PiFan to open with international premiere of M.W.

World premieres include closing film Merantau, directed by Gareth Evans, which is billed as the first martial arts film from Indonesia.

The features competition section includes six films from the West and six from the East (see line-up below) and will be judged by a jury headed by UK critic and festival programmer Tony Rayns.

In addition to the features and shorts competitions, festival sections also include World Fantastic Cinema, which will screen the world premiere of Kim Jee-yong’s Bloody Shake; animation section Ani Fanta, with the world premiere of Masahiko Murata’s Naruto Shippuden Movie 3; and Strange Hommage, which will present films from six genre masters – Sono Sion, Lee Man-hee, Uli Edel, Herman Yau, Naoto Takenaka and Claude Chabrol.

Meanwhile, the festival has also announced the jury for its genre projects market, Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF), which includes producers Nansun Shi, Chris Lee and Jooick Lee along with Tigergate CEO William Pfieffer.

NAFF’s annual country focus this year is on Singapore with the Singapore Film Commission supporting a showcase of five projects.

PiFan will run July 16-26, with the closing awards ceremony on July 23, followed by two days of encore screenings. NAFF will run July 19-23 with its awards ceremony also on July 23.

Puchon Choice Feature Competition:

The Beast Stalker (Hong Kong) Dante Lam

The Children (UK) Tom Shankland

Cold Souls (US) Sophie Barthes

The Forbidden Door (Indonesia) Joko Anwar

Invitation Only (Taiwan) Kevin Ko – international premiere

Kaifeck Murder (Germany) Esther Gronenborn – international premiere

Macabre (Singapore/Indonesia) The Mo Brothers – world premiere

Martyrs (France/Canada) Pascal Laugier

The Neighbor Zombie (Korea) Oh Young Doo, Ryu Hoon, Hong Young Guen, Jang Yoon Jung – world premiere

OSS117 Lost InRio (France) Michel Hazanavicius

Pontypool (Canada) Bruce McDonald

Private Eye (Korea) Park Dae Min