HAF PROFILES


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Intruders Philippines Dir: Jeffrey Jeturian


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irector Jeffrey Jeturian is looking to challenge the mores of the Filipino middle class and the influence of the church in Intruders. Currently in production,


the project is about a devoutly Catholic middle-class family who come home from Christmas Eve mass to discover their house has been ransacked. Recriminations, pent-up resentments and suspicions explode. “I got interested in doing the film because it takes a dig


at the warped values of the typical Filipino middle-class family and raises questions about their religiosity — particularly their being Catholics,” Jeturian explains. A director who has worked in a variety of capacities,


from production designer to assistant director, Jeturian’s credits include The Bet Collector (Kubrador), which won the Fipresci prize at the Moscow International Film Festival in 2006 and the Lino Brocka award for best film at CineManila, and the 1999 social realist film Fetch A Pail Of Water, which won the NETPAC award at CineManila. Earlier this year, Intruders was chosen as one of the five


finalists in the Cinemalaya film festival’s directors’ showcase, a projects competition for directors who have directed three or more films. It awards each finalist $11,500 (PHP500,000) in seed money. Intruders is shooting in Quezon City in Manila, with the


aim to wrap by the end of March. Jeturian has cast a mix of film, theatre and non-professional actors including 1970s matinee idol Tirso Cruz III and Raquel Villavicencio. The film is produced by Josebeth ‘Joji’ Alonso (The Bet


Collector), Ferdinand Lapuz (Serbis, Kinatay) and Armando Lao (Tuhog). The project is at HAF looking for funds, co-producers and sales agents.


Jean Noh INTRUDERS


Budget $250,000 Finance raised to date $50,000 Cast attached Tirso Cruz III, Raquel Villavicencio, Jennifer Sevilla, Julia Clarete, Edgar Allan Guzman Contact Ferdinand Lapuz, FDL Entertainment, fdl-ent@yahoo.com


n 10 Screen International at Filmart/HAF/HKIFF March 22, 2011 CROSSCURRENT


Budget $1.75m-$2m Finance raised to date $1m Contact Natacha Devillers, Les Petites Lumieres, devillers.natacha@gmail.com


NATURE


Budget $900,000 Finance raised to date None Contact Yochanan Kredo, July August Productions, yo@jap.co.il


Crosscurrent China Dir: Yang Chao


journey for his follow-up. Crosscurrent is a love story which takes place during a boat trip along the Yangtze River from its estuary in Shanghai to its source in a deep valley near Tibet and spanning both the richest and poorest areas of China. The story centres on a middle-aged poet trying to finish


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his maiden voyage transporting cargo along the river. However, his trip is interrupted by engine failure, river patrols and encounters with a woman who appears in every port he visits. Strangely, each time he sees her, the woman appears to be younger and younger. Adopting a magic-realist narrative style, Yang will


follow the journey of the poet while also telling the story of the woman in flashback. He emphasises the fluidity of the narrative. “I imagine the Yangtze River as a huge dolly track and the film is shot as we move along the big dolly,” he explains. The film will be shot in the style of Chinese ink-brush


paintings, by the renowned cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-bin, whose credits include Norwegian Wood and In The Mood For Love. Chinese actor Duan Yihong (Wind Blast, Hot Summer Days) is on board to play the protagonist while the producers are in talks with Zhou Xun to play the lead female character. Crosscurrent has so far received $140,000 (¤100,000)


from France’s Fonds Sud Cinema and about $909,000 (RMB6m) from Beijing-based Beijing Trend Cultural Investment. Both will produce the film alongside the Paris and Shanghai-based Les Petites Lumieres. The producers aim to raise an additional $750,000 at HAF.


Sen-lun Yu


he recipient of a Camera d’Or special mention at Cannes for his first feature Passages in 2004, Yang Chao is preparing to take on a more challenging


Nature Israel-France Dir: Yula Gidron


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idron, a Tel Aviv-based film-maker, wrote the first draft of Nature at Cinefondation, the residency programme of the Cannes Film Festival.


The first half of the script follows an 18-year-old girl


who has run away from the army and is travelling alone through Israel’s nature reserves. The second half follows her in solitary confinement in military prison after she has turned herself in. By contrasting the two experiences, Gidron asks which state is better — to be isolated in nature or to be alone with yourself — human nature versus pure, primal nature. At the end of the film, the girl appears to make a choice by hopping over the prison wall and returning to the untamed countryside. Gidron says we will see everything from the perspective


of the lead character: “It will be realistic like a nature documentary but close to the main character’s point of view.” She adds that while the film is not political, it will


contain insights into the Israeli psyche in its examination of a character in isolation. “Israel is very focused on the power of the group, but that’s not always a good thing, especially for younger people,” Gidron explains. “Our society doesn’t let individuality bloom.” Though this is Gidron’s first feature after studying film


at the progressive Beit Berl Art Academy, she has attracted the attention of experienced producers — Fabio Conversi of France’s Babe Films, who discovered her while she was at Cinefondation, and Yochanan Kredo and Eilon Ratzkovsky of Israel’s July August Productions. Conversi’s many credits include Michele Placido’s Vallanzasca and Paolo Sorrentino’s Il Divo, while July August produced The Band’s Visit, directed by Eran Kolirin, among other films. Gidron says she recently completed a draft of the script


with which she is satisfied, and during HAF the producers will be looking for funds, co-producers and a sales agent. Liz Shackleton


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