Hong Kong-CAA China Genre Film Initiative Unveils Projects for First Edition

The international box office was generally muted this weekend, save for in China which ushered in the Year of the Dragon on Saturday, and with it the lucrative Chinese New Year moviegoing period. According to early figures from Maoyan, the first two days of Spring Festival 2024 amassed RMB 2.44B ($339M), just a touch below the comparable days in 2023. 

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Nele Wohlatz‘s “Sleep With Your Eyes Open,” which has its world premiere in the Encounters section of the Berlin Film Festival, has debuted its trailer (below). Rediance has taken world sales rights. Wohlatz’s fiction debut “El futuro perfecto” won Locarno’s Golden Leopard for the best first feature in 2016, and was invited to more than 70 international film festivals.

Talk to Me was named Best Film at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, which were handed out today on the Gold Coast. The teen horror pic also won Best Director for Danny and Michael Philippou and Best Lead Actress for Sophie Wilde.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sony Pictures has acquired international distribution rights to “YOLO,” a mainland Chinese comedy film that releases in China on Saturday, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday. The film is written, directed by and stars Jia Ling, China’s top-grossing female filmmaker. She portrays Le Ying, an unemployed woman in her thirties who still lives with her parents until one day, she meets a boxing coach (portrayed by Lei Jiayin), who just may change her life.

EXCLUSIVE: WTFilms has snapped up international sales rights for Dutch directorial duo Steffan Haars and Flip Van Der Kuil’s English-language debut Krazy House following its world premiere at Sundance.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Fish out of water comedy film “Jonny Keep Walking” kept its place at the top of the mainland China box office in its fifth weekend of release. The top five titles remained unchanged from the previous week. “Jonny,” in which a man from the countryside struggles to hold down a corporate job in a big city, earned $12.1 million (RMB86.2 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sony Pictures‘ “Madame Web,” a standalone origin story in the studio’s array of “Spider-Man”-based Marvel characters, has been granted a theatrical release in mainland China. The film will open in the country on March 1 — two weeks after the title’s Valentine’s Day bow in North America and multiple international territories, including the Chinese-language markets of Taiwan and Hong Kong. The release marks a welcome opportunity for Sony, which, along with the other traditional studios faced difficulty in securing theatrical runs in China over recent years.

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor The 53rd edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, taking place between Jan. 25 – Feb.

The inaugural Hong Kong International Film Festival Industry – CAA China Genre Initiative (HCG) has set its first projects which will be showcased during the 28th Hong Kong International Film & TV Market alongside the 22nd Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum running from March 11-13.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Three Japanese films enjoying their world premieres, along with festival favorites “City of Wind” and “Solids by the Seashore,” are set to appear in the 13-title competition section of the Osaka Asian Film Festival in March. The event will be held March 1-10 at venues including ABC Hall, Cine Libre Umeda, T-Joy Umeda and the Nakanoshima Museum of Art. The opening and closing films will be announced in early February. The 19th edition of the festival, which will eventually contain 55 feature and short films, is set to also include three special programs – a “Thai Cinema Kaleidoscope,” “Taiwan: Movies on the Move,” and “Special Focus on Hong Kong” – as well as its regular Spotlight Section on underrated Asian films and the Indie Forum of more challenging and innovative works. The competition titles are: “City of Wind,” by Mongolia’s Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir; “Fire on Water,” by Malaysia’s Sun-J Perumal; “Hyphen,” by The Philippines Joy Arnaldo; “The Lyricist Wannabe,” by Hong Kong’s Norris Wong; “The Missing,” by The Philippines’ Carl Joseph E.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Iconic Hollywood musical film “La La Land” is to re-release (again) in South Korean theaters from Wednesday. Distributed by Pancinema, it will play at the country’s Imax cinemas for a one-week limited run with tickets costing upwards of KRW15,000 ($11.25) for adults. The film was directed by Damien Chazelle and stars Ryan Gosling (newly Oscar-nominated for his role as Ken in “Barbie”) and Emma Stone, and holds the box office record for movie musicals with global box office of $470 million. It recently re-released in cinemas in China in time for the Christmas peak season.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Chinese filmmaker Lin Jianjie‘s debut feature “Brief History of a Family,” which is being sold by Films Boutique, has debuted its trailer (below), following its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section of the Sundance Film Festival. The film, which will make its European premiere in the Panorama program of the Berlin Film Festival, was received warmly by Variety critic Carlos Aguilar. In the review, Aguilar says the suspenseful drama was “elevated by its consistent visual inventiveness.” He adds that although at first it seems to be the story of a “cunning infiltrator wreaking havoc in an unsuspecting household,” it then “reveals itself as a tale of wish fulfillment for everyone involved.” Aguilar says that it is this approach which “turns Lin’s debut into an engrossing brain-tickler.” The drama is put in motion by an incident at the high school attended by Wei, an outgoing only son from a middle-class family, and Shuo, his quiet, perceptive classmate.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The CinemAsia Film Festival in Amsterdam has unveiled titles from seven different Asian countries for its competition section. The festival will play at the Studio/K, Rialto De Pijp and Rialto VU venues March 5-10, 2024. The event will close with the out-of-competition screening of “Gaga,” a drama about indigenous communities in Taiwan, directed by Laha Mebow. “Gaga” documents the challenges faced by a commune after the death of a respected tribal elder who, while alive, had held things together.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Gaumont has unveiled a first still and trailer for “Black Tea,” Abderrahmane Sissako‘s highly anticipated follow-up to his 2015 Oscar-nominated film “Timbuktu.” The movie will world premiere in competition at the Berlin Film Festival. A lushly-lensed romance drama, “Black Tea” (previously titled “The Perfumed Hill“) tells the story of Joice, who leaves the Ivory Coast after walking out on her wedding day and sets off to start a new life in Guangzhou, China.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Fish out of water comedy film “Jonny Keep Walking” kept its place at the top of the mainland China box office in its fourth weekend of release. Hong Kong-made action comedy “Rob N Roll” opened in second position. “Jonny,” in which a man from the countryside struggles to hold down a corporate job in a big city, earned $15 million (RMB106 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

So, here we are in mid-January, and though we’re staring down the barrel of a tough year ahead, it’s not all wintry doom and gloom on an international box office (and combined global) level. 

Richard Kuipers Taiwan’s transformation from an authoritarian state to a flourishing democracy determined to decide its own future is charted in the engrossing and highly informative documentary “Invisible Nation.” Centered on President Tsai Ing-wen as she promotes her country’s case for ongoing autonomy in the face of mounting political isolation, as well as China’s claim that Taiwan is part of its territory and must unite with the mainland, Vanessa Hope’s skilfully assembled film delivers a compelling picture of Taiwan’s increasingly precarious position in the region and on the world stage. Currently enjoying a substantial festival run, “Invisible Nation” has gained an extra note of urgency and its visibility should only increase in the wake of Taiwan’s elections on January 13, 2024.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief First-time mainland Chinese director Lin Jianjie (aka JJ Lin) makes a splash this weekend with the premiere of his “Brief History of a Family.” Asking questions about family in the era since the end of China’s ‘One Child Policy,’ while also borrowing genre tropes such as the idea of the intruder and blood, it is a polished and ultra-modern fable that sees a teenage schoolboy ingratiate himself into another boy’s family.Variety spoke to biologist-turned-filmmaker Lin on the eve of his Sundance debut.How did you get from zero to making your first feature?[After graduating in biology] I did two short films at film school. I went to Tisch Asia, which had a campus in Singapore. We also had an exchange program with Tisch in New York.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “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 (“Eternity,” “Manta Ray”) alongside Taiwanese female actor Lu Yi-ching (“The River”, “Stray Dogs”) and rapper Hong Yu-hong (“Bad Education”, “Miss Shampoo”) 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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Leading Asian film directors including Josh Kim, Fukada Koji and Patiparn Boontarig line up to pitch their in-development projects at the March edition of the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF). Leading directors Wang Xiaoshuai and Zhang Lu will also be on the ground at HAF, operating as producers. So too will established producers Yamamoto Teruhisa (“Drive My Car”) and Michael J.