Kore-Eda, Sengupta & Pialat Among Producers Of HAF Development Projects At HKIFF Industry

Liz Shackleton

20 January 2025 at 2:00 am·5-min read

Hong Kong International Film Festival Society has announced the 25 in-development projects selected for this year’s Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF). The line-up includes several projects produced by high-profile filmmakers, including Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda, India’s Aditya Vikram Sengupta and French producer and writer Sylvie Pialat.

Kore-eda (Shoplifters, Monster) is producing Yellow, the feature debut of Yamaura Miyoh, about a man who lives a life of self-punishment after a fatal car accident. Sengupta (Jonaki, Labour Of Love) is producing Niladri Mukherjee’s debut Republic Of Mahalaxmi Apartment, which examines India’s majority rule issues through a single-mother tenant who becomes her housing estate’s public enemy when she flags a malfunctioning elevator.

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Pialat (Les Miserables) is teaming with Chinese producer Nai An (Blind Massage, Mystery) on Hu Wei’s feature debut, 49 Days, about a divorced Chinese couple who reunite in Paris to arrange their son’s funeral and confront their past.

Two leading talents known for their work in the Taiwanese industry are also presenting projects at HAF. Actress Lee Sinje (Betelnut Beauty, The Eye), who debuted as an exec producer on Jin Ong’s Malaysian drama Abang Adik, is teaming with Jin to produce Malaysian filmmaker Kethsvin Chee’s Dead Tide.

Taiwanese producer Yeh Ju-Feng (A Sun, Trouble Girl) is working with music video and TVC director Bill Chia on Indigo Boy, a fantasy drama revolving around two close friends who struggle with their mental illness.

The line-up also include five projects co-produced by Hong Kong companies and two featuring Hong Kong directors – Fan Ka Chun’ s horror suspense thriller Something In The Way, and crime action film Open Fire, from Sze Pak-lam and Lau Wing-tai (Guilt By Design).

Other projects from Southeast Asia include Jun Robles Lana’s The Circumciser from the Philippines, Panu Aree and Kong Rithdee’s Drive South Pray West from Thailand and Edmund Yeo’s Taiwan-Malaysia collaboration The Age Of Goodbyes.

HAF is an anchor event of HKIFF Industry Project Market (March 17-19), which takes place at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre alongside Filmart (March 17-20). HKIFF Industry Director Jacob Wong said the shortlisted projects “showcase extraordinary storytelling in a broad range of genres, from action to sci-fi, fantasy, suspense and horror.”

“There are nine projects from female directors this year, as well as several collaborations involving filmmakers from Asia, Europe, and North America, underscoring Hong Kong’s position at the crossroads of the global film industry,” Wong continued. “At least 13 of the projects have already secured partial funding, with budget ranging from US$200,000 to US$5M.”

HKIFF Industry Project Market will also annonce separate line-ups of works-in-progress projects and a new animation section. Meanwhile, the second edition of the biannual HKIFF Industry – CAA China Genre Initiative (HCG), dedicated to Chinese-language genre films, will take place in 2026. CAA China will offer a new script development award during this year’s market.

HAF IN-DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS 2025:

2181 Overture (China, Canada)
Director: Wang Kunlin
Producer: Zhao Zheyuan
Production Company: Yeahcheer Pictures

49 Days (France, China)
Director: Hu Wei
Producers: Sylvie Pialat, Nai An
Production Company: Les films du Worso

Aanaikatti Blues (India)
Director: Arun Karthick
Producer: Madhu Mohan
Production Company: Manvasanai Cinema

The Age of Goodbyes (Taiwan, Malaysia)
Director: Edmund Yeo
Producers: David Tang, Edmund Yeo, Dennis Lai, Zhao Jin
Production Companies: Renaissance Films, Happy Together Pictures

Besik. Homecoming (Tajikistan, Kazakhstan)
Director: Iskandar Usmonov
Producers: Diana Ashimova, Yerlan Ibragim, Iskandar Usmonov
Production Company: A Team

The Bird Chaser (China)
Director: Zeng Zhi
Producers: Li Tianyu, Joey Zhu Yinying
Production Company: Beijing Pinwu Cultural Communication Co

The Circumciser (Philippines)
Director: Jun Robles Lana
Producers: Perci Intalan, Ferdy Lapuz
Production Company: The IdeaFirst Company

Dead Tide (Malaysia)
Director: Kethsvin Chee
Producers: Lee Sinje, Jin Ong
Production Company: Fast Forward Films

Drive South Pray West (Thailand)
Directors: Panu Aree, Kong Rithdee
Producer: Panu Aree
Production Company: Drive South Pray West Pictures

Giant Salamander (China)
Director: Yang Heng
Producer: Yang Heng
Production Company: Xiangxi Meixi Space Culture Media Co

Gone with the Wind (China)
Director: Zhao Yanming
Producer: Aubrey Zheng Liyan
Production Company: Beijing Daxiwang Culture Media

Indigo Boy (Taiwan)
Director: Bill Chia
Producers: Yeh Ju-Feng, Ivy Y.H. Chiang
Production Company: Fragrant Creative Integration Co

Innocent Flesh (China)
Director: Lin Yihan
Producers: Li Yuwen, Hattie Yu
Production Company: Vast Vista Films

Lanka (India)
Director: Saurav Rai
Producers: Saurav Rai, Ankita Purkayastha
Production Company: Neonate Audio

Mabui (Japan)
Director: Fukunaga Takeshi
Producers: Yamaguchi Shin, Eric Nyari
Production Companies: Knockonwood Inc, Cineric Creative

Open Fire (Hong Kong)
Directors: Sze Pak-lam, Lau Wing-tai
Producer: Ivan Wong
Production Company: Scene One Picture

Pivot (Turkey)
Director: Melisa Önel
Producer: Alara Hamamcioğlu Bayraktar
Production Company: Vigo Film

Republic of Mahalaxmi Apartment (India)
Director: Niladri Mukherjee
Producers: Aditya Vikram Sengupta, Priyankar Patra
Production Company: For Films

See You There (China, Hong Kong)
Director: Wong Yi-kwan
Producers: Wang Hongwei, Song Dafa
Production Company: Beijing Density Blue Film and Television Company

Seoulers (Korea, US)
Directors: Hee Young Pyun, Jiajun Oscar Zhang
Producers: Heejung Oh, Huang Yue, Christine Shen
Production Company: Seesaw Pictures

Somatization (China)
Director: Sun Xiao
Producers: Wang Hongwei, Song Dafa, Lyu Hang
Production Company: Beijing Granary Film Culture Co

Something in the Way (Hong Kong)
Director: Fan Ka-chun
Producer: Lam Suk-yin
Production Company: Loudprovision

A Stranger at My Door (Hong Kong, China)
Director: Zheng Lu Xinyuan
Producer: Stanley Kwan Kam-pang
Production Company: N/A

Waves Under the Sea (Macau, Hong Kong, China)
Director: Chan Sileong
Producers: Chan Hing-kai, Robin Yung
Production Company: N/A

Yellow (Japan)
Director: Yamaura Miyoh
Producers: Kore-eda Hirokazu, Ohinata Jun
Production Company: Bunbuku

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