SEAPITCH Project 2022

Southeast Asian Project Pitch 2022

The Boy and The Fight of Spiders (Diwalwal)

The Boy and The Fight of Spiders (Diwalwal)

Status Development and Financing

Country The Philippines

Synopsis

In Southern Philippines, a carefree, spider-obsessed young boy loses his brother and father in a mine’s collapse, and forced to grow up to look for their bodies in the rubble, only to dig up a web of lies woven together by the powers-that-be, realizing it takes more than a hero’s ransom to extricate his family from the town and its ever-collapsing tunnels.

Director

Writer and director Jarell Serencio is a Busan Asian Film School alumnus. He started as researcher and writer for a drama anthology show in a national TV network. This experience deepened his love for social drama and human-interest stories. In 2012, he founded Man Overboard Productions and started making short films like “Victor” (2012), which won best film from the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. Two short films followed “Stars In The City” (2016) and “City Of Gold” (2018). Serencio earned his best director award from the Metro Manila Film Festival and best film at FAMAS awards, the oldest award giving body in the country. “Diwalwal”, his first feature project, won the script development grant from Philippines Southern Voices Film Lab (2020). It was selected at Nantes Produire Au Sud, France (2021), Southeast Asian Film Lab, Singapore (2022) and the TorinoFilmLab, Italy (2022) where it won the CNC development award.

Producers

John Torres is an independent filmmaker, musician and writer. He has made more than a dozen short films and five features. His work fictionalizes and reworks personal and found documentations of love, family relations, and memory in relation to current events, hearsays, myth, and folklore. He teaches part-time at the Ateneo de Manila University, conducts filmmaking workshops and co-organizes artist talks and screenings in Los Otros, a Manila-based space, film lab, and platform committed to the intersections of film and art, with a focus on process over product. A special focus of his works has been shown at the Viennale, Seoul, Cosquín, and Bangkok.

Alex Poblete is an independent film and video producer. Her body of work includes “The Ebb Of Forgetting” (Pardi Di Domani, 68th Locarno International Film Festival); “Dayang Asu” (ASEAN International Film Festival & Awards 2017); and “The Sweet Taste Of Salted Bread And Undies” (Belize IFF 2019 & Calella FF 2020). In 2014, she was selected to participate in the ASEAN-ROK: Film Leaders Incubator FLY2014 in Myanmar where she became the recipient of the Busan Bank Scholarship. She participated in Asiadoc Producer’s Training in Phnom Penh, Cambodia 2017, If/Then Southeast Asia 2020, Docs By The Sea Accelerator program on Creative Producing and Nantes Produire Au Sud in France 2021. She attended the Venice Summer School Cinema and Human Rights Advocacy 2019 as a scholar and is currently working as Program Director for Active Vista Center, an education center for human rights in the Philippines.

A Cursed Woman

A Cursed Woman
Status Development
Country Indonesia

Synopsis
A lonely widow is being accused of bad luck after surviving three husbands. She takes another chance at love when a cemetery guard shows interest in her only to find out that he has a death wish.

Director
Najam Yardo graduated from Jogja Film Academy with a directing major. He directed some commercials and short films in Indonesia. Now, he is developing his first feature film “A Cursed Woman” which won Second Best Future Project from JFP JAFF Jogja 2017, Winner Script to Screen Award 2020 with prize going to AFM 2022. “A Cursed Woman” will also be part of Southeast Asian Film Lab SGIFF 2022.

Producer
Yuh Rohana Meliala completed her Bachelor’s degree in accounting from Universitas Indonesia. She’s also Busan AFiS 2022’s alumni. In 2017, she found Megalesha Films and began producing short films. “Ngabedahkeun” (2017) by Luthfan Nur Rochman won Best Screenplay award from JAFF Jogja in CGV Movie Project, “The Scent Of Rat Carcasses” (2021) by Dharma Putra, screened at SGIFF, BISFF, and won Best Fiction award from ReelOzind 2022. She is developing her feature film “A Cursed Woman”.

Garek

Garek

Status Development

Country Malaysia

Synopsis

Rose is at her rock bottom - pregnant, broke, and abandoned by Nasir. She arrives at a conservative Islamic village in rural Kelantan, along the Malaysia-Thai border to find him, but all hell breaks loose after villagers discover her out-of-wedlock pregnancy. She becomes the scapegoat to the village's current affair - an 11-year-old girl's marriage to an old man and a premarital sex allegation involving two high school students.

Director

Cech Adrea is a native Kelantan filmmaker and communication graduate from Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. Starting off as a novelist, he gradually transitioned into a filmmaker by making short films. “Garek” is his first feature film.

Producer

Haziqah Azemi is a native Kelantan producer and communication graduate from Kolej Universiti Poly-Tech MARA. Previously an advertising strategist at international agencies, she co-founded Kapsul Studio with Cech Adrea in 2021 focusing on creating thought-provoking stories reflecting Southeast Asia culture, current issues and identity. “Garek” is her first feature film.

The Heirlooms

The Heirlooms

Status Development

Country Indonesia

Synopsis

A woman who inherits her grandmother's ability to see a particular ghost decides to go to an isolated village to marry a stranger who carries the ‘scent’ in order to make the ghost go away, only to then discover that the man is the real evil in her life.

Director

Devina Sofiyanti is a filmmaker and lecturer based in Jakarta. Born and raised in Bandung, after high school Sofiyanti continued her study at Jakarta Institute of the Arts and New York Film Academy. In 2019, she got selected to Full Circle Lab LOCK 2019 & FLY Film Lab 2019.

Besides teaching at Binus Film Departement, Sofiyanti works professionally as screenwriter. She also took part on Luhki Herwanayogi’s “Our Son” (Locarno Open Doors 2021) as a co-writer.

Producer

Giovanni Rahmadeva is a music and film producer, based in Indonesia. His latest works include “Night Bus” and “Marlina The Murderer In Four Acts”. In 2018, he also co-produced Koji Fukada’s “The Man From The Sea”.

After initiating Jendela Papua in 2020, the first ever Indonesian talent lab that resulted in a feature-length film, he collaborated with its graduate, Theo Rumansara, to produce Theo’s first film “ORPA”, the only feature film so far that was directed by a native Papuan.

Jasmin Moon Whip

Jasmin Moon Whip

Status Script Development

Country Indonesia

Synopsis

Kirana packs things in the house left by her parents. The house where she was born, grew up, and lives with so many stories of pain. It was the house she finally sold to settle all the past. The presence of Jati, the husband she has divorced, brings back old memories – about their closeness to fathers and mothers who are full of problems, about art groups that have been an important part of their lives, and about the ideals and hopes that intersect with each other. Idul Fitri night seems to be the night of the last performance of everything that is missing from their former life as husband and wife.

Director

Wawan Sumarmo was born in rural town Wonogiri, Central Java, in January 1981, and raised at suburban area of greater Jakarta. He studied Cinema at the Jakarta Institute of Art. He has been making short films, documentaries and TV series. Later, in 2009, along with friends who have similar passion of filmmaking, he founded SyahduFilms, a film community based in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Solo and Bali. Some of his film works have received appreciation at national and international film festivals. In 2022, together with a novelist, Mim Yudiarto, he founded a production house, Yahywa Titi Mangsa.

Producer

Fredy Aryanto was born in February 1976 in Madiun, East Java, Indonesia. He studied Cinema at Jakarta Institute of Art. He has working experience as a senior producer at AstroTV. His main duties were producing television films and documentaries. Currently, he is more active as a scriptwriter and producer for feature films.

Rookie

Rookie

Status Pre-Production

Country The Philippines

Synopsis

An awkward 6-footer teen is forced to learn and play volleyball half-heartedly when the Catholic school she transfers to does not have a basketball team. Everything changes when she encounters their star player. What starts as one-on-one coaching on volleyball becomes life lessons on speaking up, self-advocacy, women supporting other women, and going after who and what she wants.

Director

Samantha Lee won the Emerging Talent Award at Outfest 2017 for her first feature film “Baka Bukas” (Maybe Tomorrow). The film also won the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature at the Vancouver Queer Film Festival 2017.

Her second film "Billie and Emma" won the Audience Award for Best Narrative at Inside Out 2019 and has been screened in over 30 film festivals internationally.

“Sleep With Me” is her first series starring Lovi Poe and Janine Gutierrez. It won the award for Best Narrative at Outfest 2022. The first episode has over 3 million views on YouTube.

Producer

Dan Villegas is an award-winning director of both critically acclaimed films and mainstream box-office hits in the Philippines. His diverse filmography ranges from romantic comedies to horror, from coming-of-age to LGBTI-themed. He began his career as a cinematographer for both independent and studio films before directing his first feature, the multi- awarded coming-of-age “Maytime”. Now also a producer, Villegas founded his company Project 8 Projects, aiming to bring Filipino stories to a global audience.

Saddest Princess on Planet No.4 (เจ้าหงิญ)

Saddest Princess on Planet No.4 (เจ้าหงิญ)

Status Financing

Country Thailand

Synopsis

A lost princess with divorced parents is kidnapped by a 7-headed dragon. The young unreliable prince charming is the only person who has information on her whereabouts recorded on his hummingbird robot.

Director

While working as a theater director and designer, Aim-Ei Polpitak wrote and directed “Cloud Cuckoo Country”, a commentary on the abuse of Thai history and political phenomena. The film has its world premiere at the Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022 and was screened at other festivals worldwide. She created a documentary on the topic of self and places as an artist in residence at KAGAN Kyoto, Japan. Her work finds presence within politics and life in the upcoming new era of the world from feminine perspectives. Currently, she is developing the script for her first feature film that got selected for SGIFF film lab and Asia TV Forum.

Producer

Tamonwan Ratanapongumpai is an independent producer and a magazine editor at the same time which allows her to tell stories of women from various angles and genres. She produced “On The Rock” (2020), a short film portraying the inner conflicts of womanhood. A year later, she co-produced a mid-length film “Cloud Cuckoo Country” which had its world premiere at Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022 and was selected to screen at many other film festivals around the world. Her latest project is a coming-of-age mini series that intends to console kids in this generation and remind adults of the dreams they once had.

Tick It

Tick It

Status Development

Country Vietnam

Synopsis

A "straw man" deported back to Vietnam decides to start a new life with no identity but he finds out that his sister has been forced into prostitution overseas to pay for his debt. The parallel journey begins, between the one who stays and the one who flees.

Director

Since 2015, director Tran Thanh Huy has started making short films which gained critical acclaim in Vietnam, such as “16:30” (2012) that won numerous awards, including Best Short Film at Golden Kite Awards. He eventually developed “16:30” into his debut feature “Ròm” (2019), which won New Currents Prize at the Busan International Film Festival. His next feature project “Tick It” won CJ Award in Busan Film Market 2020 and was selected in Tokyo Talents 2021.

Producer

Nhat Tien co-produced feature film “Ve Duong Cho Yeu Chay” (2015). In 2017, she was selected in FLY (organized by Busan Film Commission in Yogyakarta, Indonesia). She continued producing short films including “Cold Fish” (2019) which was nominated for Best Film in Sea Shorts 2019, “Nostalgia” (2020) and “Ash In Burning” (2020). She produced “Ròm” (2019) and “The Brilliant Darkness” (2020) which won Golden Kites Award 2022.