Notice

B.I.G NAFF Announces the NAFF 2020 Official Selections

DATE2020.05.25Hit4450

 
The 24th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival Selects 30 Projects
from 21 Countries for NAFF Project Market! 
 
The 24th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (Festival Director: SHIN Chul, hereafter BIFAN) has announced the 30 official selections from 21 countries for this year’s NAFF project market. The selections consist of 19 projects for the It Project (including one Korean-Vietnamese co-production) and 11 projects for Project Spotlight Korea. A total of 181 projects from 41 countries were submitted for consideration this year. Selected projects are listed in the table below. 
 
The selections possess various characteristics that are influenced by the cultural area in which they hail from. This year’s projects from Europe and North America are highly experimental in terms of genre, while the South American projects make you anticipate seeing them in their completed form, although they are still just in their developmental stages. (It Projects include co-productions between other countries and Asian countries, as well as projects by filmmakers who wish to coproduce with an Asian country.) Projects from South Korea and other parts of Asia captured the philosophy that lies deep within the framework of genre films by exploring a variety of topics, such as tradition and political/social conflict, gender identity, and class distinction. (Project Spotlight highlights projects from one Asian country each year; this year’s spotlight will be on South Korea.) 
 
The judges for this year included Kini S. KIM (Asian Acquisitions Representative, The Jokers Films), KIM Young (producer, MIRU Pictures), Jonathan KIM (CEO of Hanmac Culture Group), and Joyce Heeyoung CHO (professor, Busan Asian Film School). In order to prevent the further spread of COVID-19, the judges screened the projects online from May 8 (Fri.) to 22 (Fri.). “Screening these outstanding projects with NAFF was a special opportunity and an honor for all of the judges. Each project was planned so meticulously, and I hope to see them at BIFAN as completed films in the near future,” expressed judge Kini S. KIM. 
 
The 30 official selections will be candidates for the NAFF awards, which present the winning projects with cash awards and production support. The amount of support and scale of the awards have increased for this year’s project market. A new feature this year includes the launch of the Work In Progress category for projects that have completed filming, for which a total of 300 million won in post-production support will be awarded. Two other award categories are being added this year – the Asian Discovery Award and the Korean Discovery Award – to bring about a renaissance of genre film and to discover/support talented filmmakers; a cash prize of 15 million won will be awarded to the winners of the two categories. In addition, the NAFF Korean Award, which aims to promote the development of Korean genre films, has also expanded. This year, a total of 30 million won will be rewarded to three outstanding film projects. The NAFF project market’s Bucheon Award (grand prize) and NAFF Award (runner-up prize), which have also increased in value, will be awarding a total of 35 million won to two projects. NAFF (Network of Asian Fantastic Films) was established to boost the production and development of genre films in Asia, and is currently in its 13th year. 
 
From July 11-15, while the NAFF project market is in session, filmmakers of the selected projects will be given the opportunity to meet with producers, investors, and distributors from all over the world who work with genre films. The one-on-one business meetings will be conducted via an online platform this year to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. 
 
NAFF It Project Juries
Kini S. KIM (Asian Acquisitions Representative, The Jokers Films)
KIM Young (producer, MIRU Pictures)
Jonathan KIM (CEO of Hanmac Culture Group)
Joyce Heeyoung CHO (professor, Busan Asian Film School)

 
It Project Selections
 
NO Project Country/Region Director Producer Production Company
1 A Burning Worm
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Hong Kong, Taiwan WONG Fei Pang Winnie TSANG Tonikaku Pictures
2 Cremation Vietnam, Malaysia
Shanhuan MANTON, 
Jacen TAN
NGUYEN THI XUAN Trang,
Kenneth DAGATAN, 
Iskander AZIZUDDIN,
Shanhuan MANTON, 
Jacen TAN
Feisk Sdn Bhd
3 Deviant Spain Daniel M. CANEIRO Kevin IGLESIAS RODRIGUEZ Amania Films
4 Escape to Oz Australia, China Sam VOUTAS Jane ZHENG,
Melanie ANSLEY
Peking Pictures
5 The Fever Argentina, Brazil, France Mateo BENDESKY Agustina COSTA VARSI,
Daniel PECH,
Volpe Films
6 Ice UK Stephanie JOALLAND Sean MCCONVILLE Frenzy Films LTD
7 In My Mother's Skin The Philippines Kenneth DAGATAN Bianca BALBUENA,
Bradley LIEW
Epicmedia Productions, Inc.
8 Journey Beyond the Night Japan KAYANO Takayuki AIKAWA Masumi Alpha PRODUCE Co., Ltd
9 L.E.S. Dojo & The Curse   of Muramasa USA, Japan Justin AMBROSINO   Forerunner Films
10 The Lighthouse USA, the Czech Republic Neal DHAND Sergio UGUET DE RESAYRE,
Jon ARANDA
 
11 Marry My Dead Body
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Taiwan CHENG Wei Hao JIN Pai Lunn Calendar Studios
12 Precious Blood Mexico, Argentina Andres KAISER Nicole MAYNARD,
Martin ALIAGA
Cine Feral
13 The River Always Flows Singapore GOH Ming Siu,
Scott C. HILLYARD
GOH Ming Siu,
Scott C. HILLYARD
Monkey & Boar
14 Searching for the Black Rainbow Colombia, Argentina, Spain Juan Diego
ESCOBAR ALZATE
Javier DIAZ, Coruya Cine,
Afasia Films
15 Suli
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China, Taiwan, Hungary LIN Tu Patrick Mao HUANG,
Sol YE
Flash Forward  Entertainment
16 Ten Secrets of Muoi Vietnam, Korea GIANG Le Binh HANG TRINH Le Minh,
Bobby S. KIM,
KIM Tae-Hyung 
Silver Moonlight   Entertainment, Good Fellas
17 Under A Blood Red Sky Indonesia Adriyanto DEWO Perlita DESIANI Relate Films
18 Variance USA,
Malaysia
Nir PANIRY FOO Yong Lin It Must Be Entertainment
19 Zsazsa Zaturnnah Vs. The Amazonistas Of Planet X The Philippines, France Avid LIONGOREN Avid LIONGOREN, 
Franck PRIOT
Rocketsheep Studio
  

Project Spotlight Korea Selections
 
NO Project Country Director Producer Production Company
1 All About Subin Korea SONG Hyunseok    
2 The Ghost Korea LIM Kyungho LEE Minho Director's Home
3 Historical Verification  Korea LEE Minseob MOON Jeankyung  
4 The Housemaid  Korea CHOI Eun  Ellie OH,
PARK Doohee
EO entertainment lnc.
5 My Secret Friend  Korea KIM Eunkyoung  Stanley KWAK INDIESTORY Inc. 
6 Satanee  Korea SON Seungwoong  KIM Heeyoung K-Dragon
7 Seire  Korea PARK Kang RHEE Yoonjoo Korea National University of Arts
8 Seoul Horror Story Korea KIM Hyunjin LEE Cheolmin Mayjune Media
9 The Vampyre: A New Life  Korea JANG Kunjae  YOUN Heeyoung MOCUSHURA
10 Vengeance Is Ours  Korea Jude JUNG Jenny KIM Siren Pictures
11 White Blue Moon  Korea YUN Jaeyeon   JEON Youngmoon  Leo Film