Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Fruit Chan to Deliver Masterclass at Asian Film Awards – Global Bulletin

Naman Ramachandran
·3 min read
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AWARDS JAMBOREE

The Asian Film Awards Academy has revealed several events around the annual Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong. Veteran filmmakers, jury president of this year’s awards, Japan’s Kurosawa Kiyoshi and Hong Kong’s Fruit Chan, will share their filmmaking experiences and artistic concepts in a joint masterclass. Thai star Metawin Opas-Iamkajorn (“2gether” series and film) known as Win, will be honored with the AFA Rising Star Award and the event will host the world premiere of his new film “Under Parallel Skies.”

There will also be six themed panel discussions featuring actors Wan Fang (Taiwan), Rachel Leung and Yoyo Tse (both Hong Kong), Tergel Bold-Erdene (Mongolia), Awat Ratanapintha (Thailand) and Shirata Mihaya (Japan). The discussions will also include filmmakers Nick Cheuk, Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir, Dominic Sangma, Oscar-winning production designer Tim Yip, production and costume designers Eric Lam, Man Lim Chung, Mitsumatsu Keiko, Elaine Ng, Zhang Menglun, editors Keith Chan Hiu Chun, Matthieu Laclau, Yamazaki Azusa, and cinematographers Kitagawa Yoshio and Chengma Zhiyuan.

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The events and masterclass will take place March 8-9, the awards on March 10 and the premiere on March 11.

MGM+ NEW HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL

Michael Katzer has been named the new head of international at MGM+. Josh McIvor, the company’s global general manager, made the announcement on Tuesday.

Katzer will serve as the general manager for MGM+’s business outside of the U.S., focusing on day-to-day operations as well as long-term strategy and planning. He will move to London in March and report to McIvor.

“Over the past year, Michael led our agreements and integration of Lionsgate+ into MGM+ in South America and Europe. Those deals have resulted in MGM+ becoming the second most subscribed Prime Video Channel outside the U.S.,” McIvor said in an internal announcement. “But we’re just getting started, and Michael is the ideal leader to evolve MGM+ into a true premium channel across all our priority international regions.”

After graduating from Harvard and Stanford business school, Katzer started his career at Disney in its corporate strategy and business development sector. He joined MGM in 2018 and played a key role in Amazon’s acquisition of the company.

PRESIDENT, BASKETBALL

Former U.S. President Barack Obama, hip-hop superstar J. Cole, NBA legends Steph Curry and Joakim Noah, Nigerian born Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri, Cameroonian NBA star Pascal Siakam and NBA commissioner Adam Silver feature in the new documentary series, “Origin: The Story of the Basketball Africa League,” from Fremantle’s Passenger. The series charts the creation and launch of the NBA’s new Basketball Africa League.

The series is executive produced, written and co-directed by Richard Brown (“True Detective”) along with South African director Tebogo Malope (“Queen Sono”). Oscar-winning “The Cove” and “Beckham” filmmaker and “Succession” actor Fisher Stevens serves as executive producer alongside Ujiri and Nigerian filmmaker Akin Omotoso (“Rise”). Fremantle is handling international distribution and is presenting the series at the London TV Screenings 2024 on March 1.

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