Cramming a continent’s worth of news into a single article is probably a very a bad idea but it offers a chance at a quick catch up of a small number of regional highlights.
The Shanghai International Film Festival opens in less than a fortnight and has more or less completed its various line-ups. The direct NZ interest seems to remain limited to the appointment of Vincent Ward as a jury member.
No NZ titles are selected although Aaron WILSON’s Toronto-premiered Australian title, Canopy, set and shot in Singapore, is one of four features announced this week to complete the Golden Goblet competition line-up.
The Shanghai IFF runs 14 – 22 June.
Also across the ditch, the Brisbane-hosted Asia-Pacific Screen Awards begins the slow wind up towards its December outing, announcing Iranian director and three-time APSA-winner Asghar Farhadi (A Separation) as this year’s jury president.
The APSA will run 11 December in Brisbane.
Up in Korea, genre-fest the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) has announced the 21 titles selected for its project market the Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF). Reaching well beyond Asia for this year’s selection, titles are included which hail in whole or part from Argentina, Canada, the UK and the US. Dev Benegal’s Dead, End from India takes up the spot it won in March at Hong Kong’s HAF project market.
PiFan runs 17 – 27 July. NAFF runs 20 – 23 July.
As noted in more detail right here, Attitude Pictures’ Jai Waite has been nominated for an Apollo Award. The awards run 18 June in Singapore.
And finally, if you’re in a generous mood, Laos’ first female feature director Mattie Do wants your help to make her second feature bloody brilliant.