New projects byThai director Nonzee Nimibutr (Jan Dara), Taiwanese actor-turned-director Lee Kang-Sheng (TheMissing) and Korean BongJoon-ho (Memories Of Murder) are among the 23 Asian features that will compete for financing atthe 2004 Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP).

Asia's biggestproject market has cast its net particularly wide in its latest edition,encompassing projects from 15 countries including Sri Lanka, the Philippines,Kazakhstan and Malaysia. Aparticularly high number of projects hail from China, including works fromZhang Ming (Weekend Plot),Wang Bing (award-winning documentary West Of Tracks), Li Yang (Blind Shaft), and rock star Cui Jian.

Another highlightis a proposed omnibus film about recent political events made by five directorsfrom the Islamic world, including U-Wei Bin Hajisaari (Malaysia), Garin Nugroho(Indonesia), Sohbi al-Zobaidi (Palestine), Kamal Tabrizi (Iran), and HomayoonPaiz (Afghanistan).

Korean featuresinclude The Host, abig-budget, effects-heavy creature movie from Bong Joon-ho, as well as theMongolian-set A Thousand Plateaus by maverick director Jang Sun-woo (Lies).

Each year the PPPdraws an ever-larger number of international financiers and distributors whosign up for formal meetings with the selected projects and engage in a largeamount of informal networking and deal-making.

Although typically the PPP has been heldmidway through the Pusan International Film Festival (October 7-15), this yeara schedule conflict with MIFED has pushed the event up to the first three daysof the festival, from October 7-9.

The PPP will alsooperate a small market where major sales companies from throughout Asia willoffer DVD screenings of their latest product.

2004 PusanPromotion Plan
1. Poet Of The Waste(Iran), dir. Mohammad Ahmadi
2. The Host (S Korea),dir. Bong Joon-ho
3. Show You Colors(China), dir. Cui Jian
4. Big River(Japan-US), dir. Atsushi Funahashi
5. Santa Santita(Philippines), dir. Laurice Guillen
6. Summer Kisses, Winter Tears (Malaysia), dir. Ho Yuhang
7. Hafez (Iran-Japan),dir. Abolfazl Jalili
8. A Thousand Plateaus(S Korea), dir. Jang Sun-woo
9. Smells Like Butter(S Korea-US), dir. Grace Lee
10. Help Me (Taiwan),dir. Lee Kang-Sheng
11. One Million Roses (Korea),dir. Lee Soo-yeon
12. Red Passion (China),dir. Li Yang
13. Thou Shall Cut Off A Grapevine (S Korea), dir. Min Buong-hun
14. The Queens of Pattani(Thai), dir. Nonzee Nimibutr
15. Ainour(Kazakhstan), dir. Darezhan Omirbaev
16. Kamli (My Daughter)(India), dir. K.N.T. Sastry
17. Kerala (India-US),dir. Santosh Sivan
18. 0430 (Singapore),Royston Tan
19. Life Is A Paper Plane (SriLanka), Prasanna Vithanage
20. Believe In The Future(China-France), dir. Wang Bing
21. Dark Legend(China), dir. Zhang Ming
22. Grain In Ear (China-Korea),dir. Zhang Lu
23. Five Worlds(Malaysia/Indonesia/Palestine/Iran/Afghan), dir. Garin Nugroho et al.