The Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), which will go virtual for the second time, has selected 29 projects for this year’s edition, including six Indian films. The shortlisted projects, including nine documentaries, were selected from 321 submissions from 80 countries and regions, HAF said on Monday.
Every year, HAF brings Asian filmmakers with upcoming film projects to Hong Kong for co-production ventures with top film financiers, producers, bankers, distributors, and buyers.
Returning to its regular March slot, HAF will take place online from March 15-17, 2021 coinciding with Filmart Online, which runs between March 15 to March 18. HAF and Filmart also took place virtually in August 2020 due to rising cases of Covid-19 in Hong Kong.
Birthmark, directed by Aditya Vikram Sengupta (Labour Of Love), and The Catch, Rishi Chandna’s first feature film, are among the six Indian projects chosen for this year’s HAF. The Sinking Island, directed by Sourav Sarangi, along with three more Indian films, has been shortlisted in the documentary section.
China is represented by eight films, including Splash by Cai Chengjie.
In 2020, the event was pushed from April to August and finally canceled due to increasing Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong. Thus a virtual screening of the program was held during the CineFest event.
A few of the selections in the documentary and fictional categories of HAF are as follows:
DOCUMENTARIES:
Afloat (India)
Dir: Arkus
Prod: Gargi Chakrabarti
Prod co: Arkus Entertainment
Another World (India, Japan)
Dir: Tushar Madhav
Prods: Tushar Madhav, Shilpi Gulati
Prod co: Basic Bae Films
Gross National Happiness (Bhutan)
Dir: Arun Bhattarai
Prods: Arun Bhattarai, Noémi Szakonyi
Prod co: Sound Pictures
I Come From Ikotun (France, Hong Kong)
Dir: Wang Bing
Prod: Isabelle Glachant
Prod co: Chinese Shadows, Wil Productions
The Sinking Island (India)
Dir: Sourav Sarangi
Prods: Sourav Sarangi, George Kalomenopoulos, Riccardo Biadene
Prod co: Son et Lumiere
Vrindavan: City Of Widows (India, Canada, New Zealand)
Dir: Vikram Dasgupta
Prods: Alex Yoke-sun Lee, Marilyn McFadyen
Prod co: Yalla Media
FICTIONAL FEATURES:
108 Days (Indonesia)
Dir: Lucky Kuswandi
Prods: Muhammad Zaidy, Meiske Taurisia
Prod co: Palari Films
Beyond The Fog (Japan)
Dir: Murase Daichi
Prod: Kawase Naomi
Prod co: Nara International Film Festival
Birthmark (India)
Dir: Aditya Vikram Sengupta
Prods: Anshulika Dubey, Priyankar Patra
Prod co: For Films
Cangrejos (The Philippines)
Dir: Zurich Chan
Prod: Gale Osorio
Prod co: Binisaya Movement Inc, Southern Lantern Studios
Her Lullaby (Hong Kong)
Dir: Oliver Chan
Prod: Oliver Chan
Prod co: No Ceiling Film Production
Recommended
Love To Bits* (Hong Kong)
Dir: Wong Wan-sze
Prod: Wong Wan-sze, LEUNG Kin-pong
Prod co: Electric Diamond Production
Sunfire (China)
Dir: Yang Rui
Prod: Fang Li
Prod co: Beijing Shu Shu Shu Screen Culture Co
The Catch (India)
Dir: Rishi Chandna
Prod: Dina Dattani
Prod co: Furaha Pictures
The Forgotten History (Afghanistan, Spain)
Dir: Roya Sadat
Prods: Alba Sottora Clua, Roya Sadat
Prod co: Roya Film House, Alba Sotorra Cinema Productions
Read the full list here.