Documentaries lead the spring 2025 funding session of Bangkok-based Purin Pictures, representing four out of six selected titles that will receive a combined $160,000 in grants.
Three documentary winners, which receive a production grant of $15,000 each, comprise Arts Centre, in which veteran documentarian Tan Pin Pin continues her exploration of Singaporean identity; Woven Bamboo Neighbour by Indonesia’s Gama Triono, who turns to filmmaking through social work; and Vietnamese director Nhan Tran’s And The Mountains Echoed, which follows three generations of Hmong women as they navigate life between village and city.
The fourth documentary winner, Baby Jackfruit, Baby Guava from Vietnam, receives a post- production grant of $35,000. It is a personal documentary of director Quang Nong Nhat’s family during and after the birth of his nephew, nicknamed baby Guava. The project has previously received a Purin production grant in 2023.
Purin Pictures co-director Aditya Assarat said: “This session, we received many strong documentary projects. Vietnam in particular seems to be set up well with solid training programmes, doc-focused production companies, and experienced mentors. The result of this ecosystem can be seen in many interesting new films over the past several years.”
Rounding out this funding round are two fiction projects. To Leave, To Stay marks the feature debut of Cambodian director Danech San, following her award-winning shorts, while Levitating continues Wregas Bhanuteja’s journey as a rising Indonesian filmmaker, following Photocopier and Andragogy. Each receives a grant of $30,000 and $50,000 respectively. Levitating previously won the CJ ENM Award at the Asian Project Market in Busan.
Purin Pictures spring 2025 grant recipients
Production grant
To Leave, To Stay (Camb-Fr-Sing-Indo)
Dir Danech San
Pro Daniel Mattes, Davy Chou
Prodco Anti-Archive
Bored of her island life, Mera travels with her friend Bopha to visit a soldier she met online. Weeks later, Mera goes missing and Bopha’s search begins.
Arts Centre (Sing)
Dir/Pro Tan Pin Pin
Prodco BFG Media
Four artists in a shared space push creative and social boundaries, revealing the unseen labour, struggles, and transcendence behind their craft.
Woven Bamboo Neighbour (Indo)
Dir Gama Triono
Prod Tonny Trimarsanto
Prodco Rumah Dokumenter
Ludruk Irama Muda is an arts group of 35 transwomen who preserve ludruk in Tobong, a building with bamboo walls, a rusty zinc roof, and a dirt floor.
And The Mountains Echoed (Viet-Sing)
Dir Nhan Tran
Prod Lai Weijie
Prodco E&W Films
The crossed destinies of three Hmong women whose dreams are tied to migration to a city, but drawn back by the weight of their obligations.
Post-production grant
Levitating (Indo)
Dir Wregas Bhanuteja
Prod Siera Tamihardja
Prodco Rekata Studio
Baby Jackfruit, Baby Guava (Viet)
Dir Quang Nong Nhat
Prod Trang Dao Thi Minh
Prodco Flaneur Films
A personal documentary about a conservative mother, mentally ill daughter, and gay son as they prepare for the arrival of a baby into the family.
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