Venice Film Festival to Host Ukraine Day – Global Bulletin
FESTIVALS
On Aug. 24, Ukraine independence day, the Venice Film Festival has revealed that it will host a Ukrainian Day on Sept. 8, as part of the festival’s Venice Production Bridge initiative. The day will kick off with a panel discussion introduced by the president of the Biennale, Roberto Cicutto, and the artistic director of the 79th festival, Alberto Barbera.
Panelists include the Ambassador of Ukraine to Italy, Yaroslav Melnyk; the head of the National Cinema Institution of Ukraine, Marina Kuderchuk; the director of the film “Luxembourg, Luxembourg” (which will screen in competition in the festival’s Horizons strand), Antonio Lukich; the director of the film “Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” (screening out of competition), Evgeny Afineevsky; the exhibiting artist in the Ukrainian Pavilion at the 59th Biennale Arte, Pavlo Makov; the curator of the Ukrainian Pavilion at the 59th Biennale Arte, Boris Filonenko; the representative of Ukraine’s Council for State Support of Cinematography, Polina Tolmacheva; the Cultural Attaché of Ukraine, the actor and filmmaker Daria Tregubova; and the producer and head of civic organization Andriy Nogin. The panel will be moderated by Volodymyr Ostapchuk.
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Topics discussed include cooperation between Ukraine and Italy; the difficult situation in which the Ukrainian film industry finds itself today; the situation of co-productions; the role of artists and filmmakers; diversity in the Ukrainian audiovisual industry, including art house cinema, commercial movies, TV series, and streaming platforms; and the future of Ukrainian cinematography.
Later, Ukrainian projects at different stages of production will be presented, followed by business networking.
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The Busan International Film Festival has announced that the jury for its New Currents competition section will be French critic Serge Toubiana (as jury president), director Alain Guiraudie, director Kamila Andini, actor Kase Ryo and Korean producer Lee Eugene. They will award two $30,000 prizes to the best film. The Kim Jiseok Award jury will also include a French critic Jean-Michel Frodon, alongside Japanese director Ogigami Naoko and Korean director Kim Hee-jung (“Where Would You Like to Go?”). – Patrick Frater
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The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (Nov 2-20, 2022) will hold a ten-film retrospective of the works of Japanese actor-turned-director Juzo Itami. Nine of the ten will be presented as 4K digital world premieres of newly restored films. They include: “The Funeral” (1984); “Tampopo” (aka “Dandelion”) (1985); “A Taxing Woman” (1987); “A Taxing Woman’s Return” (1988); “A-Ge-Man X Tales of Golden Geisha” (1990); “Minbo Or The Gentle Art Of Japanese Extortion” (1992); “The Last Dance” (1993); “A Quiet Life” (1995); “Supermarket Woman” (1996); and “Marutai” (1997). – Patrick Frater
FUND
The international distribution strand of the BFI‘s Global Screen Fund has been refreshed with a two types of support now available. Film Sales Support, now open for applications, is awarded to U.K. sales agents presenting U.K. independent films to international buyers with the aim of securing international distribution deals. Funding is available for specific sales and marketing activities, including the creation of eligible marketing materials. The maximum grant available per eligible film is £25,000 ($29,500). Prints & Advertising Support, in final programme development and open for application in the fall, is awarded to either the U.K. producer or U.K. sales agent of a UK film, to contribute towards the P&A costs across a group of international distributors, with the aim of increasing the film’s circulation, audience size and box office potential. This strand is being piloted in 2022/23.
The International Business Development strand of the fund is also now open, and grants are available between £50,000 and £200,000, with funding split into two allocations comprising a film-specific business transformation track and a general international business growth track, open to all screen sectors.
The fund’s international Co-production strand will re-open in spring 2023, offering grants of up to £300,000 for minority U.K. feature film co-productions and minority or majority U.K. TV co-productions.
In its pilot year the fund made 75 awards totalling £5.2 million across all three strands, supporting the promotion of films including “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” “Enys Men” and “Ali & Ava.”
SERIES
Asian network KC Global Media has set the world premiere of “Secrets of the Raknus Selu Trail,” an original multimedia production commissioned by the Hakka Affairs Council, on AXN for Sept. 27 across Asia and worldwide on AXN Asia’s YouTube channel on Sept. 28. A four-part podcast series of the same title will air on Sept. 27 across Spotify, Apple Podcast, SPH Radio’s AWEDIO app, Astro Radio’s SYOK app, and International Community Radio Taipei Radio’s app.
Hosted by British photographer, Chris Stowers, and Taiwanese food and travel writer, Danny Wen Shi-Kai, the one-hour episode special takes viewers through Danny’s ancestral family’s journey through the forgotten paths of the Raknus Selu Trail. There, they uncover intricate customs and stories of the Hakka heritage, revealing the culture’s impact on modern Taiwan.
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New York-based sales and distribution company Hewes Pictures has made the transition into TV with its first miniseries, having secured the rights to three seasons of “The Tooth Hurts,” a reality show produced in Mississippi. The show follows Dr. Lake Garner of Garner & Nichols Dental based in Hattiesburg and follows the antics of the Garners family as well as the humor and hard work of his team.
The series deal was negotiated by Hewes’ sales and acquisitions chief Princeton Holt along with acquisition executive Laura Leamus. Producer Jesus Sifuentes and Garner Dental Group CMO Sharley Hamm negotiated on behalf of the miniseries. Leading up to AFM this November, Hewes will open sales to networks and streaming platforms worldwide.
STREAMING
“Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight has created, written and executive produced Disney+ 12-part series “A Thousand Blows” (working title), starring and executive produced by Stephen Graham (“Help”). The series follows Hezekiah and Alec, two best friends from Jamaica who find themselves thrust into the violent melting pot of post-industrial revolution London’s East End. Drawn into the criminal underbelly of the boxing scene, Hezekiah meets Mary Carr, leader of The Forty Elephants – the notorious all-female London gang – as they battle for survival on the streets. As Hezekiah sharpens his new skills, he comes up against Sugar Goodson, a dangerous boxer played by Graham, and the two are soon locked into an intense rivalry that spills out way beyond the ring.
Tinge Krishnan (“WeCrashed”) will serve as lead director and executive producer and the series is executive produced by Lee Mason, director of scripted content EMEA for Disney+. It is being produced by The Story Collective in a co-production with Matriarch Productions and Water & Power Productions. It will premiere on Disney+ globally, Star+ in Latin America and Hulu in the U.S.
Meanwhile, production is underway in Madrid on HBO Max original “Playing Dirty” (“Monos con Pistola”), a 7 x 30′ comedy series about the world of soccer created by Jorge Valdano Sáenz and Pablo Tébar based on an idea from Carolina Bang and Álex de la Iglesia (“30 Coins”). The series is produced by Pokeepsie Films (Banijay Iberia) for HBO Max.
The series follows the life of soccer agent Alberto Martín Ruiz, AKA “Beto,” as he leaves the comfortable life of working at a large soccer agency to go it alone and start his own venture. It stars Hugo Silva (“Los hombres de Paco), Dafne Fernández (“Perfectos desconocidos”), Óscar Casas (“Jaguar”), Gorka Otxoa (“Velvet”), Miguel Ángel Sola (“The Minions of Midas”), Kira Miró (“Ferpect Crime”) and Diogo Sales (“Game of Thrones”). Adolfo Martínez (“Zona hostil”), Secun de la Rosa and Rodrigo Ruiz-Gallardón will direct the episodes.
Elsewhere, Amazon Prime Video has unveiled a trailer for “Jungle,” which follows the connected lives of several strangers, each facing their own struggle, viewed through the prism of U.K. rap and drill music. The series features some of the U.K.’s top drill and rap artists, including Tinie Tempah, Big Narstie, Unknown T, Jordan McCann, Jaykae, IAMDDB, Double Lz, Bandokay and M24.
Jungle is produced by Nothing Lost. The creators and executive producers are Junior Okoli and Chas Appeti.
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