South Korea-based Panda Media has made its market debut at the Asian Film Market, running parallel to the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF).

The company is handling international sales for director Jeon Kyu-hwan’s Dance Town, a film about a lonely female North Korean defector. The film world premiered in PIFF’s Korean Cinema Today – Vision section.

Dance Town is the third in the director’s “Town series”, following Animal Town which was at San Sebastian’s New Directors’ competition in 2009, and Mozart Town, which was at Tokyo and Philadelphia’s competitions.

Panda Media handles all three of the Town Series as well as other films including b-boy meets deaf girl love story Audition, and the bloody horror film Killing Time.

Headed by Nicolas Piccato, formerly of Mirovision and previously the French embassy in Seoul’s audiovisual attaché, the company has been handling European TV content in Korea such as TV5Monde, France24, Luxe.TV, and Rai Trade content.

During the Asian Film Market, Panda Media is also representing Rai’s two films in the PIFF official line-up – Pasquale Scimeca’s Malavoglia and Mario Martone’s We Believed – both in the World Cinema section.

The company is also co-producing Approved For Adoption, co-directed by Laurent Boileau and Jung Henin. The biographical film about a Korean adoptee to France is based on Jung’s two comic books Skin Colour: Honey, and will be one third live action and two thirds animation.

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