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A high-powered panel at the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Contents and Film Market pondered the condition of the theatrical market for arthouse films in Asia and Europe post-pandemic.

The two themes that emerged from the discussion were the necessity for films to have an X factor that can be marketed and, second, that restored classics are finding new audiences.

June Lee, content business team lead at Korea’s Watcha said that the company’s acquisition strategy for this year and the next is to either pick up a Hollywood blockbuster or “really arthouse films with elements that could go viral.”

The panel, which was moderated by Katarzyna Siniarska, head of sales at Poland’s New Europe Film Sales, also included Valeska Neu, international sales agent at Germany’s Films Boutique, Kini Kim of France’s The Jokers Films, Felix Tsang, sales and acquisitions manager at Hong Kong’s...

The drama about two sisters is from first-time feature director Sasha Chuk.

Hong Kong project Fly Me To The Moon won five awards at the closing of this year’s Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum.

The film will mark the feature directorial debut of Sasha Chuk and is produced by Hong Kong filmmaker Stanley Kwan, whose films as a director include Venice 2005 title Everlasting Regret, Cannes 2001 film Lan Yu and Berlin competition titles Center Stage, The Island Tales, Hold You Tight and Red Rose White Rose.

Scroll down for full list of winners

Fly Me To The Moon was among...

Theatres have been closed for more than 100 days due to a fifth wave of Covid cases.

Cinemas in Hong Kong reopened today (April 21) after more than 100 days of closures and are set to give a fresh box office push to a raft of major US studio releases and features from across Asia.

Titles on screens at newly reopened theatres include Warner Bros.’ Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore, sci-fi epic Moonfall, horror sequel Scream, family animation Sing 2 and Nicolas Cage-centric The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent as well as Chinese action-adventure film Schemes In Antiques, which led the...

Based on a novel published anonymously on the internet in 1998, which became quite popular among the gay communities, “Lan Yu” was shot mostly in Beijing, without government permission, and only received a brief mainland Chinese run during the Film Association of Beijing University-sponsored ‘’China’s First Gay Film Festival’’ at Peking University in December 2001. Outside of China, however, the movie won numerous awards in various movie festivals throughout Hong Kong and Taiwan, including Liu Ye’s win for Best Actor at Taiwan’s 38th Golden Horse Awards. It was also an official selection at many major film festivals, including Sundance and Cannes. Now, the film has received a gorgeous 4K restoration, which has already started its festival run.

Lan Yu is screening at CineCina Film Festival

The story begins in Beijing in 1988 where good-looking, successful businessman Chen Handong is living the life of the entrepreneurial boss, filled with success, partying,...

Queer East Film Festival is delighted to unveil its full programme centred on queer storytelling and activism from East and Southeast Asia. This year’s programme includes a selection of 37 features, short films and artists’ moving image works from 15 countries, ranging from new releases to classic retrospectives, mainstream box office hits to radical independent works, accompanied by pre- screening introductions and filmmaker Q&As. A series of online panel discussions with international guests will run throughout the festival period, covering topics such as women in the film industry, queer film festivals, and the development of Asian LGBTQ+ movements.

Launched in 2020, Queer East is a new film festival that aims to amplify the voices of Asian communities in the UK, who have often been excluded from mainstream discourse, despite Asians being one of the country’s fastest-growing ethnic groups. Queer East seeks to facilitate a better understanding of the richness of queer Asian heritage,...

“A Beautiful Life” is the latest outing from “Infernal Affairs” helmer Andrew Lau, and sees rather a change of pace for the Hong Kong director after his recent Donnie Yen vehicle “Legend of the Fist: the Return of Chen Zhen”. This time around he swaps martial arts and explosive action for realistic romantic drama, headlined by stars Shu Qi (“If You Are the One”) and Liu Ye (“Lan Yu”) as a tortured couple struggling to find love in the face of suffering. The interesting supporting cast includes former Olympic diver Tian Liang (also in “The Fantastic Water Babies”), Andrew Lin (“Beginning of the Great Revival” and upcoming actress Feng Danying, and despite being a Mainland production, the film also features the one and only Anthony Wong. The plot follows Shi Qi as Li Peiru, an estate agent who relocates to Beijing from Hong Kong, hoping to make money to support her family back home.

He’s recognized the world over for art house dramas and romances starring the brightest stars of Hong Kong. But for his next project, director Stanley Kwan is trying his hand at science fiction.

The Canadian Press reports Kwan’s new film, which is currently shooting in Shanghai, will revolve around a troupe of acrobats from 1930’s China who travel to the present day, where they befriend a group of modern youths. It will be his first movie in four years, after the 2005 romance Everlasting Regret made a splash on the festival circuit.

Kwan described the new film, which has the Chinese title Dancing with Your Heart, as "The Matrix meets song and dance." It will show off the talents of acting and music students Kwan met while developing a Chinese musical.

"Very few of the graduates of Chinese performing arts schools have the chance to start a career in performing arts,...

HONG KONG -- Major Hong Kong production and distribution entity Media Asia Films is ready to roll out a slate of four films in the first half of 2003. Up next for the production outfit after the release of its forthcoming English-language actioner Naked Weapon and cop thriller Infernal Affairs in November and December, respectively, is a Chinese New Year offering tentatively titled Cat & Mouse. The period comedy, starring Canto-pop heartthrob Andy Lau and award-winning actress Cecelia Cheung, is to be directed by Gordon Chan, who recently directed Emperor Multimedia Group's Jackie Chan action- thriller Highbinders. Also in preparation is an untitled project by award-winning director Stanley Kwan, who recently created waves with his underground gay-themed Lan Yu. The romantic comedy will star Hong Kong boxoffice queen Sammi Cheng and singer Leon Lai.