city Busan: Last News

BTS be granted an alternative to – but not an exemption from – the country’s military service mandate.Mayor Park Heong-joon recently made a formal proposal requesting the presidential office  consider granting the K-pop group an alternative form of mandatory military service that is currently available to athletes and artists who have “helped elevate national prestige or cultural advancement”, said officials on August 18, per Yonhap News Agency.The mayor cited BTS’ roles as ambassadors for Busan’s bid to host the World City Expo in 2030 as a reason for his proposal. According to Yonhap News Agency, Park expects an “aggressive promotional drive” by BTS would grant the city a competitive edge amid an “increasingly fierce” competition to host the 2030 Expo.“I do not mean to give BTS the privilege of exemption from military service.

Naman Ramachandran Prolific Indian studio Applause Entertainment is celebrating its fifth anniversary with a flourishing streaming slate, several films, an ambitious expansion model and a doubling down on investment.The company is led by CEO Sameer Nair, a pioneer of Indian television with previous stints at Star TV, NDTV Imagine, Turner General Entertainment, and Balaji Telefilms.On the film front, Applause’s Hindi-language “The Rapist,” by Aparna Sen, won the prestigious Kim Jiseok award at Busan in 2021. Next up is a film by actor-director Nandita Das, whose last film “Manto” was at Cannes.

Welcome back to another edition of International Insider. This week, you’ve got me, Jesse Whittock, taking you through the big stories from beyond the U.S. shores.

Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has announced the 29 projects selected for this year’s Asian Project Market (APM), a core strand of the festival’s industry activities, including new works from Thailand’s Aditya Assarat, China’s Wang Qi, Vietnam’s Le Bao and Myanmar’s Maung Sun, whose producer Ma Aeint is currently in prison in Yangon.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Asian Project Market, the film financing event attached to the Busan festival’s Asian Contents & Film Market, will return this year as an in-person event. To increase the focus on regional projects it has selected 29 titles and excluded those from outside Asia.The APM will be held at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO) and run Oct.

Marta Balaga German director Lukas Nathrath has already lined up his next projects, Variety has found out. Following ensemble drama “One Last Evening,” which nabbed him Locarno Film Festival’s Cinegrell First Look Award consisting of post-production service worth €50,000, he will turn to “Bourgeois Paranoia” next.A mixture of dark comedy and psychological thriller, it will be set in the near future, when rents have become unaffordable and the roommate selection process goes off the rails.

Lukas Nathrath’s One Last Evening Wins Locarno Pro’s First Look Prize

Naman Ramachandran India’s Yoodlee Films is expanding its Malayalam-language slate with “Kaapa,” starring Prithviraj Sukumaran (“Driving License”), one of the top stars of the industry.Directed by veteran Shaji Kailas (“August 15”), the film, billed as an action thriller, also stars Asif Ali (“Kuttavum Shikshayum”), Aparna Balamurali, who recently won India’s national film award for best actress for “Soorarai Pottru,” and Anna Ben (“Helen”).“Kaapa,” which has started principal photography, is co-produced by Jinu V. Abraham and Dolwin Kuriakose for Theatre of Dreams and the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) Writers Union, the first ever film backed by FEFKA.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentFilms from Maze Pictures, producer of Colin Firth-starrer “The Happy Prince,” and from Basis Berlin, behind Oscar-nominated doc feature “Of Father and Sons,” figure among the six pix in post to be highlighted at Locarno’s First Look on German Cinema, which is shaping up as one of the festival’s industry highlights.Maze and Basis Berlin will unveil what look on paper like the section’s biggest commercial plays: Drug scene drama “Three Lives Long” and Iran-set social thriller “Empty Nets.”First Look’s most classic art house play may be Milena Aboyan’s “Elaha,” a Kurd bride-to-be emancipation drama set in contemporary Germany.Two other titles have more of an indie tenor: Pan-Europe road movie “Arthur & Diana” and farewell dinner dramedy “One Last Evening.” “Life is Not a Competition, But I’m Winning” weighs in as an arch film essay from queer feminist activist Julia Fuhr.Five of the six works in progress are first features, making the First Look on German Cinema an effective new talent showcase. The directors, however, are not all totally German, three being born outside Germany – a sign of the welcome larger inclusivity and pulling power of today’s German film industry.Selected projects, none with a sales agent attached, will be awarded by a jury of major festival directors made up of Vanja Kaludjercic (International Film Festival Rotterdam), Tricia Tuttle (BFI London Film Festival) and HUH Moonyung (Busan International Film Festival).Awards take in the Cinegrell First Look Award, which consists of services towards the completion of films in post-production up to the value of €50,000 ($51,000). A brief drill-down on titles:“Arthur & Diana,” (Dir: Sara Summa.

Naman Ramachandran Marathi-language Indian romance film “Toh, Ti ani Fuji” (“Him, Her and Fuji”) will start principal photography across across India and Japan from September.The film, written by Irawati Karnik (“Anandi Gopal”) and to be directed by Mohit Takalkar (“Medium Spicy”), revolves around a passionate love affair that turns toxic due to a change in priorities, opposite personality traits and unfair demands. When the former couple unexpectedly meet in Japan seven years later, the relationship could be rekindled.

Manori Ravindran International EditorThe Belfast Film Festival has named Variety film critic Jessica Kiang and Rose Baker as its new programmers, and has also launched an inaugural feature competition.Kiang and Baker will serve as the creative leads for this year’s BFF, which runs from Nov. 3-12.

BTS have officially been announced as the ambassadors for the World Expo 2030 in Busan, Korea by the expo’s Bid Committee.The appointment was announced by BTS’ management HYBE’s headquarters in Seoul on July 19. BTS leader RM also made a statement in a press release to Billboard, saying: “We are honoured to be appointed ambassadors for World Expo 2030 Busan.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Asian Cinema Fund, a bursary scheme for film and documentary projects operated alongside the Busan International Film Festival, has announced six Korean recipients and seven hailing from elsewhere in Asia. The fund was put on hiatus during the two years of COVID, which also reduced the festival in size and turned the Asian Contents & Film Market into a virtual event. Three winners – “In the Land of Brothers,” by Raha Amirfazali, “Life I Stole,” by Putri Purnama Sugua and “Smart City,” by Rohin Raveendran – each receive KRW10 million ($7,50) for script development and are invited to participate in the ACFM’s Asian Project Market.

Naman Ramachandran A wealth of film and TV titles are available at launch on streamer Studiocanal Presents, which is now available as an Amazon Prime Video channel in the U.K.Some 300 films and series from Studiocanal’s catalogue are available at launch, including Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now: Final Cut” in 4K; Brian Helgeland’s “Legend”; Joel and Ethan Coen’s “Inside Llewyn Davis”; a digitally restored version of Carol Reed’s “The Third Man”; Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here,” zombie horror “Train to Busan” and Céline Sciamma’s “Girlhood.”Also available are Nicolas Roeg’s “The Man Who Fell To Earth” and Sidney Lumet’s “Murder on the Orient Express,” award-winners “Manchester by the Sea” and “Room,” seminal titles like Luis Buñuel’s “Belle de Jour” and Jean-Luc Godard’s “Breathless” and modern British classics “Submarine” and “Four Lions.” Other recent additions include Sharon Stone classic “Basic Instinct” and John Carpenter’s “Escape From New York.” Studiocanal Presents also offers TV series showcasing the best of Studiocanal and Canal+’s own TV productions, including “Hannibal,” “Spiral” and “All the Way Up,” which broke streaming records upon its launch on Canal+ in France.A variety of new titles will launch on the channel every month, many of which can’t be streamed anywhere else in the U.K. New titles arriving include “Possessions,” “Animal Kingdom” and “The Guard.” After a seven-day free trial the service costs £4.99 ($6) a month.

Naman Ramachandran After the twin successes of “Aranyak” on Netflix and “Rocket Boys” on SonyLIV, Siddharth Roy Kapur’s Roy Kapur Films has revealed eight more series in development and production for 2022-23.Vishnuvardhan, director of war film “Shershaah,” the highest streamed Indian film on Amazon Prime Video in 2021, will make his series directorial debut with a sweeping multi-season epic action drama, which will tell the story of an integral part of India’s 20th century military history.From Malayalam cinema, Mahesh Narayanan, whose film credits include “C U Soon” and “Malik,” will direct a multi-season spy thriller set across the Middle East and South Asia.Hardik Mehta, director of the Busan title “Kaamyaab” and the Netflix show “Decoupled,” will direct a family drama series set across Europe, Africa and India set in the world of warring business families.

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures is set to remake critically acclaimed South Korean crime thriller The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil with original star Don Lee (aka Ma Dong-seok) reprising his lead role as a gang boss looking for redemption in the studio’s U.S. version.

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros.’ “Elvis,” directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks, debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £4.02 million ($4.9 million), according to numbers released by Comscore.After two weeks at the top, Universal’s “Jurassic World: Dominion” was in second place in its third weekend with £3.4 million for a total of £27.1 million.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefK-pop superstars BTS have committed to playing a live concert in support of Busan as host city of the 2030 World Expo. The group has also been appointed as ambassadors for the bid.Bang Si-Hyuk, chairman of BTS’ management agency HYBE, and the company’s CEO Park Jiwon on Friday (local time) signed an agreement with Busan Metropolitan City mayor Park Heong-joon.The deal commits the band to the concert and a range of related tasks.

Dennis Harvey Film CriticOne of the most enjoyable South Korean action movies in recent years, 2017’s “The Outlaws” was a deft mix of brutal gang-warfare thrills and Keystone Cops comedics. It provided an ideal vehicle for Ma Dong-seok aka Don Lee (“Train to Busan” and “Eternals”) as the police investigator whose hit-first-ask-permission-later methods regularly got the job done while infuriating his superiors.That burly protagonist and his sidekicks are back in “The Roundup,” which despite a different directorial (newbie Lee Sang-yong replacing the prior edition’s Kang Yoon-seong) and writing crew, maintains the original’s strengths.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentAndres Ramirez Pulido’s “La Jauria” won the Grand Prize at Critics’ Week, the Cannes Film Festival’s sidebar dedicated to first and second features. The Colombian film also won the SACD prize.

Jessica Kiang Nobody does convoluted like Park Chan-wook. Far beyond the point that Theseus himself would have given up and turned to a pile of desiccated bones in some dead-end nook, the Korean master behind “Oldboy” and “The Handmaiden” will be coolly sauntering through another of his immaculately intricate labyrinths, pausing very occasionally — with perhaps the slightest trace of irritation — to make sure the laggards in the back can keep up.