city Busan: Last News

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hong Kong multi-hyphenate Peter Chan Ho-sun is far too intellectual to call himself an “arms dealer,” as Sony Pictures has in casting itself as an unattached supplier to streaming platforms. But politeness and Bob Dylan references aside, Chan’s new company, Changin’ Pictures, aims to become a major independent purveyor of premium Asian TV content for the streamers. The company is using this week’s Busan International Film Festival as its launchpad and will unveil the first five series of its 20-title pan-Asian slate.  Chan’s thesis is that global audiences are hungry for Asian content but have not been able to access it easily under legacy film and TV distribution systems. With streaming making everything accessible everywhere, and audiences no longer balking at subtitles, quality Asian drama can and will travel.

Kim Jung Gi, the celebrated South Korean cartoonist, died of a 'sudden' heart attack on Monday at the age of 47 while in Paris for an exhibition of his work. The influential comic book artist was preparing to leave the French capital and fly to New York City for an appearance at Comic Con when he experienced chest pains at the airport. Jung Gi was rushed to the hospital where he later passed away, according to an official statement shared on his verified social media accounts.  Gone too soon: Kim Jung Gi, the celebrated South Korean cartoonist, died of a 'sudden' heart on Monday at the age of 47 while in Paris for an exhibition of his work'It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we inform you of the sudden passing of Kim Jung Gi,' the statement began.'After finishing his last schedule in Europe, Jung Gi went to the airport to fly to New York, where he experienced chest pains and was taken to a nearby hospital for surgery, but sadly passed away.' Born in 1975 in the province of Kyongki-Do South Korea, the lifelong artist officially began his career at the age of nineteen by attending Dong-Eui University in Busan before serving two years in the South Korean Army's Special Forces Unit. Kim eventually got his start drawing for South Korean comic books before he created his own publication called Tiger the Long Tail. He would go on to become 'one of the absolute greats,' according to a series of tweets by Jim Lee, the publisher and chief creative officer of DC Comics.

Activist and Nobel Peace Laureate Malala Yousafzai has joined Pakistani film “Joyland’s” team as Executive Producer, a Variety report stated. “Joyland,” directed by Saim Sadiq, is Pakistan’s official submission in the foreign language film category at the Oscars. Yousafzai is backing the film through her own production company, Extracurricular Productions. 

Naman Ramachandran Arvind Pratap’s “Mariam,” which has post production support from the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Cinema Fund, tackles a range of social issues in India. Millions of families from rural India move to the big cities in search of employment and “Mariam” follows one such migrant worker family. The breadwinner is Mariam, who has to look after her three daughters and also takes on an illegal surrogate pregnancy to earn for her family in Mumbai. Pratap, who previously directed the acclaimed “The Reluctant Crime,” got the idea for the film from a newspaper article detailing changes in the Surrogacy Regulation Bill by the Indian Supreme Court, where single parents were excluded from surrogacy.

Busan International Film Festival. It has been a struggle for Asian film festivals and rights markets to return to normal as conservative governments and reticent populations warily and belatedly embraced reduced quarantine periods, the end of mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing. But Wednesday night’s hosts were at pains to stress that this year’s 27th BIFF is operating at full capacity. “I can’t tell you how emotional I am tonight,” said Lee Yong-kwan co-founder of the festival and now its chairman.

Rebecca Souw Leading independent sales agency Finecut has picked up rights representation duties for “Greenhouse,” which will play this week in the Busan International Film Festival’s Vision section. The director, Lee Sol-hui previously saw her Korean Academy of Film Arts graduation short film “Anthill” play in the festival’s Wide Angle: Korean Short Form Competition. With Kim Seo-hyung (“The Villainess”) in the lead role, the film tracks the pain and suffering of a woman who suffers a psychological disorder. Also new on the company’s line up at the Asian Contents & Film Market is revenge-themed thriller “Christmas Carol,” adapted from a Korean best-selling novel of the same name. Directed by Kim Sung Soo, who also made “Save Me,” a 2010 cult series on Korean cable channel, OCN. The film has the ingredients for a fan following among K-Pop fans as it stars boyband, GOT7’s Park Jinyoung.

Naman Ramachandran Malala Yousafzai, who heads her own film and TV production company, Extracurricular Productions, is joining “Joyland,” Pakistan’s Oscar submission in the international feature category, as an executive producer. The film had its world premiere at Cannes earlier this year where it won the Queer Palm and the jury prize at the festival’s Un Certain Regard strand. It subsequently had its North American premiere at Toronto. It is currently playing at both the BFI London Film Festival, where it is competing for the Sutherland Award, which recognizes the most original and imaginative directorial debut, and the Busan International Film Festival, where it is in the A Window on Asian Cinema strand.

BTS from compulsory military service.On October 4 at the National Defence Committee’s interpellation session, Lee was asked for his opinion on a bill proposed by Kim Young-bae of the Democratic Party of Korea last month, which aims to allow pop celebrities like BTS, who have received merits from the government, to serve an alternative form of military service.According to KoreaJoongAngDaily, the defence minister stated that it is “desirable that members of BTS carry out their mandatory military service”. However, Lee also added that he would “respect the revised law if it does pass in Congress”.This follows the statement he made shortly after Kim’s bill was proposed, in which Lee said it would be “difficult” to extend this alternative [military service] programme to BTS due to “aspects of fairness on fulfilling mandatory military service”.In his original proposal, Kim suggested for existing provisions for athletes, actors, directors and classical musicians who have made a significant international impact be made available to decorated pop musicians such as BTS.

TheSingapore Film Commission has selected He Shuming’s Singapore-Korea co-production Ajoomma as its submission to the best international feature category at the Oscars.

Rebecca Souw Multifaceted Korean film company Acemaker Movieworks will unveil four titles at this year’s Asian Contents & Film Market, which operates alongside the Busan International Film Festival. Action and revenge feature prominently as unifying themes. The COVID pandemic continues to have a delayed impact on the Korean production and film releasing scenes. Last year’s prolonged theatrical drought meant funds for reinvestment were in short supply and releases postponed. Many of Acemaker’s movies were shot in 2020, but are only now confirming completion and new release dates. “Remember” is an action drama film starring Lee Sung Min (“The Spy Gone North”) and Nam Joo Hyuk (best known for TV series “Start-Up” and “Twenty-Five Twenty-One”). Directed by Lee Il Hyung (“A Violent Prosecutor”), the story revolves around a retired soldier suffering from dementia, seeking revenge from people he believes caused the death of his family. The film is a remake of Atom Egoyan’s Nazi drama thriller of the same name that starred the late Christopher Plummer. “Remember” will have its theatrical release in Korea on Oct. 26, 2022.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Projects starring Donnie Yen and Zhang Ziyi are among the independently produced TV series to be launched on the sidelines of this week’s Busan International Film Festival. The company responsible is Changin’ Pictures, a would-be studio being hatched by Hong Kong-based film director and producer Peter Chan Ho-sun. Propelled by the growing recognition of Asian talent and the worldwide distribution potential of multinational SVOD platforms, Changin’ Pictures aims to be a powerhouse production hub suppling premium drama content to streaming players. The company has raised very substantial finance from Asian sources and aims to develop and produce series which it will pitch and license to the platforms, without recourse to the OTT companies’ production funding, greenlighting and editorial constraints.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief EST Studios, the film company established this year by 88Rising co-founder Jaeson Ma and former Vice Media executive Eric Tu, has struck a partnership arrangement with China’s Hugoeast Media. The partnership is looking at an initial slate of eight projects, with EST Studios representing sales at the major film markets including the upcoming Asian Contents and Film Market and Asian Project Market at the Busan International Film Festival. EST will be the exclusive representative for Hugoeast’s titles in North America. In other territories (outside of China) it will handle them on a non-exclusive basis.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japanese indie sales Firm Free Stone Productions has added a quartet of new titles to its line-up in time for the rights markets in Busan and Tokyo. The company is unable to travel to Busan and will meet with clients virtually at the Asian Contents & Film Market. The TIFFCOM market, which runs alongside the Tokyo International Film Festival later in the month, is anyway a virtual event. Top of the list is “In Her Room,” a romance about a young dentist who embarks on a romance with a mysterious woman but cannot figure her out. The film will play in the Nippon Cinema Now section of the Tokyo festival and have a Japanese commercial release from January. It is the feature debut if Ito Chihiro and stars Iguchi Satoru, Baba Fumika and Kawai Yuumi.

Two half-brothers - played by Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke - reunite to bury the father they both hated in the new trailer for Raymond & Ray.The film had its world premiere at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival in September, and it's set to play at the Busan International Film Festival and Chicago International Film Festival in October.The film, written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia (Last Days in the Desert), debuting in theaters October 14 before arriving on Apple TV Plus October 21. Trailer: Two half-brothers - played by Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke - reunite to bury the father they both hated in the new trailer for Raymond & Ray Coming soon: The film, written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia (Last Days in the Desert), debuting in theaters October 14 before arriving on Apple TV Plus October 21The trailer begins with Raymond (McGregor) knocking on Ray's (Hawke) door, telling his half-brother, 'Our father is dead.''His last wish was that his sons attend his funeral,' Raymond says, as Ray replies, 'You don't have to go.

Netflix has shared a first look at the upcoming original Korean film 20th Century Girl, which follows the lives and loves of 17-year-old girls in 1999.The extended preview was shared as part of the streaming platform’s TUDUM event today (September 24), in which upcoming content for the rest of 2022 and beyond was revealed.The film was introduced by All Of Us Are Dead star Cho Yi-hyun, who described it as “depicting friendships and first love of 17-year-old girls”. “The movie is titled 20th Century Girl, starring Kim Yoo-jung,” she added.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Full and proper confirmation of a second season of mystery horror series “Hellbound” was high on the agenda of Netflix’s consumer-oriented Tudum presentation. Korean shows have repeatedly achieved top ratings among the streamer’s non-English roster, and last November’s release of “Hellbound” was the show that finally edged aside “Squid Game” after several weeks of breakthrough success. (The Tudum presentation offered “Squid Game” fans some extra footage that confirmed the identity of the mysterious ‘front man’. Take a look here.) “Hellbound” is derived from a webtoon created by series director Yeon Sang-ho, who previously directed “Train to Busan” and “Peninsula.” It featured otherworldly angels who emerged to condemn individuals to hell at a specific future time, minutes or years away.

BTS have released a music video for ‘Yet to Come (Hyundai Ver.)’, a British rock remix of the septet’s latest title track.The new visual sees BTS performing the song live from a rooftop, interspersed with shots of children playing soccer, as well as crowds and families tuning in to watch World Cup events.“We’re going straight to the stars, they never thought we’d make it this far / Now the vision is clear, the goal of the century is here,” Suga and J-hope declare in revised lyrics for the chorus.The remixed version of ‘Yet to Come’ was produced in partnership with Hyundai as part of ‘Goal of the Century’, the car company’s promotional campaign for the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup. Following the track’s release, Hyundai is set to launch the #TeamCentury12 challenge on TikTok to promote the messaging behind BTS’ track.BTS are also set to hold a free live performance in Busan next month.

Naman Ramachandran British-Sri Lankan actor Nimmi Harasgama has returned to the U.K. stage after nearly a decade with “Silence,” a co-production between Donmar Warehouse and Tara Theatre. Harasgama, who was a member of the U.K.’s National Youth Theatre and went on to get a BA in drama and theater arts at Goldsmiths College, London University, has also trained at Groundlings Improv School and Lesly Kahn and Co Drama School in Los Angeles. The actor shot to international prominence with a brace of films by Sri Lankan auteur Prasanna Vithanage – “August Sun” (2003), for which she won best actress at Las Palmas, and “Flowers of the Sky” (2008), which premiered at Busan. After some shorts and roles in BBC series “Doctors,” Harasgama had an extended run on the U.K. stage in productions such as “The Snow Queen” (Unicorn Theatre); “Gandhi and Coconuts” (Kali Theatre Company); “Aunty Netta’s Holiday for Asylum” (Tamasha Theatre Company – Edinburgh Festival Fringe); and “Handful of Henna” (Rasa Theatre Company).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean film producer Baek Jaeho has been named as the inaugural recipient of the Choon-yun Award, a prize set up in honor of Lee Choon-yun, the late chairman of the Korean Association of Film Art & Industry. The award, worth KRW10 million ($7,100), will be presented on the sidelines of the Busan International Film Festival on Oct. 6 in conjunction with IOK Company. Baek participated in the production of 2021 title “Snowball” and was previously involved in indie films “Jane” in 2016 and last year’s “Role.” He also acts and directs. Veteran director Kang Je-kyu praised Baek as ”a filmmaker who maintains his values and outspreads his potential in the insufficient independent film environment.”

BTS’ Order of Cultural Merit awarded by former president Moon Jae-In in 2018 — should be allowed to serve an alternative form of military service.Korea JoongAng Daily reported on September 21 that Defence Minister Lee has since responded to the proposal, saying that it would be “difficult” to extend this alternative [military service] programme to BTS due to “aspects of fairness on fulfilling mandatory military service” during an interpellation at the National Assembly held on September 19.Kim Young-bae’s original proposal suggests that existing provisions in place for athletes, actors, directors and classical musicians who have made a significant international impact should be expanded to include decorated pop celebrities. “Korean pop celebrities active in the international field make unimaginable economic and social contributions,” said Kim, per The Korea Times.He also added that BTS’ recent appointment as ambassadors of Busan City is one way the boyband are actively serving South Korea’s national interests.

BTS have announced that their upcoming ‘Yet To Come’ concert in Busan will be livestreamed on Weverse and on South Korean television for free.The K-pop juggernauts are slated to perform at the ‘Yet To Come’ concert in the South Korean city of Busan on October 15 at the Busan Asiad Main Stadium for free, organised in support of the city’s bid to host the World City Expo in 2030.On September 20, Big Hit Music took to BTS’ official Weverse page to announce that the upcoming gig will be livestreamed on the fan community platform free of cost as well.The concert will be streamed in real-time from October 15 at 6pm KST, with subtitles available in eight languages, including English, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish. Fans will have the option of viewing the concert livestream either through Weverse’s mobile or smart TV apps.Other platforms previously announced to be offering complimentary livestreams of ‘Yet To Come’ also include ZEPETO and Naver Now.