Festivals
‘Safe Exit’ & 'Citizen Osama' Take Top Awards In El Gouna
Safe Exit scooped the Golden Star for best narrative feature, while Citizen Osama won both best documentary & best Arab documentary.
Liz Shackleton
Korea & Japan
BUSAN 2026: Asian Era Of Cooperation; AI Backtrack; Award Winners
This edition of Streamlined is looking at Busan International Film Festival, and its industry platform Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM), which both wrapped last week. Two talking points stood out this year: the growing levels of cooperation between Asian filmmaker countries, as conditions across the region become more difficult
Australia & New Zealand
Screen Australia Awards $11.8m In Funding To 75 Narrative Projects
Supported projects include Toni Collette's directorial debut and a feature from viral comedy group Sooshi Mango.
Funding News
Philippines Launches Two-Track System For International Co-production Fund
The Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) has adjusted its International Co‑Production Fund (ICOF) to provide two tracks for minority and majority co-productions. The Minority Track supports international projects where the Filipino producer holds a minority equity share and offers the following levels of support [US$ amounts
South Asia
What The Success Of 'Elephants In The Fog' Reveals About Nepal’s Film Industry
This edition of Streamlined is taking a close look at the Nepali film industry, which received a huge boost this year with the Cannes award and international sales success of Abinash Bikram Shah’s Elephants In The Fog. But like many smaller film industries in the Global South, the Nepali
Africa
Red Sea Fund Backs 30 Asian & African Projects In 2026 Funding Cycles
Grantees include Cannes Camera d'Or winner Ben'imana, Theja Rio's Angh and Kamila Andini's Four Seasons In Java.
Middle East & North Africa
Palestine Film Fund Selects Seven Projects For Second Funding Round 2026
Four features and three shorts were supported by PFI in its second funding round of 2026 with grants totalling €43,000
Korea & Japan
Streamlined Guides: Japan Indie Producers - From 'Lost Land' To 'Nagi Notes'
In this third and final section of the Streamlined Guide to Japan’s Independent Producers we profile six more producers who 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
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
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.
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.
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-
Korea & Japan
Downside Of AI Overviews; Is Korea Recovering?; Indonesia 2026 H1 Box Office
In the week that Spider-Man: Brand New Day is tearing up the box office in multiple international territories, Streamlined is taking a look at whether the Korean market is recovering and what’s going on in Indonesia, where Spider-Man is already the highest-grossing film of the year.
Chinese-Speaking Markets
'Taxi Driver', 'Project: I Do' Adaptations Among Golden Horse FPP Series Selections
Golden Horse Film Project Promotion has selected 11 projects for the seventh edition of its Series section, scheduled to run November 17-19 in Taipei.
South Asia
India's Writers Ink Unveils Mentors & Line-Up Of 13 Projects For Fourth Annual Lab
RS Prasanna, Satyanshu Singh and Amit Masurkar are mentoring this year's lab, which culminates in a pitching event on August 22.
Chinese-Speaking Markets
Why China’s AI Strategy Has The US Spooked; India 2026 H1 Box Office
We’re having another summer in which AI, war and wildfires are dominating the news cycle, while in India, students have been attacked with batons and tear gas as they protest for education reform. In the film and streaming industries, we’re being served up another dose of mega-mergers
Korea & Japan
‘Fujiko’, ‘My Name’ Win Top Awards At New York Asian Film Festival
Taichi Kimura’s Fujiko, about a single mother navigating personal freedom in 1970s Japan, was presented with the Uncaged Award for Best Feature Film at the close of this year’s New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF, July 10-26). The jury praised the film, saying: “With remarkable confidence, vision,