AT FILMART

HAF ProFiles
Cross road
Dir Peng Tao
Country of origin China
Displaying a strong sense of social critique in his first
two features — the multi award-winning Little Moth in
2007 and follow-up Floating In Memory in 2009 — Peng
Tao’s third feature will turn its attention to the human
condition as he looks at the choices people face in their
life and adventures.
The film centres around a happily married father, who
takes advantage of a train crash to start a new life with a
new identity. “Many people dream of escaping from the
life that is forced upon them. But when an opportunity
arises, will they choose to start afresh? And will the new
life be as good as they dream of? This is the question I
wanted to explore in the story,” explains Peng whose
inspiration for the project came from a true story told to
him by a friend of a woman who left her marriage and
child behind to begin a new life.
Visually, Peng plans to move away from his usual
documentary-inspired realism towards a more sophisticated
style of cinematography, lighting and sound to
intensify the dramatic effect of the film.
Peng has previously sought funding via independent
film festivals or public soft money, but he is hoping to
attract investors or co-production partners for this
project, which is at the script stage and looks set to be
more commercial in nature.
Peng is producing for his company, New Youth Independent
Film Studio, together with Yang Na of Heaven
Pictures which has put $50,000 towards the budget of
the $1.2m project.
They are hoping to secure cast and the remainder of
the budget after HAF meetings.
Sen-lun Yu
Cross road
Budget $1.2m
Finance raised to date $50,000 from Heaven Pictures
Contact Peng Tao, New Youth Independent Film Studio
pengtao17@gmail.com
n 8 Screen International at Filmart March 20, 2012
Curious Grandmas: The
Murder of Annet Van Houten
Dir Lucky Kuswandi
» Cross road p8
» Curious Grandmas: The Murder
of Annet Van Houten p8
» City of The lost Things p8
» igna p10
Country of origin Indonesia
In a bid to appeal to older audiences — in particular his
mother and grandmother — Lucky Kuswandi’s third feature
is an Agatha Christie-inspired whodunit combining
the spirit of Francois Ozon’s 8 Women with the kitschness
of Indonesian soap operas.
“It started with my own observations of the Indonesian
film and TV scene in general. They actually use
really young actresses to play older women. And I
thought, ‘What happened to older 70s and 80s
actresses?’” says Kuswandi, who plans to cast actors
from his mother’s and grandmother’s generation who
are now struggling to find work.
The plot centres around four vacationing grandmothers
who become sleuths when their socialite hotel owner
is found dead in her pool. “It is a murder-mystery whodunit
but also a comedy. The way I envision this film, it’s
more about the grandmas’ interaction and their relationships,
and about their finding their self-worth again,”
adds the Indonesian director, who plans to adopt the
same tone as his debut feature Madame X, a transvestite
superhero movie which combined a camp, actionpacked
style with a social conscience. The film screened
last year at the Hong Kong International Film Festival
and was nominated for two Asian Film Awards — for
best supporting actress and best production design.
Currently co-writing the script with Daud Sumolang,
Kuswandi has brought Sammaria Simanjuntak on board
to produce for her new company The Fat Cocoon. The
team is considering shooting around Java Island, but is
open to other location partnerships and will be on the
lookout for funds, co-producers and pre-sales at HAF.
The cast will be mostly Indonesian, but the story also
lends itself to foreign actors.
Jean Noh
Curious Grandmas: The Murder of
Annet Van Houten
Budget $500,000
Finance raised to date $50,000 through private funds
Contact Sammaria Simanjuntak sammaria@gmail.com
» 1982 p10
» My Dictator p10
» The seen And Unseen p10
» Another Country p14
» Tang Wong p14
City of The lost Things
Dir Yee Chih-yen
Country of origin Taiwan
Pitched as one of Taiwan’s biggest animation film
projects in recent years, the $6.7m City Of The Lost
Things will see a return to feature film-making for Yee
Chih-yen, who has been working on TV dramas and
commercials since 2005.
His fourth feature will blend the idea of Buddhist reincarnation
with recycling, centring around a 16-yearold
boy and his adventures with a plastic bag.
“We plan to create a style that is a hybrid between US
and Japanese animation. It will also be a mixture of 2D
and 3D animation,” says the Taiwanese director, whose
2003 film Blue Gate Crossing was selected for Cannes
Directors’ Fortnight.
Yee says the biggest difference between this project
and conventional animation works will be his decision
not to humanise objects in the film.
“I want these things to have lives, through my storytelling,
but not to have eyes, arms or legs. I believe this is
returning to the original spirit of animation,” says the
director, who is now at the storyboard and charactersetting
stage of production.
So far, half of the project’s production budget is in
place, courtesy of a Taiwanese cultural creative company,
which wants to retain a low profile until the whole
budget is secured. Actress-turned-producer Lee Lieh is
producing for her outfit One Production Film Company,
whose credits include Monga and Jump Ashin!.
Yee intends to find gap financing for the remainder of
the budget, and ideally an international or mainland
Chinese co-production partner.
Sen-lun Yu
City of The lost Things
» Flowing stories p14
» Hangman p15
» (Un)Making The Betrayal p15
» Music And The Nation p15
Budget $6.67m
Finance raised to date $3.34m
Contact Chen Hsin-Hung, One Production Film
Company axinpower@gmail.com