Projects from first-time directors have scooped the top prizes at Focus Asia, the industry platform of Udine’s Far East Film Festival.
China-US project Naked In Glendale picked up the White Light Award worth $20,000 in post-production services and Malaysia-Singapore title Somewhere In The South won the TAICCA Award, presented by the Taiwan Creative Content Agency.
Naked In Glendale marks the fiction feature directorial debut of China’s Haohao Yan, whose short The Speech received a special jury prize at San Sebastian in 2020.
The story follows a 12-year-old Chinese student and her inexperienced teacher as they relocate to a Christian school in the US and face unexpected challenges. Producers are Jane Zheng of Seesaw Productions and Julia Xu of Q&A Entertainment.
Somewhere In The South is from debut director Ce Ding Tan and is produced by Evil Genius Studio’s Edward Lim and Giraffe Pictures’ Anthony Chen, the acclaimed writer/director of We Are All Strangers, which played in Competition at this year’s Berlinale, and Cannes award-winner Ilo Ilo.
The film revolves around a political campaign in a small Malaysian town, where its tiger mascot becomes the unlikely star of the show.
The awards mark the first time that debut directors have picked up top prizes at the industry platform, where they were selected for the All Genres Project Market.
The 11th edition of Focus Asia showcased 13 projects in development and six works in progress over three days of panels, case studies and one-to-one meetings. More than 200 participants from 40 territories took part.
No comments yet