Fran Borgia: Last News

Naman Ramachandran Prolific Singapore-based production company Akanga Film Asia, led by producer Fran Borgia, has revealed a robust film slate, including several global co-productions. Borgia and filmmaker Yeo Siew Hua teamed on 2018 film “A Land Imagined,” which reaped a rich haul of awards around the world including top prizes at Locarno, Golden Horse, El Gouna, Pingyao, Singapore and Valladolid. They have now re-teamed on “Stranger Eyes,” which is selected at the ongoing Venice Production Bridge’s gap financing market. The film follows master of surveillance Inspector Goh, who, as he keeps a close eye on a suspected credit card thief, is drawn into the suspect’s world and starts to see himself in the skin of the perpetrator. As it sets him to question the true meaning of his work, Goh is tasked to track down a serial voyeur on the loose who has been videotaping people’s most private moments.

Naman Ramachandran Bangkok-based Diversion has acquired world sales rights for Indian filmmaker Rima Das‘ acclaimed “Village Rockstars 2,” which has its European premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. The film is a follow-up to Das’ 2017 festival darling. The original “Village Rockstars” captivated audiences with its tale of 10-year-old Dhunu’s quest to own a guitar and form a rock band in her remote Assamese village.

Naman Ramachandran Michael Gracey’s “Better Man,” a profile of British pop star Robbie Williams, will open the 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) with its Asian premiere. The Australian production kicks off the festival’s run from Nov. 20-28 in Goa.

After becoming the first Singaporean filmmaker to win Locarno’s Golden Leopard for A Land Imagined, Yeo Siew Hua will break new ground again with mystery thriller Stranger Eyes, which is the first Singapore film to premiere in-competition at the Venice Film Festival.

Naman Ramachandran Singaporean director Yeo Siew Hua turns the lens on modern surveillance culture in his latest feature, ”Stranger Eyes,” which is vying for the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival. The film, which follows a couple grappling with their baby’s disappearance and the discovery of invasive surveillance footage, probes the psychological toll of constant observation in an increasingly interconnected world.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Singapore-based production company Akanga Film Asia has been set as the newly-launched Spanish Audiovisual Hub in Asia. It will seek to expand connections between the film, TV, animation and games industries of Spain and those in Asia. Akanga is headed by Fran Borgia, a Spanish producer who has Asian film production credits including Boo Junfeng’s “Apprentice,” Yeo Siew Hua’s Locarno-winning “A Land Imagined,” Kamila Andini’s “Yuni” and Amanda Nell Eu’s “Tiger Stripes.” The company was selected after a tender process initiated by the Economic and Commercial Office of Spain in Singapore, representing ICEX Spain Export and Investment.

EXCLUSIVE: Goodfellas has acquired world sales rights for Japanese filmmaker Chie Hayakawa’s Tokyo-set drama Renoir ahead of the project’s presentation in the Investors Circle event at the Cannes Marché du Film on Sunday.

Rima Das’ upcoming “Malati, My Love.” Das, who is known for her touching dramas from Assam in Northeast India, has become a regular of the international festival circuit. Recent titles include “Village Rockstars” and “Tora’s Husband.” The new film, which was launched at last year’s Asian Project Market in Busan, will shoot by 2025.

Naman Ramachandran India’s Film Bazaar, South Asia’s largest film market, has selected a range of projects from around the world for its annual co-production market. The 20 selected projects are from 11 countries, most are already structured as co-productions, and they are all South Asian-themed.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Six film projects currently at development stage have been selected to take part in a workshop session as part of mylab+@Jogja next month. The six share a common characteristic of Indonesian co-production and a recurring theme of luminescence. “This theme underscores the importance of having the distinctive light of Asian cinema arise from its own characteristics.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Tiger Stripes,” the Malaysian coming-of-age, body horror film that debuted in Cannes’ Critics Week section has been set as the opening title for this year’s Singapore International Film Festival (Nov. 30 – Dec.

Yeo Siew Hua, the Singaporean director whose “A Land Imagined” won the Locarno Film Festival’s top prize in 2018, has cast acclaimed Taiwanese actors Lee Kang-Sheng (“What Time Is It There?”, “Days”) and Wu Chien-Ho (“A Sun”) in his new “Stranger Eyes.” The film, a thriller with domestic surveillance at its core, is currently shooting. It is set to wrap post-production by early 2024 and start a festival run thereafter. International sales are handled by France’s Playtime.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Busan film festival’s Asian Project Market is set to welcome several of the region’s top auteurs either as producers or prospective directors at its next edition in October. APM organizers Thursday unveiled 30 projects to be presented during a four-day round of one-on-one meetings and pitching sessions. India’s Rima Das (“Tora’s Husband”) will pitch “Malti My Love.” Japan’s Fukada Koji (“Love Life,” “Harmonium”) will pitch “Nagi Notes.” Indonesia’s Makbul Mubarak (“Autobiography”) will pitch “Watch It Burn.” Among the successful producers adding their weight to APM contenders are: Patrick Mao Huang (“Moneyboys,” “Tiger Stripes”) selling Peter Ho’s project “Appetite for Desire”; Jeremy Chua (“Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” “Autobiography”), pitching Rafael Manuel’s “Filipinana”; Ichiyama Shozo (“Ash Is Puirest White”) pitching Song Fang’s Japan-China collaboration “Full Moon”; Fran Borgia (“A Land Imagined,” “Tiger Stripes”) pitching Aakash Chhabra’s “I’ll Smile in September”; and Tan Chui Mui (“Barbarian Invasion”) pitching Jian Xiaoshuan’s “To Kill A Mongolian Horse.” The project market and the Asian Contents & Film Market are both scheduled to operate Oct.

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.