All Asia articles – Page 574

  • News

    Revived Yubari film festival to reopen under new name

    2007-01-19T12:20:00Z

    The Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival (YIFFF), which was forced to suspend operations last July due to the bankruptcy of its host town, is set to re-open under a new name and mandate. The temporarily re-named Yubari Ouen Eigasai (translation: Yubari Support Film Festival) will run from Feb 22-25 and ...

  • News

    MK Poly Cinemas to open first multiplex in Zhengzhou

    2007-01-19T11:46:00Z

    Korean producer-distributor MK Pictures has announced that the first multiplex to emerge from its joint venture with Beijing-based Poly Group will open in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou on Jan 26. The six-screen multiplex, known as the 'MK Poly Cinema - Zhengzhou ', has already been through a month of ...

  • News

    Production IG lines up live-action Ghost In The Shell

    2007-01-19T11:27:00Z

    Japanese animation house Production I.G has reached an agreement with local publisher Kodansha to act as an agent in developing a live-action feature film based on popular manga series Ghost In The Shell. Production I.G will represent Kodansha, which owns the rights to the original manga series created by Masamune ...

  • News

    China launches fund for small to mid-budget films

    2007-01-19T11:12:00Z

    China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) is setting up a fund to support young Chinese directors in the making of small to mid-budget films. During the first year of the fund, 16 filmmakers will each receive $64,300 (RMB500,000) to help finance a low-budget project, in addition to ...

  • News

    Kim Ki-duk returns to the Korean fold with Breath release

    2007-01-19T08:36:00Z

    Reversing his declaration that he would leave the Korean film world, controversial director Kim Ki-duk has announced a deal with Korean arthouse distributor Sponge to release his 14th film Breath in local cinemas. Sponge formerly released Kim's last film, Time, on eight screens last summer. It took in 30,000 admissions, ...

  • News

    Shanghai International Film Festival to launch film market

    2007-01-19T08:20:00Z

    The Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) is launching a film market at this year's edition which is scheduled to run June 16-24. In addition to creating an environment for the buying and selling of film rights, the 'Film Mart' aims to stimulate the development of co-productions between China and other ...

  • News

    Cowan to head Adelaide Film Festival jury

    2007-01-19T07:44:00Z

    Adelaide Film Festival director Katrina Sedgwick today named the 12 films in its inaugural competition and announced that Toronto International Film Festival director Noah Cowan is president of the jury. She also revealed that Adelaide filmmaker Rolf de Heer will be presented with the 2007 Don Dunstan Award in recognition ...

  • News

    Bangkok film festival reveals new venue and dates

    2007-01-18T20:30:00Z

    The organisers of the Bangkok International Film Festival (BKKIFF) have revealed that this year's edition will take place July 19-29 at SF Cinema City's new 15-screen flagship located in the recently renovated Central World entertainment complex. The event had been scheduled to take place Jan 26-Feb 5 but was postponed ...

  • News

    Korean exports dip after five years of growth

    2007-01-18T19:58:00Z

    After five years of growth, Korean film exports dropped 68% year-on-year in 2006. Exports totaled $24.5m - down from $75.9m the year before, according to the Korean Film Council (KOFIC)'s year-end statistics.For the first time, Korean sales saw a slump in its main Asian markets, where its $17m takings represented ...

  • News

    Local market is key toglobal success,Warner Bros' international chief

    2007-01-18T14:05:00Z

    Any film aspiring to international successmust first conqueritshome market, says Richard Fox, executive vice president international atWarner Bros.Speaking at the Screen International-backed Media Summit in London, Fox said the studio had come to understand the importance of national markets to any distribution strategy. A 'one-size-fits-all' US production won't cut it ...

  • News

    Local market key toglobal success,says Warner Bros' international chief

    2007-01-18T14:05:00Z

    Any film aspiring to international successmust first conqueritshome market, says Richard Fox, executive vice president international atWarner Bros.Speaking at the Screen International-backed Media Summit in London, Fox said the studio had come to understand the importance of national markets to any distribution strategy. A 'one-size-fits-all' US production won't cut it ...

  • News

    Celestial, Jaman sign online deal for Shaw Brothers package

    2007-01-18T11:14:00Z

    Hong Kong's Celestial Pictures has reached a long-term deal with Silicon Valley-based Jaman Inc, under which the online movie distributor has acquired internet distribution rights to 50 titles from the Shaw Brothers library for the US and Canada. Key titles to be distributed under the deal include martial arts classics ...

  • News

    Ascension's Anna & Anna rises in Shanghai

    2007-01-18T10:56:00Z

    Principal photography started today in Shanghai on Hong Kong writer-director Aubrey Lam's Anna & Anna, a $2.2m romantic thriller financed by US and Hong Kong-based Ascension Pictures. The cast is toplined by Hong Kong actress Karena Lam who plays two roles in the film: Anna, a career woman who has ...

  • News

    Malaysian box office reaches all-time high in 2006

    2007-01-18T07:29:00Z

    Malaysia 's box office continued to grow in 2006 with total takings reaching an all-time high of $75.7m (RM265.2m) from 314 releases, a 9% increase on record takings of $69.6m (RM243.6m) the previous year. Following consistent growth since 2001, the 2006 box office is 131% bigger than six years ago. ...

  • News

    Hong Kong 's Universe lines up Invisible Target at EFM

    2007-01-17T07:38:00Z

    Hong Kong 's Universe Films Distribution will be unveiling Benny Chan's latest action title at the upcoming European Film Market (EFM), an $8m cop drama starring Nicholas Tse, Shawn Yue and Jaycee Chan. The film, which has the working title Invisible Target, follows three police officers, driven by different motives, ...

  • News

    Iwo Jima tops Japan 's New Year holiday box office

    2007-01-17T07:14:00Z

    Clint Eastwood's Letters From Iwo Jima was the box office champion during the New Year's holiday period (Dec 23 - Jan 8) in Japan, passing the $30m (Y36.7bn) mark by the middle of last week and holding the top spot for five weeks. The Warner Bros release only lost its ...

  • News

    Yuya Yagira heads cast of Bandage Club adaptation

    2007-01-17T06:52:00Z

    Yuya Yagira, the winner of the best actor award at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, has been cast in Toei's film adaptation of best-selling Japanese novel The Bandage Club. The film, which started shooting last week, is directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi, whose credits include Ken Watanabe-starrer Memories Of Tomorrow. Satomi ...

  • News

    Volver, Lives, Labyrinth make Oscar shortlist of nine

    2007-01-17T02:51:00Z

    The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has named the nine films that have made it to the shortlist for the best foreign language Oscar.The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:Days Of Glory Algeria (dir Rachid Bouchareb)Water Canada (dir Deepa Mehta)After The Wedding Denmark (dir, Susanne Bier)Avenue ...

  • News

    China, MPA launch anti-piracy film competition

    2007-01-16T10:47:00Z

    The Motion Picture Association (MPA) and the organisers of the 14th Beijing Student Film Festival (BSFF) are sponsoring a China-wide contest to select the best student-made short film on the theme 'Respect Copyrights, Stay Away from Piracy'. The contest will challenge students to take a fresh look at the value ...

  • News

    Adelaide festival to open with Rowland's Lucky Miles

    2007-01-16T04:18:00Z

    Michael James Rowland's almost completed debut film Lucky Miles is to open the Adelaide Film Festival on Feb 22 while Rolf de Heer's Dr Plonk is to close the event on March 4. Festival director Katrina Sedgwick also announced today that Australia's newest capital city film festival will this year ...