Line-up for first Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab includes debut fiction film from Nontawat Numbenchapol, whose documentary #BKKY is premiering at Busan.

SEAFIC 2016

The Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab (SEAFIC) has unveiled the five projects selected for its first edition, including the debut fiction film from Nontawat Numbenchapol, whose documentary #BKKY is currently premiering at Busan.

Nontawat’s first two documentaries, Boundary and By The River, premiered at the Berlinale Forum and Locarno Film Festival in 2013, respectively.

SEAFIC invites first second and third-time filmmakers to work with a script consultant and international experts for nine months to develop their projects. In total, SEAFIC received 57 applications from nearly every Southeast Asian country.

The inaugural line-up also includes the debut feature from Pham Ngoc Lan, to be produced by Vietnamese filmmaker Phan Dang Di (Bi, Don’t Be Afraid), and the second film from  Sivaroj Kongsakul, to be produced by Thai director-producer Pimpaka Towira (The Island Funeral). See full project list below.

The five selected projects are automatically enrolled in the SEAFIC x PAS programme, a producers’ lab organised by Nantes Festival des 3 Continents’ Produire au Sud initiative, which takes place alongside SEAFIC.

The director and producer of each project will be invited to Chiang Mai, Thailand from October 23-30 to participate in the first session of the SEAFIC script lab programme, as well as SEAFIC x PAS.

The second SEAFIC session will also take place in Chiang Mai in late February 2017. The third and final session will take place in June 2017 and has changed location from Singapore to Bangkok.

The United States Embassy in Bangkok has also joined the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japan Foundation, Thailand as SEAFIC’s sponsor.

SEAFIC 2016-2017 PROJECTS:

Cu Li Never Cries (Vietnam, first film)

Dir: Pham Ngoc Lan
Prod: Phan Dang Di
Pham Ngoc Lan’s first short fiction film Another City (2016) was in competition at the Berlin Film Festival. He also attended the Berlinale Talents in 2015.

Doi Boy (Thailand, first fiction film)

Dir: Nontawat Numbenchapol
Prods: Supatcha Thipsena, Steve Chen
Nontawat Numbenchapol’s first two documentaries, Boundary and By The River, premiered at the Berlinale Forum and Locarno Film Festival in 2013, respectively. His latest documentary #BKKY premieres at the Busan Film Festival this year.

In The Eyes Of A Stranger (Singapore, second film)

Dir: Yeo Siew Hua
Prod: Fran Borgia
Yeo Siew Hua’s first feature film In The House Of Straw (2009) was in competition at the Bangkok International Film Festival, among other film festivals.

Regretfully At Dawn (Thailand, second film)

Dir: Sivaroj Kongsakul
Prod: Pimpaka Towira
Sivaroj Kongsakul’s first feature Eternity (2010) won the Rotterdam Tiger award and Best Film at Deauville Asian Film Festival. In 2011 he was part of the 22nd Cannes Cinefondation residency.

You Are There (Singapore, first film)

Dir: Nicole Midori Woodford
Prod: Jeremy Chua
Nicole Midori Woodford’s latest short For We Are Strangers (2015) was selected at Busan’s Wide Angle Competition. She is also a Berlinale Talents alumni in 2010.