Far East Film Festival Unveils Inaugural Focus Asia Line-up

Focus Asia, the genre-themed co-production market of Udine’s Far East Film Festival (FEFF), has unveiled its inaugural selection of 13 projects from 13 different countries.

The line-up includes Faozan Rizal Abracadabra, to be co-produced by Indonesia’s Ifa Isfansyah and France’s Isabelle Glachant; Malaysian filmmaker Dain Iskandar Said’s Vektor; Brazilian filmmaker João Cândido Zacharias’s The Inheritance; and Singapore filmmaker Bee Thiam Tan’s Tiong Bahru Social Club, which will be a co-production between Singapore and Finland (see full list below).

The event, to be held in Udine, Italy from April 26-28 during FEFF, will bring together key industry figures from all over the world to participate in project meetings, market screenings and panel discussions.

The 13 projects were selected by a committee comprising experts from genre film festivals and funds such as Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, Tallin’s Black Nights Film Festival, Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival and Nordisk Film & Fond’s Nordic Genre Boost.

Companies confirmed to attend include XYZ, Media Asia, M-Line, Showbox, Wild Bunch, Reel Suspects, M-Appeal. Panel discussions include ‘Fixing A Broken Model: Global Distribution In The Digital Age’ held by XYZ’s Todd Brown and a case study of Mr Long, a Japan-Taiwan-Germany co-production that premiered at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.

Focus Asia is organised by Far East Film Festival with the collaboration of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Fund, MIA - The International Audiovisual Market, Roma and Trieste Science+Fiction Film Festival.

FOCUS ASIA 2017 SELECTED PROJECTS:

30 Thousand Kicks (Spain)
Dir: Santiago Alvarado
Prod: Joaquim Vivas, Magno Entertainment

Abracadabra (Indonesia & France)
Dir: Faozan Rizal
Prod: Ifa Isfansyah, Fourcolours Films & Isabelle Glachant, Yisha Production

Alone Like A Fool (Japan)
Dir: Yutaka Tsuchiya
Prod: Kazuhisa Matsumoto, D-Atelier Inc

Femme Fatale (France & Sweden)
Dir: Kyoko Miyake
Prod: Guillaume de Seille, Arizona Productions & Freddy Olsson, Bokomotive

Last Memory (Taiwan)
Dir: Wei-Hao Cheng
Prod: Cody Huang, Tape Writers

Mr Zhang (Italy)
Dir: Patrizio Gioffredi
Prod: Antonio Tozzi, Yanez Films & Laura Catalano, 8 Production

The Inheritance (Brasil)
Dir: João Cândido Zacharias
Prod: Tatiana Leite, Bubbles Project

The Long Walk (Laos & France)
Dir: Mattie Do
Prod: Douangmany Soliphanh, Lao Art Media & Annick Mahnert, Screen Division

The Watcher (Italy)
Dir: Giulia Achilli
Prod: Giulia Achilli, Dugong SRL

Tiong Bahru Social Club (Singapore & Finland)
Dir: Bee Thiam Tan
Prod: Bee Thiam Tan & Wan Ping Looi, 13 Little Pictures & Glenn Goei, Tiger Tiger Pictures & Antti Toivonen

Trials Of Chul (Serbia)
Dir: Danilo Bećković
Prod: Marko Paljić & Danilo Bećković, Gargantua Films

Vektor (Malaysia)
Dir: Dain Iskandar Said
Prod: Nandita Solomon, Apparat

Vesper Seeds (Lithuania)
Dir: Kristina Buozyte & Bruno Samper
Prod: Kristina Buozyte, Natrix Natrix