‘Navel,’ ‘Motherhood,’ ‘Heirloom’ Share Honors at Evenly Spread HAF Project Market Awards

Beyoncé made an appearance at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards to accept the Innovator Award, which was presented to her by Stevie Wonder.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Bettina Blümner’s “Vamos a la playa” won ArteKino Festival’s European Audience Award at a ceremony co-organized by the iconic French fashion house Chanel in Paris. Held at La Femis, Paris’ prestigious film school, the event also included a conversation with French filmmaker Rebecca Zlotowski (“Other People’s Children”), followed by a ceremony honoring Blümner and a screening of “Vamos a la playa,” as well as a posh cocktail which brought together film talent, executives and students.

EXCLUSIVE: It’s confirmed – or will be later today – the organizers of MIPTV are setting up a new event in London, Deadline can reveal. MIP London will be based in The Savoy hotel and an adjoining space, the IET London, in a seismic change to the international TV calendar. Historic programming market MIPTV has been situated in Cannes since the 1960s.

Ben Croll Facing greater international competition alongside smart TV interfaces that grow all the more convoluted, France Televisions president Delphine Ernotte issued a clarion call to Gallic broadcasters: It’s time to launch a new shared streaming platform that could offer a single point of access for local programing. ‘We’re stronger together,” said the public broadcasting exec.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian animation auteur Alessandro Rak – best known for European Film Award-winner “The Art of Happiness” and Neapolitan mob fable “Cinderella The Cat” – is at work on a new project titled “The Little Prince of Shangri-La” set in an imaginary Tibet and involving the search for the Dalai Lama. Rak’s new work, which follows “Yaya and Lenny — The Walking Liberty,” that launched in 2021 from Locarno, was unveiled earlier this month at the Cartoon Movie co-production and pitch forum in Bordeaux, France.

Naman Ramachandran The first edition of India’s Cinevesture International Film Festival (CIFF) has revealed 20 projects that will participate in its accompanying market. Comprising 17 features and three series, several of the projects are by creators who have found acclaim both internationally and in South Asia.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hong Kong’s Film Development Council has unveiled the first shortlisted projects under its new scheme to develop content for streaming platforms. The Content Development Scheme for Streaming Platforms was announced last year. It aims to nurture cross-sectoral production teams and expand new distribution market and takes the form of a competition to recruit participating teams that develop a mini-series for streaming platforms.

With four TV and film projects in as many years, few filmmakers right now are more prolific than Hirokazu Kore-eda. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Leading South Korean sales company Finecut has picked up international sales rights to action comedy film “Boss.” It will launch the title at next week’s FilMart in Hong Kong. Directed by Ra Hee-chan (“Going by the Book,” “Mr. Idol”), the film follows gang members embroiled in fierce competition.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Lily Franky, the Japanese acting sensation who starred in “Shoplifters” and “Like Father Like Son,” heads the cast of “Diamonds in the Sand,” a multinational co-production that appears at the Hong Kong — Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) as a work in progress. Developed and directed by Janus Victoria, the film started as an exploration of the Japanese phenomenon of kodokushi, or lonely death, where elderly people who live alone are discovered dead only months after their passing due to the isolated lives that they lead.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Taipei-based Screenworks Asia has picked up innovative anthology series “Urban Horror” for international sales ahead of this week’s FilMart in Hong Kong. Directed by Lee Chun-Hong (“Mom, Don’t Do That!”), Chen Bao-Zhong and Huang Dan-Chi, a group of young and upcoming filmmakers, “Urban Horror” comprises 34 short episodes revolving around the mysterious, the unexplained and the disturbed. They make use of six modern city settings, such as night clubs, office buildings, youth hostels and other places where ghosts and monsters are not normally found. The deliberately limited number of locations also enables the 34 short films to be re-packaged as six longer episodes. In each episode, the audience will see a familiar face that could be an award-winning actor, a pop star, or an internet celebrity.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Oscar contenders and Berlin prize-winners will be among the European films being represented by visiting companies to FilMart that are making use of the European Film Promotion umbrella stand within the annual Hong Kong market. In total 29 European film sales companies are making the trip, including more than a dozen from France under the Unifrance banner. Prominent rights brokers include Charades, Goodfellas, Fandango and Filmax.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent “Los caminantes de la calle,” directed by Argentina’s Juan Martín Hsu, Chilean Ignacio Pávez’s docu-fiction drama “An Amputee” and Uruguayan Lorenzo Tocco’s “For God’s Sake” proved the biggest winners at the Malaga Festival’s MAFIZ industry area awards, announced at a ceremony on Friday night. Covering Malaga’s Work in Progress showcase, its Málaga Festival Fund Co-Production forum (MAFF) and the Spanish Screenings Content – Málaga Short Corner, prizes were divvied up among a slew of titles, with ‘Sometimes,’ by Sara Fantova and Enrique Buleo’s ‘Still Life With Ghosts,’ both scoring multiple awards. From his first feature, 2015’s “La Salada,” a patchwork narrative tale of immigrants’ lives, dreams and suffering in Argentina, to 2021’s “La Luna Reprenta Mi Corazon,” a docu feature record of the rencounter with his mother in Taiwan, Hsu has carved out a niche depicting the immigrant experience in Argentina.

A hike in subscribers for French pay-TV giant Canal+ Group as well as a successful year at the box office in France for Studiocanal helped drive positive 2023 results for parent company Vivendi, which were released Thursday evening after the close of the local stock exchange.

This year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF, March 28-April 8) will open with the Asian premiere of All Shall Be Well, directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Ray Yeung, which recently won the Teddy Award at Berlin film festival.

Lori Loughlin won the Grace Prize for A Christmas Blessing and Super Mario Bros. Movie was named Best Family Film at the 31st annual Movieguide Faith & Values Awards Gala & Report. The broadcast aired this evening on Great American Family.

Jessie Ware has shared her love for The Last Dinner Party, and revealed her hopes to join forces with the band in the future. Watch our interview above.The moment took place on the red carpet for the BRIT Awards this weekend (March 2), when the pop icon spoke with NME ahead of the ceremony. On the night, Ware was nominated for the Artist of the Year award, and was up against Arlo Parks, Dave, Fred again.., Little Simz, Olivia Dean and RAYE, with the latter ultimately taking home the trophy.During the interview with NME, Ware shared her admiration for other artists nominated that night – in particular, rising British indie band The Last Dinner Party.“I think The Last Dinner Party are really cool.

After a successful return as a physical event last year, Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (Filmart, March 11-14) is taking place again this year against a complicated backdrop, both in terms of market realities and the shifting geopolitics of the region. 

Taking place alongside Filmart, the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) is one of Asia’s oldest and most established project markets, helping a string of award-winning films to get made. 

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Hoyte Van Hoytema has taken top honors at the 38th annual American Society of Cinematographers Awards for his work on “Oppenheimer.” Van Hoytema topped a field that included Edward Lachman for “El Conde, Matthew Libatique for “Maestro,” Rodrigo Prieto for “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Robbie Ryan for “Poor Things.” The awards were handed out Sunday night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. All five theatrical feature film nominees are also nominated for best cinematography at the Oscars.