Japan co-production 38.

Chinese-Speaking Markets

Taiwan’s Golden Horse FPP Unveils 48 Projects For Features Section

Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (FPP) has selected 48 projects for this year’s edition of its Features section, including 38 In Development Projects and 10 Works-in-Progress (WIP). As previously announced, Golden Horse Film Project Promotion has also selected 11 projects for its Series section (see here for

Project Markets

TCCF Launches Four New Prizes; Unveils 70 Selections Across Projects & Stories

Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) has made 70 selections for the 2026 edition of Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) Pitching; among which 44 are Projects and 26 are Stories across fiction & non-fiction works and comics. TCCF Pitching is also introducing four new prizes of $30,000 for a

Southeast Asia

Philippines’ Cinemalaya Survives Storms; SWANA Festival Circuit Holds Steady

The Philippines' Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival wrapped its 10-day run last week with top honours going to The Mothering & Silkscreen.

Europe

VENICE 2026: Titles Selected From Asia Pacific & Africa

Documentary NAZA, directed by Yuval Abraham & Rachel Szor, has been added to Venice competition with MK2 Films handling sales.

News

CHINA RELEASE SCHEDULE: Imports & Co-Productions Sept-Oct 2026

Heart Of The Beast and a re-release of Avengers Endgame have been cleared for China release in September.

News

BUZZ LIST: Southeast Asia Projects In The Pipeline 2026

UPDATED AUGUST 23: The list below highlights noteworthy Southeast Asian film projects in various stages of production, along with films that have premiered at international film festivals from Berlin 2026 onwards. Nationality of the director is in brackets after their names, but nationality of the projects is harder to determine

Korea & Japan

Busan Awards Co-Pro Support To Koji Fukada, Jakrawal Nilthamrong & Boo Junfeng

Asian Cinema Fund (ACF), operated by Busan film festival’s Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM), has selected projects from Koji Fukada, Jakrawal Nilthamrong and Boo Junfeng for this year’s Co-Production Support Fund.   All three projects – Fukada’s Grateful, Jakrawal’s Rhizome and Boo’s Trinity – are co-