More from Mathew Scott
How the Beijing Film Fest Played a Crucial Role in the Career of Acclaimed Director Gu Xiaogang
Gu Xiaogang knows firsthand the impact that international film festivals can have. Gu turned to the Beijing International Film Festival back in 2018 in an effort to get his breakthrough feature, Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains, made. He took his film to BJIFF’s project market and he walked away with the funds he needed after […]
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Xixi Pictures Sets Its Sights on Building a Global Brand for Chinese TV Drama
China’s Xixi Pictures has arrived at the 61st MIPTV buoyed by a slate of recent successes that have helped the production house, based in Beijing and Shanghai, celebrate its fourth anniversary, but the company is nevertheless keen also to share with the international content community what’s on the immediate horizon. Over the past 12 months, […]
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Polish Director Agnieszka Zwiefka on Defying the Aging Process in Her Unique Doc ‘Vika!’
There’s a moment capturing the spirit that drives Agnieszka Zwiefka’s documentary Vika! and it involves the character at the center of the film — an 84-year-old Lithuanian-born Polish DJ — as she sums up her dress sense, as much as she does her life “The older I get, the more colorful I become,” says Wirginia “Vika” […]
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Vilnius Festival CEO on How a New Generation of Filmmakers Is Shaping Lithuanian Cinema
Algirdas Ramaska was born into a family that ran Lithuania’s largest cinema, so it’s safe to say there was only really one way his life was going to go. And a life immersed in film has surely followed for the man who sits as both the CEO of the annual Vilnius International Film Festival (VIFF) […]
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China Sets Sights on Global Expansion at Filmart
The China Pavilion has set up shop in the middle of this year’s Hong Kong Filmart for the third year running as it aims to share the story of the evolution of the country’s film industry. Organizers the China Film Co-production Corporation (CFCC) have brought data with them, they say reflects that there are more […]
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Filmart: Meet Hong Kong’s Latest Superhero (and He’s Made of Poop)
For a world grown weary of familiar superheroes, fear not! A new hero is on the way — and he’s made out of poop. The Excreman — On the Road is the working title of a new production from Hong Kong’s Bliss Concepts, the company that produced the massive McDull franchise in the early 2000s, […]
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Filmart: How Multi-Award Winner ‘Abang Adik’ Carries the Hopes of Malaysian Cinema
While the moving Malaysian drama Abang Adik has cleaned up at numerous award ceremonies around the world, its director is hoping his debut feature’s lasting legacy lands a little closer to home. “I really hope we can inspire the next generation of Malaysian filmmakers, and to show that even small Malaysia films can find a […]
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Filmart: Alibaba Set to Inject $640M Into Hong Kong Entertainment Industry
China’s vast Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group (ADME) on Monday announced plans to inject $640 million into Hong Kong’s entertainment industry, with funds to be spread across movies, TV dramas, events and training for the city’s emerging artists. The “Hong Kong Cultural and Art Industry Revitalization Program” was launched during the first day of […]
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Filmart: Composer Eiko Ishibashi on ‘Evil Does Not Exist’ and How Punk Rock Remains In Her Heart
Eiko Ishibashi provides more than just music for Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s movies, with her compositions being central to the Japanese filmmaker’s dramas, so much so that they take on the life of a supporting character. There have been consecutive Asian Film Awards (AFA) wins for Ishibashi’s work on, first, the Oscar-winning Drive My Car and, this […]
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Filmart: Nick Cheuk Talks Grief, Creativity and Hong Kong Cinema
Nick Cheuk’s debut feature was a small film about a very big topic. For Time Still Turns the Page, the Hong Kong director trained his focus on the issue of youth suicide, one that directly affected the filmmaker 14 years ago, when a friend at university died by suicide. It’s a film that comes fraught […]
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Filmart: New Genre Initiative Taps into CAA Connections
A new funding initiative is being launched at this year’s Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (Filmart) that leans on the commercial nous of Creative Artists Agency (CAA) to help guide the fortunes of emerging Chinese-language filmmakers. Labeled the HKIFF Industry-CAA China Genre Initiative, or HCC, this collaboration between the Hong Kong International Film […]
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China’s Hainan Film Festival Accused of Not Paying Prize Money to Past Winners
China’s 5th Hainan Island International Film Festival (HIIFF) welcomed an esteemed roster of global movie figures including jury head and Palme d’Or-winning auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan when it opened on Dec. 16, with local state media hailing the event for building new platforms for filmmakers to “communicate and collaborate.” But the festival continues to be shadowed by […]
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