Prospective financiers and co-producers will get the opportunity to invest in some of Asia's hottest film projects at the 5th Pusan Promotion Plan which runs November 18-20 in South Korea.

Running alongside the Pusan International Film Festival, the Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP) has quickly achieved prominence as a pre-market for upcoming projects by new and established Asian filmmakers. The event now attracts upwards of 1,000 industry guests from Hollywood to Europe and arranges hundreds of meetings between filmmakers and companies interested in their work.

The PPP boasts an impressive roll-call of films that featured in its first four editions, including Jia Zhang Ke's Platform, Jafar Pahani's The Circle, Wang Xiaoshuai's Beijing Bicycle, Lee Chang-dong's Oasis, Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Mon-rak Transistor, and many more.

A glance through this year's 21 selections suggests that more great films are on the way. One of the projects most likely to attract attention is Rainbow, an Afghan-Iranian co-production about a protest by a women at the start of the Taliban's rule. It will be directed by Sedigh Barmak, a filmmaker whose shorts and documentaries were banned under the Taliban, and produced by Mohsen Makhmalbaf.

Other renowned filmmakers will also be taking up producing duties. Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien will represent The Best Of Our Times, a collection of four 30-minute films each based on a popular song from a different era, one of which he will direct himself. Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan will also produce The Floating Landscape by Carol Lai (Glass Tears) about a woman who moves to the hometown of her deceased lover.

The hot Thai industry will be represented by two projects. Wisit Sasanatieng, who won praise with Tears Of The Black Tiger in 1999, will unveil Hot Chili Sauce, a fable about an orphaned boy whose tears brings rain and who possesses a fantastic talent for cooking. Ecstasy Garden by Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Blissfully Yours) is about a woman who follows her lover through various reincarnations over the course of 600 years.

Three projects hail from Korea, from the fifth feature by celebrated auteur Hong Sang-soo to a project set in Mongolia by Min Kyu-dong (Memento Mori) and an animated film by Lee Sung-gang (My Beautiful Girl, Mari).

Other established directors presenting new projects include Peter Chan (Comrades: Almost A Love Story) from Hong Kong, Wang Chao (The Orphan of Anyang) and Li Yu (Fish and Elephant) from China, and Hassan Yektapaneh (Djomeh) from Iran.

All of the 21 projects chosen will qualify for the PPP's six cash prizes, but more importantly the event provides an opportunity for filmmakers to find a foreign partner to help them bring their works to market.

The PPP is rapidly expanding to encompass panel discussions, conferences, industry screenings, as well as a separate section devoted to projects by new Korean filmmakers, but the heart of the event continues to provide the best point of entry for collaborating on the future classics of Asian cinema.