Toronto has seen a boost in submissions from across Asia as productions seek to benefit from the TIFF bump, according to chief programming officer Anita Lee.
It follows major box office success for a string of titles from South Korea that benefitted from exposure at the festival.
These include Harbin and I, The Executioner in 2024, which ranked among the top 10 films of the year at the local box office after Toronto premieres, and Yoon Ga-eun’s The World Of Love, an independent film that proved a breakout commercial and critical hit.
“The buzz coming out of TIFF for Korean films has really supported their theatrical releases and we have seen increased increase from Asian countries as a result,” said Lee. “I believe the number of world premieres for Asian films in Galas, Special Presentations and Platform is a direct result of those successes.”
Among 18 world premieres for Asian features is Toronto’s first-ever Gala screening for a film from Vietnam, Nguyen Phan Quang Binh’s historical action epic Spirit Guardians: The Last Secret Of The First Emperor.
“We are really seeing Southeast Asia as a growing region,” said Lee. “They are starting to do more collaborations, such as Inherit [from Thai director Banjong Pisanthanakun with South Korea’s Barunson E&A as sales agent], which means films are being made at a slightly larger budget.”
Lee also noted a trend of what she calls “intercasting”, where top Asian talent from different nations star alongside one another. Examples include Wayne Wang’s Diary Of A Man Old Man, starring Japan’s Lily Franky with China’s Fan Bingbing, and Feng-i Fiona Roan’s Happily Ever After starring Taiwan’s Heather Chen alongside Taiwan-born K-pop star Shuhua from the group i-dle.
“We are starting to see more films with intercasting that we think will cross over and appeal to a broader international audience,” added Lee.
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