Hong Kong: Last News

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Superstar Japanese auteur Hamaguchi Ryusuke will unveil “Gift,” a companion piece to his recent “Evil Does Not Exist” as a one-off live performance at next month’s Hong Kong International Film Festival. Following the success of his breakout “Drive My Car,” which won the Oscar for best international feature film, Hamaguchi initially made “Gift” as a silent film project to accompany the live performance of Ishibashi Eiko, the music composer of both “Drive” and later “Evil.” From the same project, Hamaguchi also derived “Evil Does Not Exist,” which then went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at last year’s Venice International Film Festival.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Janet Yang, the Los Angeles-based producer and president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, has been appointed as an independent non-executive director to the board of Imax China, a subsidiary of premium large format cinema company Imax that has its own share listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company, Wednesday, reported a return to net profits of $27.5 million for the 2023 calendar year. That compared with net profit of $10.8 million in 2022.

Naman Ramachandran The Asian Film Awards Academy has revealed several events around the annual Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong. Veteran filmmakers, jury president of this year’s awards, Japan’s Kurosawa Kiyoshi and Hong Kong’s Fruit Chan, will share their filmmaking experiences and artistic concepts in a joint masterclass. Thai star Metawin Opas-Iamkajorn (“2gether” series and film) known as Win, will be honored with the AFA Rising Star Award and the event will host the world premiere of his new film “Under Parallel Skies.” There will also be six themed panel discussions featuring actors Wan Fang (Taiwan), Rachel Leung and Yoyo Tse (both Hong Kong), Tergel Bold-Erdene (Mongolia), Awat Ratanapintha (Thailand) and Shirata Mihaya (Japan).

Naman Ramachandran Pankaj Udhas, the Indian singer renowned as an exponent of the ghazal form of musical poetry, died in Mumbai after a prolonged illness. He was 72. Udhas’ daughter Nayaab revaled the news via an Instagram post: “With a very heavy heart, we are saddened to inform you of the sad demise of Padmashri Pankaj Udhas on 26th February 2024 due to a prolonged illness.” Udhas debuted with ghazal album “Aahat” in 1980.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief France’s Canal+ Group said that it has increased its stake in multi-territory Asian streaming platform Viu to 30%. “This additional investment underlines the confidence that Canal+ has in Viu and its teams. It also highlights the determination of Canal+ to make Asia its next growth vector, through its strategic partnership with PCCW, and through an acceleration of growth at Viu, a premium streaming service present in Asia, the Middle East and South Asfrica,” the French group said in a statement.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hybe, the Korean entertainment group behind BTS, saw revenues and profits both grow by more than a fifth in 2023 as album sales doubled and post-COVID conditions allowed more concerts. The company Monday reported annual revenues of KRW2.17 trillion ($1.63 billion), up 23% compared with 2022. Net profits reached KRW187 million, more that three times 2022’s depressed result and exceeding 2021’s figure.

Lucas Wong, a former member of boybands NCT and WayV, has addressed his past controversies in a brand-new documentary titled Freeze. Lucas Wong released part one of Freeze on February 24 to his newly opened YouTube channel, who appears to be making his return to the music industry as an artist under SM Entertainment.

Air, Laurel Halo and Laurent Garnier are among the names that have been added to the lineup for 2024’s Sónar Festival in Barcelona. The music festival, which is known for highlighting dance and electronic music culture, is set to run from Thursday June 13 to Sunday June 15, 2024, and tickets are on sale here. In December, Kaytranada, Jessie Ware and Vince Staples were among the first raft of names announced for next year’s edition of Sónar Barcelona.

Jessica Kiang With a title that itself feels like a soothing murmur, Hong Kong director Ray Yeung‘s “All Shall Be Well” returns to the social and lifestage milieu of his well-received 2019 later-life gay romance “Suk Suk,” and occupies a similarly melancholic, placatory register. But those hoping for a renewal, or maybe even an amping up of “Suk Suk”s restrained interrogation of internalized and externalized homophobia within Hong Kong’s economically advanced but culturally conservative middle class, may be a little disappointed. Although his fourth film revolves around a sixty-something lesbian couple, Yeung’s focus is broader, not sharper.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for “Home” the series finale of “Expats,” now streaming on Prime Video. “Keep on living” is the theme of the series finale of Lulu Wang’s “Expats.” It wraps up the grief, loss and pain Margaret (Nicole Kidman), Mercy (Ji-Young Yoo) and Hilary (Sarayu Blue) have been experiencing throughout. In the final episode of “Expats,” Wang seeks to show how the women at the center of the story move forward and find peace and resolution in their lives.

Ernst Lubitsch, Stanley Kubrick and Roman Polanski are among eight older titles set to play at next month’s Hong Kong International Film Festival. Lubitsch’s 1920 farce “Kohlhiesel’s Daughters,” will be presented with a live music accompaniment by the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble. And, despite rumors to the contrary, Kubrick’s first feature, “Fear and Desire,” has been preserved intact and will play at the festival with nine minutes of previously deleted footage.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Hong Kong director Ray Yeung ‘s “All Shall Be Well” has sold in several key markets following its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Represented in international markets by Films Boutique, “All Shall Be Well” is playing in the Panorama section at the Berlinale and is eligible for the Teddy Award.

MAY 202402: Seoul, South Korea03: Seoul, South Korea04: Seoul, South Korea11: Osaka, Japan12: Osaka, Japan18: Jakarta, Indonesia25: Tokyo, Japan26: Tokyo, JapanJUNE 202402: Nagoya, Japan15: Hong Kong, China16: Hong Kong, China22: Bangkok, Thailand23: Bangkok, Thailand29: Singapore, Singapore30: Singapore, SingaporeAUGUST 202410: Manila, the Philippines11: Manila, the PhilippinesTBALatin America: August to September 2024US: September 2024Europe: October to November 20242024 NCT DREAM WORLD TOUR <THE DREAM SHOW 3>SEOUL ➫ 2024.05.02-04OSAKA ➫ 2024.05.11-12JAKARTA ➫ 2024.05.18TOKYO ➫ 2024.05.25-26NAGOYA ➫ 2024.06.02HONG KONG ➫ 2024.06.15-16BANGKOK ➫ 2024.06.22-23SINGAPORE ➫ 2024.06.29-30MANILA ➫ 2024.08.10-11LATAM ➫… pic.twitter.com/L6FeXT8dVS— NCT DREAM (@NCTsmtown_DREAM) February 20, 2024In other touring news, K-pop girl group aespa have announced their upcoming 2024 ‘SYNK: Parallel Line’ world tour, featuring concerts in Asia, Australia and more.

aespa have announced their upcoming 2024 ‘SYNK: Parallel Line’ world tour, featuring concerts in Asia, Australia and more.Today (February 19), the K-pop girl group announced their new tour, titled ‘SYNK: Parallel Line’, on their official Weverse artist page. aespa’s 2024 tour currently features 19 concerts across 13 different cities in Asia and Australia from June to September 2024.The tour will kick off at the end of June with a two-night concert in Seoul, South Korea.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Production firm Movierock and rights sales outfit Hive Filmworks are in advanced production on “Hear Me: Our Summer,” a Korean remake of hit 2009 romance film “Hear Me” from Taiwan. The story involves a motorbike delivery man who falls in love with a hearing-impaired younger woman. Comparing themselves with water birds and trees the pair slowly try to break through the barriers in their relationship, pursue their dreams and take things to the next level. The retread stars Hong Kyung, who has a recent string of appearances including Netflix’s “D.P,” “TV’s Revenant” and “Hero,” and the upcoming “Troll Factory.” Co-star Roh Yoon-seo has credits in “Crash Course in Romance” and “Our Blues” and is currently one of the most ubiquitous faces in Korea thanks to her position as the face of the Paris Baguette bakery and café chain. Stylistically, the adaptation aims for the feel of Iwai Shunji’s pan-Asian hit “Love Letter,” and is directed by Jo Seon-ho, who previously made “A Day.” Movierock previously produced a 2018 Korean remake of 2004 Japanese hit “Be With You.” The film is already being pre-sold to multiple territories in Asia.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Hong Kong-Europe-Asian Film Collaboration Funding Scheme being launched this week in Berlin is intended as a major component of an exercise in rehabilitating and internationalizing the Hong Kong film industry. In unprecedented fashion, the territory’s Film Development Council is getting ready to start giving cash grants to movie projects that don’t necessarily have to shoot in the city or even use one of its three official languages.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief In January, when Netflix unveiled its slate of Chinese-language original productions for 2024, all of them turned out to be Taiwanese. Not Chinese. And not from Hong Kong, a territory that once produced over 300 movies a year in multiple Chinese dialects.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Asia Argento (“xXx,” “Land of the Dead”) and Melvil Poupaud (“Speed Racer,” “Laurence Anyways”) will star in French crime thriller “Stronger Than the Devil.” The project will be pitched for the first time at the European Film Market, attached to the Berlin Film Festival, by All Rights Entertainment, the Hong Kong, Paris and Los Angeles-based film sales agency which has picked up the rights. The picture, which heads into production later this month, is written and directed by Graham Guit (“Les Kidnappeurs,” “Hello, Goodbye”). The finished film is expected to be completed by the autumn.

The build-up to the 74th Berlin Film Festival (Feb 15 – Feb 25) has been highly politicised and the international jury press conference this morning was no different.

Ellise Shafer During a press conference on Thursday, Berlinale jury president Lupita Nyong’o responded to the festival inviting and then disinviting politicians from far-right group AfD to its opening ceremony. “I’m a foreigner here. I don’t know the ins and outs of the political situation here,” Nyong’o said in response to a question asking if she would have attended the ceremony had the politicians still been invited.

Alex Ritman “Superpower,” the Sean Penn fronted and co-directed documentary following the Oscar-winner as he embeds himself with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky in the wake of Russia’s invasion, has scored new sales. Ahead of the Berlinale, where “Superpower” first premiered in 2023 while still in production, Fifth Season — which financed the film alongside Vice Studios — has unveiled broadcast deals with streamer Stan and Nine Network (Australia), Movistar Plus (Spain), HBO (CEE and Baltics), PCCW for Now TV (Hong Kong and Macau), DPG Media (Belgium), A+E Networks/History Channel (Germany) and Kyivstar TV (Ukraine).