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Paris-based sales company Alpha Violet has come on board as representative of “Mongrel,” the debut feature of Taiwan-based Singaporean filmmaker Chiang Wei Liang. The film will have its world premiere next month at Cannes in the Directors Fortnight section.

Set in the mountains of Taiwan, “Mongrel” stars Thai actor Wanlop Rungkumjad as Oom, an undocumented migrant and on-demand caregiver for rural families, who struggles to preserve his humanity as he cares for the elderly and disabled.

Rungkumjad is joined by newcomer Kuo Shu-wei, who plays Hui, a patient with whom Oom develops a bond. On hearing of the film’s Cannes selection, Kuo said, “I never thought this film would have the opportunity to be seen by so many people. As I live with athetoid cerebral palsy, we worked hard to achieve this. Hui is a character whose abilities are weaker than mine, so I thought of the friends I...

A Korean adaptation of psychological thriller Marrowbone is in production and being introduced to buyers at the EFM by K-Movie Entertainment.

The Secret House (working title) is based on the 2017 English-language Spanish film by Sergio G. Sanchez, which starred Anya Taylor-Joy, George MacKay, Charlie Heaton and Mia Goth, and premiered at Toronto. Sanchez is also known for writing J.A. Bayona’s The Orphanage and The Impossible.

The Korean version will mark the second feature of director Park Sang-min, whose satirical comedy I Haven’t Done Anything played New York Asian Film Festival and Tallinn in 2022.

The cast is led by...

Parasite producer Barunson E&a has a new CEO.

Yoonhee Choi has stepped in to take over from Gene Hong (Brian) Park and Kwak Sin Ae. She has been with Barunson E&a since 2021, when she was hired as Managing Director and was upped to COO in April last year.

Choi was previously at Cj Enm, serving as head of international sales for films such as the Barunson E&a-produced Oscar winner Parasite and The Spy Gone North and producer of titles such as Seobok, Hard Hit and Nothing Serious.

Barunson E&a’s upcoming slate also includes the next two features from Parasite director Bong Joon-ho and as well as projects from directors Kim Sung-hoon and Um Tae-hwa.

Since October 2022, it has been expanding its global footprint by launching International sales and production / financing arms, securing sales rights to its first non-Korean film, Giddens Ko’s Miss Shampoo, and investing in Indonesian thriller 13 Bombs,...

Yoonhee Choi has been named CEO at Barunson E&a, the South Korean sales and production outfit that is heading to this week’s European Film Market with major international expansion ambitions.

Choi joined the company in 2021 as managing director, overseeing domestic and international operations, and was promoted to COO in April 2023. She was previously head of international sales at Cj Enm, where she worked for eight years, leading overseas distribution of films such as Parasite, The Handmaiden and The Spy Gone North.

She takes over the role from Gene Hong (Brian) Park and Kwak Sin Ae.

Barunson E&a is...

Choi Yoonhee has been named as the new CEO of Barunson E&a, the Korean sales and production firm that is making a splash at the European Film Market in Berlin this week.

Choi, who joined the firm in 2021 from Cj Enm, takes over from Gene Hong (Brian) Park and Kwak Sin Ae. She joined as MD, overseeing domestic and international operations, and in April 2023 was upped to COO.

Barunson E&a has been in operation since 1996, though was not involved in international sales all that duration. Notable past titles include Bong Joon-ho’s “Mother” and Oscar-winner “Parasite,” on which Cj and Choi headed international distribution. Barunson E&a has also been behind Kim Jee-woon’s “The Good, the Bad, the Weird” and his more recent “Cobweb.”

The company’s upcoming slate also includes the next two features from director Bong Joon-ho, as well as projects from directors Kim Sung-hoon and...

“Mongrel,” a Taiwan-set drama film that has done the round of project markets, will appear at the International Film Festival Rotterdam as a work in progress.

In addition to the screening of 15 minutes of footage, Taiwan-based Singaporean director Chiang Wei Liang has confirmed the film’s cast as being headed by Thai actor Wanlop Rungkumjad alongside Taiwanese female actor Lu Yi-ching and rapper Hong Yu-hong from Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One. Other key cast include Atchara Suwan (“By the Time It Gets Dark”), and Guo Shu-wei in his debut role.

Set in the mountains of Taiwan, the film follows Rungkumjad’s character Oom, an undocumented migrant and on-demand caregiver for rural families, who struggles to preserve his humanity as he cares for the elderly and disabled.

The project, which represents Chiang’s debut feature film, was previously developed at TorinoFilmLab ScriptLab, Talents Tokyo and the Cannes Residence, where it received the Cnc Development Award.

The 2023 Taiwanese film Miss Shampoo really feels like it’s from some other time. It’s not simply goofy but absurd as well. It’s so goofy that it almost borders on being meaningless, but somehow there is a through line to the plot, and the characters exist well within the boundaries the makers crafted for them. Miss Shampoo is that film where if one gets an ‘in’ into the film somehow, there is a healthy chance that one will enjoy it no matter what. But if that doesn’t happen, the film might seem like a sequence of over-the-top scenes that have nothing to say. The film has to be seen as a love story, and underneath the absurd yet sentimental plot there is the groundedness of the archetype of Beauty and the Beast, but as the film is a comedy, they have been bashed around to fit this hyper-goofy dramedy.

Despite a series of issues the whole Chinese language movie world is experiencing, it seems, and as we also mentioned last year, the local industries are also moving intensely forward, with the productions of quality from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong increasing significantly. In that fashion, Hong Kong seems to have made a rather successful turn towards social/family dramas, Taiwan continues on the rather high level it has established for some years now, while China's local blockbusters and international, diaspora movies continue to lead the way, both locally and beyond the borders of the country.

Without further ado, here are 20 movies that highlighted all the aforementioned in 2023, in reverse order, although the difference of quality is so small here, that the order could be completely different. Some films may have premiered in 2022, but since they mostly circulated in 2023, we decided to include them.

20. Who'll Stop the Rain by Su...

Pictured: Tacoma Fd, Berlin and Elvis

Happy Christmas one and all, and welcome to your rundown on what new movies, series, and anything else that’s coming to Netflix over the festive period for the next seven days.

If you want to look beyond next week, we’re still getting word of lots of new movies and series scheduled for release throughout January 2024 here and if you want a more birdseye view of the year, we’ve got our full 2024 Netflix schedule here.

Now let’s get into some highlights of what’s on the way this week:

Most Anticipated New Releases This Week Berlin (Season 1)

Coming to Netflix: Friday

The mothership series Money Heist may have ended not even a couple of years ago, but we’ve slowly seen the expansion of the IP since then, with the biggest of all set to be the new spin-off that lands...

The full lineup has been unveiled for the festival’s 36th edition.

The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) today revealed the lineup for its 36th edition, including 20 world premieres across its two competition strands.

The festival, set to run October 23 to November 1, will feature 15 titles in its main Competition section led by Japan and China, which each have three films in the selection.

Scroll down for full list

From China are crime drama A Long Shot from debut feature director Gao Peng; Snow Leopard by late Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden, which premiered at Venice; and Dwelling By The West Lake by Gu Xiaogang,...

Equal numbers of Chinese and Japanese titles adorn the main competition section of the Toyo International Film Festival, which was announced on Wednesday – three each.

Among the Chinese films is “Snow Leopard,” the last feature by the late Pema Tseden, and “Dwelling by the West Lake,” directed by Gu Xiaogang, the surprisingly inexperienced joint recipient of this year’s Kurosawa Award.

The full competition with 15 titles, set to play between Oct. 23 and Nov. 1, includes the world premiere of Russian director Alexei German Jr.’s “Air” and Filipino director Sheron Dayoc’s “The Gospel of the Beast.”

The trio from Japan are: “(Ab)Normal Desire,” by Kishi Yoshiyuki; “A Foggy Paradise,” by Kotsijui Yohei; and “Who Were We,” by Tomina Tetsuya.

The festival’s gala selection appears designed for entertainment pleasure. In addition to the previously-announced “Perfect Days” and “Godzilla Minus One,” set as the festival’s opening and closing films,...

Giddens Ko is responsible for some of the best works we have seen coming out from Taiwan during the last decade, with “You are the Apple of My Eye”, “Mon Mon Mon Monsters” and “The Tenants Downstairs” being the most prominent samples. For his latest work, “Miss Shampoo”, he tries his hand in an intense genre mashup that includes elements of crime, comedy, romance and drama.

Miss Shampoo is screening at New York Asian Film Festival

East Asian humor frequently has to do with hair, and so having an (assistant) hairdresser as the protagonist seems a good idea for the comedy aspect. This is Fen, who apprentices in a hair salon when, one stormy night, Tai, a wounded gang underboss, rushes into the shop, stabbed, in order to avoid his pursuers. Fen does not give him away, and Tai, who has become the boss of his gang after the former one was murdered,...