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Projects written by Estonian Smoke Sauna Sisterhoodfilmmaker Anna Hints and Mounia Akl, the Lebanese director of Costa Brava Lebanon, are among the 16 selected by Italy’sTorinoFilmLab (Tfl) for the 2025 edition of ScriptLab, the programme that supports fiction features through early stages of development.

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood won best European documentary at the 2023 European Film Awards whileCosta Brava Lebanonpremiered in Venice in 2021 and went on to win the audience award at the BFI London Film Festival.

Feature projects by US writer/director Micah Magee, whose first fiction feature Petting Zoo premiered in Berlin Panorama in 2015, and US filmmaker Matthew Puccini, whose...

Projects written by Estonian Smoke Sauna Sisterhoodfilmmaker Anna Hints and Mounia Aki, the Lebanese director of Costa Brava Lebanon, are among the 16 selected by Italy’sTorinoFilmLab (Tfl) for the 2025 edition of ScriptLab, the programme that supports fiction features through early stages of development.

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood won best European documentary at the 2023 European Film Awards whileCosta Brava Lebanonpremiered Venice in 2021 and went on to win the audience award at the BFI London Film Festival.

Feature projects by US writer/director Micha Magee, whose first fiction feature Petting Zoo premiered in Berlin Panorama in 2015, and US filmmaker Matthew Puccini, whose shortsDirtyandLavenderhave...

On the heels of numerous highly-received titles in recent years, the international horror scene has rightfully turned to Asian cinema with the likes of Japanese, Korean, and even Indonesian titles achieving acclaim and accolades across the globe. This has led to other countries following suit as Thailand has produced a slew of noteworthy efforts recently and other places like Cambodia, Mongolia, and especially Malaysia offering their choices for international recognition. Now, after the success of his earlier film “Dukun,” Malaysian director Dain Said returns to the forefront with this gruesome new supernatural chiller “Blood Flower” now available to stream on the Shudder service.

Check also this interview Interview with Dain Said: I believe in the magic of cinema

AIqbal (Idan Aedan), an apprentice faith healer and exorcist with a sixth sense, is tormented by visions of the dead and spirits from other dimensions after years of suppressing these abilities so...

Spooky Season is now well underway, and that means a deluge of new horror movies for the next two months straight. Today alone, Eight new horror movies have just been unleashed.

Here’s all the new horror that released for September 8, 2023.

For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.

First up, the darkest – and most financially successful – chapter in The Conjuring Universe continues in The Nun II, which is now playing in theaters nationwide.

Valak returns in The Nun II from director Michael Chaves (Curse of La Llorona, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It), and you can read Meagan’s review right here.

Taissa Farmiga will be back as Sister Irene, with Bonnie Aarons again playing the demonic nun known as Valak. Storm Reid (“Euphoria”) will also star in the film.

Here’s the first The Nun II plot synopsis: “1956 – France. A priest is murdered.

When it comes to international horror films, very few streaming services do the subgenre justice like Shudder does. Offering a vast selection of top-quality international movies, the horror-centric platform has added some game-changing genre giants over the last few years, including Indonesia's Impetigore, Mexico's Tigers Are Not Afraid, and Guatemala's La Llorona. The most recent addition to Shudder comes from Malaysia, with Dain Said's Blood Flower. The film was also written by Said, along with Ben Omar and Nandita Solomon, and stars Idan Aedan, Bront Palarae, and Nadiya Nissa.

Blood Flower follows Iqbal, a young teen who has medium-like healer abilities, and can sense and see nearby demonic forces, just as his mother can. When a particularly nasty force infiltrates Iqbal's home and attacks him and his mother, Iqbal must hone and use his abilities to keep the evil at bay, and protect his remaining family members.

Not Your...

The debut feature of Duong Dieu Linh and a documentary from Quang Nong Nhat selected.

Bangkok-based film fund Purin Pictures has selected five projects from Southeast Asia as the recipients of its spring 2023 funding round, which will receive a combined $120,000 in production grants.

The titles include Duong Dieu Linh’s feature debut Don’t Cry, Butterfly and Quang Nong Nhat’s documentary Baby Jackfruit, Baby Guava.

“Over the past several years, Vietnam in particular has proved to be a bright spot in the region for cinema,” said Aditya Assarat, co-director of Purin Pictures. “You could say we are in the...

On the JoBlo Movies YouTube channel, we will be posting one full movie every day of the week, giving viewers the chance to watch them entirely free of charge. The Free Movie of the Day we have to share with you today is the 2016 Malaysian production Interchange, directed by Dain Said. You can watch this fantasy thriller over on the YouTube channel linked above, or you can just watch it in the embed at the top of this article.

Scripted by Dain Said, Redza Minhat, Nandita Solomon, and June Tan, Interchange has the following synopsis: Haunted by somber visions, forensics photographer Adam retreats from the world, staying home and taking photos of his neighbors until he is dragged into another investigation by his best friend, the detective Man, who asks his help to solve a series of macabre ritual murders. At the same time, Adam’s seemingly innocuous pastime soon...

Spooky Punk Rock Music Video Director Rae Mystic Collaborates With Band Half Past Two On Fantastical ‘Magic Dance’ Music Video: "Rae Mystic is a renowned queer photographer whose work has been featured in Fangoria, Spin Magazine, & Alternative Press, among other noteworthy publications. After finding success as the photographer for multiple alt rock artists, including The Suicide Machines, We Are The Union, Eve 6, and Skatune Network, Rae went on to release their first physical photo collection, a magazine called “31 Days.” After selling out of the entire printing in a few short weeks, Rae quickly began looking forward to new projects. This search led them to a brand new music video collaboration with Half Past Two.

Half Past Two is a band from Orange County, California. Their decade-and-a-half long career spans numerous releases, including several music videos with Rae Mystic behind the camera. Their collaborations aim to bring together Rae’s colorbomb-esque...

Malaysian filmmaker Dain Said’s horror film Blood Flower (Harum Malam) premiered at Fantastic Fest this year, and Deadline reports that Shudder has now acquired the movie.

According to the site, Shudder will premiere Blood Flower sometime in 2023.

“The film tells the story of a 16-year-old apprentice faith healer and exorcist, who is tormented by visions of the dead and spirits from other dimensions. When a malicious spirit begins to wreak havoc around him, the teenaged exorcist is forced to harness his supernatural gifts to save his family and friends.”

Idan Aedan, Bront Palarae and Remy Ishak star in Blood Flower. The film is produced by Malaysia’s Apparat in collaboration with Skop Productions and D’Ayu Pictures.

Dain Said, Nandita Solomon and Ben Omar wrote the script.

“One of next year’s most frightening films, Blood Flower is a special kind of haunter. We’re thrilled to bring the bold...

Exclusive: AMC Networks’ streaming service Shudder has acquired rights for the U.S., Canada and other English-language territories on Malaysian filmmaker Dain Said’s horror film Blood Flower (Harum Malam), which premiered at this year’s Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.

The film, which also played in official section at Sitges Film Festival, is produced by Malaysia’s Apparat in collaboration with Skop Productions and D’Ayu Pictures. Idan Aedan, Bront Palarae and Remy Ishak head the cast.

Shudder also acquired rights for the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand through a deal with XYZ Films and plans to stream the film on an exclusive basis in 2023. Paris-based Reel Suspects is handling rights for the rest of the world.

Written by Said, Nandita Solomon and Ben Omar, the film tells the story of a 16-year-old apprentice faith healer and exorcist, who is tormented by visions of the dead and spirits from other dimensions.

Dain Said’s horror will make its world premiere at the Fantastic Fest in Austin.

Paris-based Reel Suspects has acquired European and East Asian rights to Malaysian director Dain Said’s latest film Blood Flower, with North American rights repped by LA-based XYZ Films.

The horror will make its world premiere at the Fantastic Fest in Austin on September 23 before moving to the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival in October.

Reel Suspects has previously represented, also along with XYZ Films, Said’s supernatural noir thriller Interchange, which premiered in Locarno and Toronto.

“Dain’s fourth film is filled with traditional horror elements.

Other winners included Georgian director Dea Kulumbegashvili for ’Beginning’.

Ivan Ayr’s Milestone was named best film at the Silver Screen Awards, which closed the 31st Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff) on Sunday (December 6).

The Indian drama, which premiered in Venice Horizons in September, also won the best performance award for Suvinder Vicky’s turn as an ageing Punjabi trucker who must keep his life’s work from falling apart.

It marks Ayr’s second feature after Delhi crime drama Soni, which also debuted in Horizons in 2018. Milestone has also played Pingyao and Stockholm film festivals.

The jury included filmmakers João Pedro Rodrigues,...

The coronavirus pandemic might have brought production to a standstill across Southeast Asia earlier this year, but the continued growth of regional VOD platforms and an uptick in public funding is poised to boost the independent film industry and bring fresh voices into the fold, particularly among female filmmakers.

Those were some of the takeaways of a panel discussion hosted Tuesday as part of the Locarno Film Festival’s Open Doors program dedicated to filmmaking in Southeast Asia. Moderated by Open Doors artistic consultant Paolo Bertolin, the panel included Malaysian producer Nandita Solomon; Indonesian filmmaker Mouly Surya; Antoinette Jadaone, a director from the Philippines; producer Thuthu Shein of Myanmar; Mary Liza Diño Seguerra, chairwoman of the Film Development Council of Philippines; and Maung Okkar, project manager of the Save Myanmar Film initiative.

Efforts to cope with the ongoing coronavirus crisis were at the forefront of the conversation, with local governments...

In order to increase the impact of its industry support efforts Locarno Film Festival is doubling down on – and in fact trebling the duration of – its Open Doors activities. Instead of an annually revolving country focus, starting this year the section will pick projects, producers and film-makers from one region for three consecutive years, before moving on.

South-East Asia, plus Mongolia, is the first region to benefit from the extended spotlight. The region is diverse and there is much ground to cover, especially as several South-East Asian countries are now reaching a level of economic and technological development that is allowing the film and TV industries to accelerate.

“South-East Asia has produced some of the greatest directors of our time, and now a new wave of talent, of young people with astonishing creative energy, is emerging today despite all the obstacles,” says Lili Hinstin, Locarno’s artistic director.

A total...

The Locarno Festival’s Open Doors platform dedicated to promoting cinema in areas where filmmaking is especially tough, has unveiled the 8 projects, directors, and producers from 7 countries in South-East Asia and Mongolia who will make the trek to Switzerland for networking and training opportunities.

The selected projects include “The Thonglor Kids” by Thai director Aditya Assarat, produced by Fran Borgia, who also produced last year’s Golden Leopard winner “A Land Imagined,” by Singapore’s Yeo Siew Hua (pictured).

Vietnamese director Chuyen Bui Thac, whose second feature “Adrift,” set in Hanoi, premiered at Venice in 2009, will be attending the Asian cinema incubator with his latest project “Glorious Ashes” centered on the hardships and love lives of three women in a poor coastal village.

Locarno’s Open Doors program this year is entering a new three-year cycle dedicated to Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Mongolia.

The event’s co-production platform,...

Companies including Xyz, Wild Bunch and Media Asia are set to attend.Scroll down for list of projects

Projects from 13 countries will be presented at this year’s edition of Focus Asia, the co-production market held at Udine Far East Film Festival April 26-28.

More than 100 sales agents and financiers will gather for the event, including representatives of Xyz, Media Asia, M-Line, Showbox, Wild Bunch, Reel Suspects, and M-Appeal.

While last year’s inaugural edition of Focus Asia featured screenings and events built around finished projects, this year’s crop are all in the early stages of development.

The selection was curated from 72 submissions by a committee featuring representatives of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival and the Nordisk Film & Fond’s Nordic Genre Boost.

The project teams are from countries including Japan, Indonesia, France, Sweden, Italy, Singapore and Laos.

The Udine Far...

Adam is an ex-police photographer who experienced a nervous breakdown and quit the force. Currently he suffers from hallucinations and spends his time in his apartment, secretly watching his neighbors with his camera, and particularly a woman, Iva. Eventually, detective Man, an ex co-worker asks Adam to help him in an investigation regarding a number of brutal murders. As they discover some photographic negatives made of glass, their research leads them into the world of antique shops and the supernatural. Iva, a deformed man named Belian, and an antique owner named Sani seem to be involved in the mystery. Everything seems to revolve around a true incident that took place a century ago, when Norwegian explorer Carl Lumholtz traveled through central Borneo between 1913 and 1917 and photographed some tribal women.

A delicate balance

Dain Said directs and pens (along June Tan, Nandita Solomon and Redza Minhat) a film that keeps a delicate balance among thriller,...

Something’s happening in Kuala Lampur—something that cannot be explained. Deaths in the vein of Bryan Fuller’s gorgeously ornate displays of murder from “Hannibal” have arrived without any leads or earthly reason. Detective Man (Shaheizy Sam) jokes that his forensic photographer needs to see a witch doctor after collapsing at the scene of the first body, but he may not be far off the truth. Adam’s (Iedil Putra) spell was odd, conjured by the light or power of a glass negative found underneath the suspended cadaver covered in rare bird feathers and external veins. The second body had one too and the effect remains the same. Something about these killings is calling to him. Adam wants to just sit it out, but fate has other ideas.

Dain Iskandar Said‘s Interchange is a nightmarish noir on dual planes of existence: our contemporary world of law and order...

Malaysia’s Sonneratia Capital and Hong Kong’s Emperor Motion Pictures are financing Ho Yuhang’s action film Mrs K, which has recently started production.

Produced by Lina Tan of Red Films and Lorna Tee of Paperheart, the film stars Kara Wai Ying Hung, Simon Yam, Taiwanese rock star Wu Bai and Malaysian award-winning actor Faizal Hussein.

The story follows a woman who gives everything she has to protect her husband and daughter when she is hunted by enemies who reappear from her past.

The cast also features newcomer Siow Li Xuan and supporting roles from veteran action actor Lau Wing, Malaysian director Dain Said and Hong Kong filmmakers Fruit Chan and Kirk Wong Chi Keung.

Ho developed the film after working with Kara Wai in his award-winning drama At The End Of Daybreak, for which she won seven best actress awards. Emp is handling international sales on the film, which is scheduled...

Exclusive: Malaysian director Dain Iskandar Said has started shooting supernatural thriller Interchange, the first project to be backed by Malaysia’s new slate financing fund Sonneratia Capital.

Produced by Said and Nandita Solomon’s Apparat, the film stars Malaysian actors Iedil Putra (Nova) and Shaheizy Sam (Songlap) along with Indonesia’s Prisia Nasution (The Dancer) and Nicholas Saputra (Postcards From The Zoo). Solomon is producing the film.

The story revolves around a forensics photographer investigating a series of macabre ritual murders. He meets a woman who reveals she is a shaman from Borneo, trying to free her tribes people, whose souls have been trapped in glass plate negatives.

A division of Rhizophora Ventures, Sonneratia Capital plans to provide partial slate financing for Malaysian films with export potential. It will invest in up to four qualifying films from Apparat and is in talks with further Malaysian production companies.

Rhizophora Ventures group managing director Michael Lake, who formerly...

Exclusive: Malaysian production company to co-produce Dain Iskander Said’s film with Rupakata Cinema.

Malaysian production company Apparat is lining up its first Indonesian co-production, Our Mosque Turned To Ruin, to be directed by Dain Iskandar Said.

Indonesia’s Rupakata Cinema is co-producing the film about a man who sets out on a journey to the Highlands of Sumatra to unravel the mystery behind the suicide of the caretaker of a mosque.

Founded by Said and producer Nandita Solomon [pictured], Apparat’s credits include critically acclaimed action drama Bunohan. Rupakata previously produced Kuntz Agus’ 2012 romantic drama Republik Twitter.

Apparat’s next project will be fantasy adventure Drakula: Journey To The East (working title), set in 15th century Malacca, which is scheduled to start shooting in October.

Scripted by Amanda Nell Eu, the story follows a band of Malaysian heroes fighting a foreign vampire who has come ashore looking for herbs to revive his dead wife.

“When we read...

Exclusive: Malaysian production company to co-produce Dain Iskander Said’s film with Rupakata Cinema.

Malaysian production company Apparat is lining up its first Indonesian co-production, Our Mosque Turned To Ruin, to be directed by Dain Iskandar Said.

Indonesia’s Rupakata Cinema is co-producing the film about a man who sets out on a journey to the Highlands of Sumatra to unravel the mystery behind the suicide of the caretaker of a mosque.

Founded by Said and producer Nandita Solomon [pictured], Apparat’s credits include critically acclaimed action drama Bunohan. Rupakata previously produced Kuntz Agus’ 2012 romantic drama Republik Twitter.

Apparat’s next project will be fantasy adventure Drakula: Journey To The East (working title), set in 15th century Malacca, which is scheduled to start shooting in October.

Scripted by Amanda Nell Eu, the story follows a band of Malaysian heroes fighting a foreign vampire who has come ashore looking for herbs to revive his dead wife.

“When we read...

Taiwan’s Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (Fpp) has unveiled this year’s selection of 25 films chosen from a record 117 submissions.

The organization stated “these projects reflect the active and engaged state of Chinese-language film industry in all corners of the world, including: Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, UK, France, Us, Australia, and New Zealand.”

Nine sponsoring companies offer post-production service awards and this year, a number of them will be increasing their awards to equal the symbolic amount of Nt$500,000 (Us$16,900) to celebrate the Golden Horse Film Festival’s 50th anniversary.

The Fpp’s Grand Prize is a cash award of Nt$1m (Us$33,800). France’s Centre National du Cinéma (Cnc) also offers the €10,000 Cnc Award to support projects with high potential for international co-production.

The 2013 Golden Horse Fpp runs Nov 19-21 with meetings and workshops. They will announce the winners of the various prizes on the last day’s closing ceremony...

The Puchon International Film Festival (PiFan)’s Network of Asian Fantastic Films (Naff) has announced this year’s It Project line-up of 21 selections from 13 countries.

These include Greek filmmaker Costas Zapas’ Frankenstein: A Death Odyssey and Kei Ishikawa’s comic fantasy Baby, a Japan-Poland co-production.

Scroll down for full list

“Making the selection was a challenge this year with 141 project submissions - more than a 60% increase on last year,” says Naff managing director Thomas Nam.

Korean projects include Two Weddings And A Funeral director Kim Jho Gwang-soo’s period piece Secret Detective & Vampire; 2011 PiFan Audience Award winner Ji Ha Jean’s Re: Make; and Teenage Hooker Became Killing Machine director Nam Ki-woong’s Capsule.

Director Dain Said is teaming with producer Nandita Solomon again on Malaysian mystery Interchange. Their previous film, Bunohan, sold to Universal Pictures for several territories including UK, France, and Australia before premiering at Toronto.

Other Asian projects include Paul Spurrier’s Thai...