BUSAN 2011 NEW PROJECTS
Budget $1.2m Financing to date Indonesian financing secured The lowdown The Mo Brothers are the ‘enfant terribles’ behind fantasy festival hit Macabre. “Killers is the first full-scale Japan-Indonesia co-production, with locations and cast split 50-50. Films with shocking elements travel better,” says producer Ushiyama. Contact Young Chien Lim
edorimu@gmail.com
LAKE AUGUST (Chi) Dir Yang Heng (pictured) Prod Lai Yifan Synopsis After his father’s death, a young man drifts around the countryside and ends up by the lake, where he meets a restaurant
owner and secures a job. He becomes good friends with the owner’s boyfriend, as his affection for the owner also grows stronger. Budget $1m Financing to date $52,500 from Harvest Movies Film Productions The lowdown “This can be seen as the final episode of Yang’s youth trilogy after his award- winning Betelnut (2006) and Sun Spots (2009). In this new film, there will not be so many still long takes, and the characters are older. These young people had hopes and ideals, but the bitterness of their reality forces them to compromise,” says producer Lai. Contact Jiang Xiaoqi
harvestfilms@yahoo.cn
LAST CONFESSION (S Kor) Dir Lee Moo-young (pictured) Prod Sohn Se-hoon Synopsis A lowly executioner tasked with beheading Christians in 1939 meets a French
priest who is secretly invited to hear confessions at the Governor of Pyongyang’s residence. Accompanying him on the dangerous journey, the executioner begins to uncover the truth behind a series of fatal betrayals. Budget $4.5m Financing to date TBA The lowdown Lee is the screenwriter for films such as JSA and Sympathy For Mr Vengeance. He has also directed his own titles, including Like Father, Like Son and A Bizarre Love Triangle. Contact Sohn Se-hoon
underwd@nate.com
www.screendaily.com
LEGEND OF THE T-DOG (Tai) Dir Wayne Chang (pictured) Prods Fumiko Osaka, Wayne Chang Synopsis An offbeat romantic comedy about a kindly hospital worker,
an aloof chief surgeon, and their relationship with a dog that has a T-mark on its forehead — a dog believed to bring bad luck to its owners. Budget $1.5m Financing to date $1m from CatchPlay Film Production Fund The lowdown “We want to tell a unique contemporary story that draws elements from the legendary Dilu horse which always brings bad luck to its owners,” says producer Chang, head of Taiwan’s Catchplay. “It’s a story full of dark humour and a surprising twist at the end. We also want it to look visually stylish to match with the flavourful story.” Contact Fumiko Osaka
MEMORIES ON STONE (Iraq-Ger) Dir Shawkat Amin Korki (pictured) Prod Mehmet Aktas Synopsis Two Kurdish film-makers face hurdles, both cultural and logistical, when they
attempt to make a film about the Al-Anfal genocide in Iraqi Kurdistan. Budget $1m Financing to date None The lowdown “While many still bear the scars of the Al-Anfal massacre, there has been no outlet for the expression of these wounds for 30 years. So yes, this film is a ‘making of’ story, but it also touches on some delicate issues that have not yet been properly addressed — either locally or internationally,” says Kurdish director Korki, whose credits include Kick Off and Crossing The Dust. Contact Bianca Lucas
lucas@mitosfilm-iraq.com
MY ANCESTRAL HOME (India) Dir Ritesh Menon (pictured) Prods Santosh Sivan, Mubina Rattonsey Synopsis A young girl growing up in an extended family in 19th
century Kerala watches as her family breaks with tradition. But at times it seems that tradition may be breaking her family. Budget $340,000 Financing to date None The lowdown One of the first features from award- winning shorts director Menon, who co-wrote Sivan’s Tahaan. “It intrigues me that there was one generation in which something from the ancient culture died with it as each year passed,” says Menon, who is also directing a mainstream Hindi film for Rattonsey. Contact Ritesh Menon
ritesh.menon1@
gmail.com
kintaro1108@gmail.com
MYMAN —WATASHINO OTOKO (Jap) Dir Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (pictured) Prods Yoshihiro Nagata, Toshikazu Nishigaya Synopsis After a nine-year-old girl loses her family in the 1993
Hokkaido earthquake, she is adopted by a 25-year- old man. The story of their complicated relationship is revealed in a series of flashbacks on the night before her wedding in 2008. Budget $2m Financing to date TBA The lowdown “My Man is based on Kazuki Sakuraba’s award-winning novel, also published in Korea, China and Taiwan. A father-daughter incest theme is not an easy challenge, but we want to create audience compassion and a film remembered as a universal love story,” says producer Nagata. Contact Yoshihiro Nagata
nagata@hsn.happinet.co.jp
OCEAN OF LOVE (HK-Chi-S Kor) Dir Carol Miu-suet Lai (pictured) Prod Chu Chung-on Synopsis A contemporary teenage love story set in both China and Korea, about an aspiring
Chinese singer attending a pop idol training school in Korea, where she develops a special friendship and affection for a boy who suffers from a language disorder. Budget $3m Financing to date $1.5m from Hong Kong’s October Pictures The lowdown “After romantic drama Floating Landscape and two horror thrillers which were all »
October 2011 Screen International 23 n
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