Vietnam Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Auto-bio Pamphlet,” a Marathi-language film that is both a love story and a rage against class divisions, will open the 18th edition of the Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival later this month. The festival will close with the world premiere of spy thriller “13 Bombs in Jakarta.” JAFF run Nov.

With a background in Taiwanese public television and now president of leading production company Greener Grass Culture, Phil Tang has been one of the key players in Taiwan’s evolving drama production space. 

Gareth Gates shot to fame after finishing runner-up on the first series of Pop Idol in 2002, going on to sell 3.5 million records in the UK. The 39-year-old is now starring in the latest series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.The show sees 16 stars undertake mentally and physically gruelling challenges in the jungle in Thung Ui, North Vietnam. With Gareth thrust into the limelight once again on the hit show, let's take a look inside his love life, from his new girlfriend Allana Taylor to a teenage fling with former glamour model Katie Price.

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, to two parents of Greek heritage, two-time Oscar winner Alexander Payne was awarded Greek citizenship last year around the time he was working on his latest feature, The Holdovers. 

EXCLUSIVE: Matthew Wilder has been set to write and direct an untitled film that chronicles the life and work of author Joan Didion.

Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival returns this evening for its 64th edition with a screening of The Pot-au-Feu (The Taste of Things), the latest film by French-Vietnamese director Trần Anh Hùng. 

EXCLUSIVE: Rob Reiner, who directed LBJ starring Woody Harrelson, and journalist Soledad O’Brien have teamed up to find out the truth about JFK’s murder.

a novel by Thomas Mallon. The series arc follows the clandestine romance of two different men who meet in McCarthy-era Washington: confident and charismatic Hawkins Fuller (Bomer) and idealistic and religious Tim Laughlin (Jonathan Bailey, “Bridgerton”). The plot traces their on-and-off relationship through several decades, including the era when Sen.

EXCLUSIVE: Black Bear has closed a raft of international deals on Guy Ritchie’s next project, the as yet untitled action film which wrapped principal photography in Spain this week.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Vietnam-based sales agent Skyline Media has closed multi-territory deals for two of its current titles “The Soul Reaper” and “Vietnamese Horror Story.” The deals follow Skyline’s recent trip to Busan’s ACFM and come ahead of its participation as exhibitor at a string of further final quarter sales events – Tokyo’s TIFFCOM, Santa Monica’s American Film Market and Taipei’s Taiwan Creative Content Fest. Folk horror film “The Soul Reaper,” currently in the final stages of post-production, was licensed to GaragePlay for Taiwan and to Westec Media Limited (WML) for Laos, Cambodia and nine other Southeast Asian territories. The film, adapted from Thao Trang’s best-selling horror novel “Lunar New Year in Hell Village” (aka “Tet O Lang Dia Nguc”), is set to be released in Vietnam cinemas on 08 December. GaragePlay is one of Taiwan’s leading distributors, and recently handles releases of “Suzume,” “John Wick: Chapter 4” and “Someday or One Day.” WML is the biggest content distributor in Cambodia and has distributed more than 1,000 titles theatrically since its establishment.

EXCLUSIVE: Concrete Utopia, South Korea’s International Film Oscar entry this year, will hit theaters in NY and LA on Dec. 8 with a wide release on Dec. 15.  In the U.S, 815 Pictures and Seismic Releasing are releasing the Lotte Entertainment feature.

Mark Schilling Japan Correspondent French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung spoke about the making of “The Taste of Things” (previously titled “The Pot-au-Feu”) the food-themed romantic drama that won him best director award at Cannes this year, at the master class held Tuesday at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Screening in TIFF’s Gala section, the film stars Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel as respectively a chef and gourmet.

Amber Turner appears to be all about new beginnings as she's jetsetted off to celeb hotspot Dubai and shared a glimpse around her luxurious new apartment. Her big move comes just days after she seemed to tease a new romance on Instagram with a cryptic post about being 'romanced'.The TOWIE beauty, 30, who recently went through a breakup with her ex and co-star Dan Edgar, appeared to be putting her recent drama behind her as she toured her swanky new pad.

Amber Turner appeared to tease a new romance on Instagram this week, with the TOWIE favourite posting a cryptic quote about being 'romanced' to her Stories.The 30 year old reality TV star shared a quote on her Stories which read: "I love being romanced and spoiled like the princess baby angel that I am," and added: "Princess baby angel that’s me x.” Some fans think the TOWIE star has been dropping hints about a new romance, following her split from co-star Dan Edgar earlier this year. Most recently, Amber's love life hit the headlines after it was revealed she'd been exchanging messages with her Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins co-star Chris Oliver.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Dynamic Singaporean producer Jeremy Chua is to receive the FIAPF Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asia Pacific Cinema, at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) on Nov. 3 on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Two titles which debuted at Cannes this year were named as the major prize-winners at the seventh edition of the Pingyao International Film Festival in China. Wei Shujun’s black comedy-thriller “Only the River Flows” won the festival’s Fei Mu prize for best Chinese film.

Wei Shujun’s Only The River Flows was presented with Best Film in the Fei Mu Awards at this year’s Pingyao International Film Festival (PYIFF), while Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell, directed by Vietnam’s Pham Thien An, won Best Film in the festival’s Roberto Rossellini Awards.

EXCLUSIVE: Canadian comedy Run the Burbs is in production for its third run.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Some twenty aspiring film projects have been selected to participate in the inaugural edition of the Qcinema Project Market (Nov. 18-19) that this year represents and expansion of the QCinema Film Festival in The Philippines’ Quezon City. The selected titles include development projects by several of East Asia’s better known independent and art-house directors and projects.

Wayans, 40, told The Post. “Every time someone does well in the trivia round … if you ever see me go, ‘Oh, that’s awesome’ it’s because I was like, ‘I could never have done that.’I’m not crazy-dyslexic but when it comes to trivia I’d be screwed.”Wayans and Jeannie Mai Jenkins host “Raid the Cage,” premiering Oct.

Michelle Heaton has seemingly slammed Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, calling one aspect of the Channel 4 show 'unfair'.The former Liberty X star, 44, has spoken out after the female contestants on the show were forced to carry the same 20kg rucksacks as the male contestants.The celebrity group, including former UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock and ex-TOWIE star James Argent, travelled to Thung Ui, north Vietnam to face one of the toughest challenges of their lives. But, during the filming of the show, Michelle and Fort Boyard presenter Melinda Messenger, 52, struggled with the weight of the rucksacks they had to carry - leading them to be dumped from the show.

Michelle Heaton has revealed a stomach-churning injury sustained while filming the latest series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.The former Liberty X singer took to Instagram to share a condition in her right eye caused by by "parasites found in extremely dirty water" which she contracted on the gruelling reality TV show. "This is called 'swamp eye'," she said in a post showing her eye looking painful, red, watery and inflamed.

Disney+ superhero series Moving was the big winner at Busan Film Festival’s Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards, scooping six prizes, including Best Creative and Best Writer for Kang Full.

Siva Kaneswaran sought therapy after starring in the latest Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, in a bid to deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.The singer from boy band The Wanted has also revealed he suffered with "aggression" after taking part in the gruelling reality TV show and that his fiancée Nareesha McCaffrey was forced to step in to help.The Channel 4 series has already seen TOWIE star James Argent and MP Matt Hancock break down in floods of tears as the stars prove they have what it takes to make the Special Forces. Love Island's Teddy Soares and Montana Brown, singer Gareth Gates and footballer Jermaine Pennant are among some of the famous faces who've been forced to abandon their glamorous lifestyles as they attempt to survive the most unforgiving jungle in the world in Thung Ui, North Vietnam.

China’s Pingyao International Film Festival has announced the line-up for its seventh edition (October 11-18), which will open with Wei Shujun’s Only The River Flows and close with the world premiere of Fei Yu’s Football On The Roof. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Vietnam-based sales agent Skyline Media has unveiled five new titles for sales and distribution at the ACFN market that accompanies the Busan International Film Festival. They range from horror films to gay rom com series. “The Soul Reaper” is adapted from director-producer Thao Trang’s best-selling horror novel “Lunar New Year in Hell Village” (Tet O Lang Dia Nguc), and involves the happy occasion of a wedding turn darker after the arrival of a creepy stranger.

TOWIE star Amber Turner was reportedly ‘confronted’ by the long-term girlfriend of Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins star Chris Oliver for sending ‘flirty’ messages. The Sun reports Jasmine Shergold allegedly called Amber after finding the pair exchanging direct messages over Instagram. Amber, 30, and Chris, 40, met while filming Channel 4's SAS Who Dares Wins together in the Vietnamese jungle.

Amber Turner has addressed her 'mystery man' while enjoying a trip away in Paris, after being 'called up' by Chris Oliver’s girlfriend for sending him 'flirty' messages on Instagram.The TOWIE star looked stunning as she shared a snap on social media where she was smiling beside her friend. Amber donned a stylish grey jacket with fluffy detailing paired with a black top and some black sunglasses.The Eiffel Tower could be seen in the background as Amber captioned the snap: “& for people questioning who mystery man is… its @florenceledwith [laughing emoji] and she’s tagged on my stories ha.” Prior to this Amber had been sharing glimpses of her trip without revealing who she was with, leading fans to believe she has gone on a trip away with a ‘mystery man’.

Seoul-based sales company Finecut has got off to a busy start at Busan’s Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) closing a trio of deals on webtoon adaptation Brave Citizen, and picking up international rights to inspirational drama Victory. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Seoul-based sales company Finecut has struck key Asian deals for the vigilante action movie “Brave Citizen.” In Korea, the film is presented by Content Wavve, one of the country’s leading OTT platforms and is headed for a Korean theatrical release on Oct. 25.Finecut has sealed deals with Kadokawa Plus for Japan, with Moviecloud for Taiwan and with Lumix Medi for Vietnam.