FEATURE
Asian sellers By Liz Shackleton
Fortissimo Films has recently rounded out its slate with a pair of titles from established Chinese auteurs and a trio of films from India’s dynamic up-and-coming indie scene. Zhang Yuan’s Beijing Flickers explores the reality behind Beijing’s daz- zling economic boom, while Zhang Yang’s Full Cir- cle is about a group of senior citizens who take part in a TV variety show. From India, Fortissimo has Ashim Ahluwalia’s
highly anticipated drama Miss Lovely, which plays in Un Certain Regard; Amit Kumar’s action thriller Monsoon Shootout, and Anand Gandhi’s philosoph- ical drama The Ship Of Theseus. The company has also boarded Genghis Khan epic An End To Killing and Tribeca award-winner Una Noche. Distribution Workshop is introducing period
gangster film The Last Tycoon, starring Chow Yun- fat, and action comedy Double Trouble, while also handling award-winning dramas White Deer Plain, which played in Berlin competition, and A Simple Life, which was recently a hit in Hong Kong. MediaAsia is handling another recent local hit,
romantic comedy Love In The Buff, along with Soi Cheang’s action thriller Motorway, Johnnie To’s Blind Detective and $20m action adventure Switch. Emperor Motion Pictures unveiled several new
projects at this year’s Filmart which it will be selling in Cannes, including Derek Yee-produced action drama The Bullet Vanishes, starring Lau Ching-wan and Nicholas Tse, and Daniel Chan’s Triad. Universe also has several new titles including
Benny Chan’s action drama The Cartel War and the Pang brothers’ fire-fighting disaster movie Inferno. Also of note from Hong Kong are a handful of
period action thrillers — We Distribution’s The Guillotines, directed by Andrew Lau and produced by Peter Ho-sun Chan; Mei Ah’s The Silent War, starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai; Mega-Vision’s Once Upon A Time In Shanghai, directed by Wong Ching Po, and Pegasus Motion Pictures’ Ip Man 3D, about the eponymous kung-fu master. Golden Network Asia will be introducing stere-
oscopic animation Echo Planet, a Thai production that tackles environmental issues, and two new Chinese productions — Yang Shupeng’s stylish Western An Inaccurate Memoir, and Gao Qunshu’s action romance Crimes Of Passion.
Love In The Buff The Kirishima Thing M-Line Distribution is screening sci-fi drama
Doomsday Book, co-directed by Kim Jee-woon and Yim Pil-sung, and romantic comedy All About My Wife, as well as introducing El Condor Pasa, directed by Jeon Soo-il (With A Girl Of Black Soil). 9ers Entertainment is focusing on Miss Con-
spirator, scheduled for Korean release in June. Mirovision will be introducing works from sev-
eral young up-and-coming directors. Prolific Japanese director Takashi Miike has two
Horror Stories Films featuring Korea’s hottest export, K-pop
stars, are prominent this year. With the Korean wave recently rolling into Europe, CJE&M has high hopes for music documentary I Am: SM Town Live, about a concert featuring all 32 artists from talent agency SM Entertainment. Meanwhile, Lotte recently picked up Code
Name: Jackal, a comic thriller starring Jaejoong from K-pop band JYJ. Reflecting the recent trend towards Korean-
The Thieves
Chinese collaboration, Showbox will be screening a promo of heist drama The Thieves, starring Korean and Hong Kong actors, and introducing 3D action sports drama Mr Go 3D, which is a co- production with China’s Huayi Brothers. Also on Showbox’s slate are horror film Don’t Click and action thriller A Company Man, starring So Ji-sub. Finecut is handling Cannes Competition title In
Another Country, directed by Hong Sang-soo, and is introducing several titles backed by Korea’s N.E.W., including Kim Ki-duk’s Pieta, comedy hor- ror Ghost Sweepers and period action adventure The Grand Heist. Daisy & Cinergy, which has recently ramped up
I Am: SM Town Live n 32 Screen International at Cannes May 16, 2012
its sales operation with the appointment of Erica Nam, is also handling a Cannes Competition title, Im Sang-soo’s The Taste Of Money, along with omnibus film Horror Stories and revenge thriller Don’t Cry, Mommy.
projects at Cannes — Kadokawa is handling his musical gangster film For Love’s Sake, which is screening in an out-of-competition midnight slot. Toho will open pre-sales on Miike’s more recent
thriller Lesson Of The Evil, which is in production. Meanwhile, Shochiku will be kickstarting pre-
sales on Yoji Yamada’s homage to Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story, tentatively titled Tokyo Family, which is also in production. Toei returns to its roots with violent action drama
Blazing Famiglia, the first big-budget film from indie director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri, and introduces the drama A Chorus Of Angels from Junji Sakamoto. Nikkatsu has two new titles on its slate — Shu-
ichi Okita’s A Story Of Yonosuke, based on a novel about a student who dances the samba, and Tet- suhiko Nono’s Days Of Red, about a hitman attempting to go straight. Among Japan’s broadcaster-producers, TBS is
focusing on crime thriller SPEC: The Movie, based on a TV show and currently a $20m hit in Japan. NTV has Mamoru Hosoda’s animation Wolf
Children and Daihachi Yoshida’s high-school drama The Kirishima Thing. Looking beyond the big studios and broadcasters,
buyers will also find some note-worthy titles from Japan’s smaller and edgier companies — Phantom Film is introducing I’m Flash!, a drama about a cult leader directed by Toshiaki Toyoda and starring Tat- suya Fujiwara. Pictures Dept has the latest project from Sion
Sono, The Land Of Hope, which deals with paranoia over nuclear radiation. n
s Miss Conspirator
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