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Prolific filmmaker Herman Yau is no stranger to Hong Kong cinema who has directed bold films that touched on sensitive themes since the 1990s. Films like the Category III rated “The Untold Story” and “Ebola Syndrome” are famously explicit in violence, sex and gore. Most of all, he tells the real stories of Hong Kong through his raw and complex characters. Nonetheless, Yau would move on to direct big budget action films mostly financed by China like “Shock Wave” (2017), “The White Storm” series and “Moscow Mission” (2023) during the last decade. Filmed in different locations, “Customs Frontline” is such a film.

A young hotshot but principled Chow Ching Lai (Nicholas Tse) works for the Hong Kong Customs Department as an assistant superintendent. Fortunately, he has a sympathetic boss Cheung Wan Nam (Jacky Cheung), a senior superintendent there who gives him guidance throughout his career. One day while on a routine patrol,...

The 37th Tokyo International Film Festival began its 10-day run on October 28 with a colorful Red Carpet event featuring Japanese and international cinema luminaries, ahead of the TIFF Opening Ceremony.

The Red Carpet festivities got underway with brief stage appearances by over 200 filmmakers, actors and luminaries from across sections of the festival, as well as the TIFF juries. They then moved along the 162-meter serpentine walk, stopping for multiple autographs and selfies with fans from far and wide before arriving at the elegant staircase leading into the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater. The theater was built in the style of yesteryear’s grand movie houses, providing the perfect backdrop for TIFF’s Opening Ceremony.

Among the international luminaries making the stroll were Chinese actor Zhao Liying and director Midi Z (at TIFF with the film The Unseen Sister); Hong Kong actor Michael Hui (The Last Dance); Taiwanese director Huang Xi and Hong...

Huang Xi’s Daughter’s Daughter is, as the title suggests, a generational drama, but one that encompasses four generations of women rather than just two. In fact, the central story is almost exclusively centered on women; male characters are largely referred to only passively, vaguely in conversation. It’s a choice that allows the film to touch on the varied dynamics of mothering, independence, and difficult choices in the lives of the very young and old women of this Taiwanese family. It also allows for women to critique women, mothers to critique daughters, and vice-versa without the typically ubiquitous presence of men in these scenarios. It almost plays like a contained thought experiment running underneath a classic dilemma about what to do with an unborn child.

The central figure Jin Aixia, is at once steadfast in her independence but quickly flustered at almost the slightest disruption and presence of...

Semi-autobiographical story of director Fiona Roan Feng-i, “American Girl” had 10 nominations at Golden Horse, getting awards for 5 in one of the most successful movies of 2021, which eventually found its way to Netflix.

Follow our tribute to Taiwanese by clicking on the image below

The story takes place during the 2002-2004 Sars outbreak. Fen Liang and her sister Ann have to return to Taiwan from the United States with their mother, Lily, after she is diagnosed with breast cancer, in order to seek help from her husband, Huay. The two girls, even though they speak Mandarin, find it quite hard to adapt to the new environment, particularly Fen, who had already successfully adapted to the previous change, becoming a straight A student in the US, and now has to change her ways once more, even though she is only 13. Their mother's medical treatment is quite harsh and takes a toll on her,...

This year’s Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival will open with a double bill of Snow In Midsummer, directed by Malaysia’s Chong Keat-aun, and Be With Me, from Taiwanese filmmaker Hwarng Wern-ying.

The festival observed that the two films are “coincidentally inspired by faith and narrated in historical memories of Taiwan and Malaysia” – and both are directed by previous winners at Taiwan’s prestigious Golden Horse Awards.

Chong won Best New Director at the Golden Horse Awards for The Story Of Southern Islet in 2020, while Hwarng, an acclaimed art director and long-time collaborator of Hou Hsiao-hsien, won Best Art Direction and Best Makeup & Costume Design for Flowers Of Shanghai and The Assassin, respectively.

A collaboration between Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore, Snow In Midsummer revolves around a Cantonese street opera troupe during a turbulent period in Malaysia’s political history in the late 1960s. The film is receiving its world premiere in Venice Days.

‘Tales Of Taipei’ set as closing film.

The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (Tghff) is set to open with a double bill of Chong Keat Aun’s Snow In Midsummer and acclaimed art director Hwarng Wern-ying’s directorial debut Be With Me, with Bowie Tsang-produced omnibus Tales Of Taipei as the closing film.

Both opening films took part in Golden Horse Film Project Promotion project market in 2020 and will have their Asian premieres at Tghff. The world premiere for Snow In Midsummer will be at the Venice Days sidebar of the Venice Film Festival, which begins today.

Malaysian director...

The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival has announced dual opening night titles, both inspired by faith and local memories, as well as its closing gala presentation.

The festival will open with “Snow in Midsummer,” directed by Chong Keat-aun, a former winner of the Golden Horse Film Awards’ best new director prize with “The Story of Southern Islet,” and “Be With Me,” by Hwarng Wern-ying, who previously won Golden Horse prizes for art direction, costume and makeup.

The festival, which runs Nov. 9-26, will close with the world premiere of “Tales of Taipei,” produced by Bowie Tsang and comprising ten stories by directors from East Asia.

The two opening films were both part of the 2020 Golden Horse Project Promotion, a project matching event. They both have their Asian premiere at the festival.

“Snow in Midsummer” is a story spanning nearly half a century about two generations of females, a troupe master and the Nyonya offspring,...

Leslie Cheung, a luminary of Hong Kong's golden era of the 80s and 90s, stands out as one of its most gifted representatives. Revered globally as both an actor and a singer, he holds a position as one of the forefathers of Cantopop, leaving an indelible mark on the cultural landscape.

Cheung's brilliance transcended geographical boundaries, captivating admirers in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea. Notably, his pivotal role in John Woo's “A Better Tomorrow” marked a turning point, propelling his acting career to new heights. Subsequent collaborations with esteemed directors such as Chen Kaige and Wong Kar Wai propelled him to international stardom.

Eventually, his name figured in the first place on the list of the most favorite actors in the 100 years of Chinese cinema, in the third of the Most Iconic Musicians of All Time, and CNN considered him the Most Beautiful Man from Hong Kong...

Getting In Front Of The Competition

The International Olympic Committee said on Thursday that Swiss-based, Chinese-owned Infront Sports & Media would handle broadcast right sales in much of Asia for the next series of Summer and Winter games.

The deal covers 22 territories including Afghanistan, Brunei, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam – but not China, Japan or South Korea, and runs 2026-2032. That means it will cover the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Summer games. The 2030 Winter Olympics, which have yet to be allocated a host, and all Youth Olympic Games during this period will also be covered.

Infront, which is headed by Philippe Blatter and has been owned by China’s Dalian Wanda since 2015, replaces the Japanese advertising and marketing giant Dentsu, which had handled the rights...

Exclusive: Lana Condor (To All The Boys franchise), Andrew Koji (Bullet Train), Ross Butler (Shazam! franchise), Sung Kang (Fast & Furious franchise) and Elodie Yung (The Cleaning Lady) are among those set to star in Worth the Wait, a romantic comedy marking the U.S. directorial debut of award-winning Taiwanese filmmaker Tom Shu-Yu Lin (The Garden of Evening Mists), which has wrapped production in Vancouver and Kuala Lumpur.

Others cast include Karena Lam (American Girl), Osric Chau (Supernatural), Ali Fumiko Whitney (The Road Dance), Ricky He (From), Kheng Hua Tan (Crazy Rich Asians) and Yu-Beng Lim (Rebel Moon).

An English-language indie set against the intercontinental backdrops of Seattle and Kuala Lumpur, which is said to be in the vein of Love Actually, Worth the Wait follows a year in the interconnected lives and romances of an all-Asian ensemble cast. Script is written by Maggie Hartmans. Producers include Dan Mark and...

Jacky Cheung has been absent from the silver screen for a while now, with his last leading role coming in 2016 with “Heaven in the Dark” and his last action film coming a year before that with “Helios”. On the other hand, if there's one thing the late, great Benny Chan's swansong “Raging Fire” did, it rekindled Nicholas Tse's interest in action films. Both Cheung and Tse are back with action and will be seen in Herman Yau's upcoming “Customs Frontline”.

Plot details are still under wraps but the trailer promises an exciting narrative revolving around illegal arms smuggling that promises fists, guns and lots of explosives.

The stacked star-cast also includes Francis Ng, Karena Lam and Cya Liu. No official release date has been announced yet but it can be expected to release in the 2nd half of 2023.

The 47th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF47) will honour Soi Cheang as this year’s Filmmaker-in-Focus.

One of Hong Kong’s most stylish and formidable directors, Cheang joins an illustrious and growing list of recent Hkiff Filmmakers-in-Focus, including Sandra Ng, Stanley Kwan, Michael Hui, Sammo Hung and Brigitte Lin.

Returning to its traditional dates after last year’s postponement, HKIFF47 will take place from 30 March to 10 April. At the centre of this year’s cinephile extravaganza is the showcase of Cheang’s 12 seminal works, the publication of a commemorative book and, in collaboration with long-term festival partner Moleskine, the release of a limited edition notebook. Cheang will also attend a Face-to-Face session to share his insights and vision with the public.

In making the announcement, Hong Kong International Film Festival Society Executive Director Albert Lee paid tribute to Cheang and said the festival was proud to recognise his indelible contribution to Hong Kong cinema.

Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s ‘Drive My Car’ secures eight nods.

Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave leads the nominations for this year’s Asian Film Awards (Afa) with 10 nods including best film and best director.

Korean films have secured nominations in every category for the 16th edition of the awards, which will return to Hong Kong for the first time in three years, having been hosted in Busan for two years and not held in 2022.

Scroll down for full list of nominations

Korean romantic noir Decision To Leave premiered in Competition at Cannes last May, where Park won best director. As...

Park Chan-wook’s stylish crime drama Decision to Leave leads the nominations for this year’s Asian Film Awards with a sweeping 10 nods, including Best Director and Best Film.

The film’s impressive nominations haul also includes a Best Screenplay nod and acting nominations for leads Park Hae-il and Tang Wei, as well as below-the-line recognition for Cinematography, Editing, Music, and Production Design.

Decision to Leave follows a detective (Park Hae-il) investigating a man’s death in the mountains when he meets the dead man’s mysterious wife, a suspect in the case, and begins a tangled affair. The film debuted at Cannes where Park won the Best Director prize. Korea has also submitted the film as its entry for the international feature Oscar race.

Japanese filmmaker Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s Drive My Car trails with eight nominations. The epic road movie also debuted at Cannes, but in 2021. Elsewhere, Hirokazu Koreeda...

Making Waves – Navigators of Hong Kong Cinema, a touring programme to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hksar), comes to London 8-10 July, bringing an exciting selection of new films and restored classics to the big screen. Also featuring a live holo-presence and an online virtual exhibition, the event is an evocative multimedia experience that takes audiences on a journey through contemporary Hong Kong cinema through a diverse range of genres and forms.

This celebration of Hong Kong cinema is presented by Create Hong Kong in partnership with Focus Hong Kong, and supported by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, London, with a programme of 7 films at Soho Hotel and The Garden Cinema, including a very special live holo-presence event featuring legendary Hong Kong filmmaker Peter Chan in conversation and a gala screening of his beloved classic Comrades, Almost A Love Story in a restored version.

Further titles include Herman Yau’s War Customised and Alan Mak’s Insider.

Hong Kong’s Emperor Motion Pictures (Emp) has unveiled a slate of 12 upcoming films, including a sequel to Zhang Yimou’s box office hit Cliff Walkers and new all-star features from Herman Yau and Alan Mak.

It has also released the first images of Felix Chong’s The Goldfinger, which reunites Infernal Affairs stars Tony Leung and Andy Lau for the first time in nearly 20 years (see below).

The 12 titles, along with two projects in development, equate to an investment of $191.7m (Hk$1.5b), representing the company...

In 2013, the veteran director Benny Chan gave us the spectacular action film “The White Storm” which honored the best heroic bloodshed films Hong Kong madein the 80s and 90s. This year the sequel: “The White Storm 2: Drug Lords ” arrives, at the hands of Herman Yau, another veteran director who does not need any introduction.

The White Storm 2: Drug Lords is released in UK cinemas 12th July from Cine Asia

As is usual in some franchises of this type, the continuity is different, which is why it has nothing to do with the previous one. Louis Koo repeats his part in this installment, and he is accompanied by Andy Lau, Michael Mui, Chrissie Chau, Kent Cheng and Kar Yan Lam among others.

The story begins in 2009 in Hong Kong, where the criminal gang of Ching Hing controls much of the city. This criminal gang, led by Yu Nam (Kent cheng...

There is a thrilling selection of Chinese-language titles at Filmart this year. Liz Shackleton picks out some of the most promising.

With very few Hong Kong or mainland Chinese sellers making the journey to this year’s European Film Market in Berlin, Filmart offers a chance for buyers to catch up with the Chinese-language titles that will be rolled out in the region for the rest of the year.

After serving up the biggest film of the Chinese New Year holiday — Kung Fu Yoga, starring Jackie Chan and directed by Stanley Tong — China’s Sparkle Roll Media has launched a Hong Kong-based sales arm that is selling Ding Sheng’s reboot of the A Better Tomorrow series.

Other high-profile action titles new to market include Distribution Workshop’s Extraordinary Mission, from the creative teams behind the Infernal Affairs and Overheard series, and Huayi Brothers’ crime drama Explosion, starring Duan Yihong.

Previously announced...

Train To Busan and The Wailing also secured multiple nominations.

Chinese director Feng Xiaogang’s I Am Not Madame Bovary, Korean director Na Hong-jin’s The Wailing and Koji Fukada’s Harmonium from Japan are the frontrunners at the upcoming Asian Film Awards, vying for both best film and best director.

Joining the fray for best film are Chung Mong-hong’s Godspeed, which also nabs a best actor nod for Michael Hui, and Kim Jee-woon’s The Age Of Shadows. Soul Mate’s Derek Tsang and The Woman Who Left’s Lav Diaz are also in the race for best director.

This year, 34 films from 12 countries (out of almost 1,600 submissions from 28 countries) are in contention for 15 awards. Korean cinema dominates, with festival favourite The Handmaiden [pictured] receiving the most nominations with six nods, followed by breakout hit Train To Busan with five and The Wailing with four.

I Am Not Madame Bovary receives five nominations, including best actress...

Chinese director Liu Jie’s De Lan won best film at this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival, while Vito Palmieri’s See You In Texas won the grand jury prize.Scroll down for full list of winners

Liu’s rural tale revolves around a loan officer who travels to a remote village and strikes up a complicated relationship with a Tibetan woman. The director is currently working on Hide And Seek, a Chinese adaptation of a Korean thriller, co-financed by Village Roadshow Pictures Asia.

Palmieri’s See You In Texas tells the story of a young Italian woman who has to make difficult decisions when she is offered an opportunity to perfect her horse-riding skills on a ranch in Texas.

Among other winners, Finnish filmmaker Antti Jokinen picked up best director for Flowers Of Evil; Liu Ye won best actor for his performance in Cao Baoping’s Cock And Bull; and Naomi Fujiyama took best actress...

Shanghai International Film Festival unveils 2016 line-up.Scroll down for full list of awards

Longman Leung and Sunny Luk’s Cold War 2 [pictured], the sequel to Edko Films’ hit 2012 action thriller, will open this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival (June 11-19).

Meanwhile, Werner Herzog’s Salt And Fire, Bruce Beresford’s Mr Church and Cao Baoping’s Coke And Bull are among the films selected for the Golden Goblet Awards (see full list below).

As previously announced the competition jury is headed by Emir Kusturica and also includes Atom Egoyan, Daniele Luchetti, African filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (Timbuktu), Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden (Tharlo), Hong Kong actress Karena Lam and Chinese writer Yan Geling.

Japanese filmmaker Kazuo Hara will oversee a separate jury for documentaries, while Swiss animation director George Schwizgebel heads the jury for animated films.

Siff also unveiled nominations in six categories for the Asian New Talent Awards, which has a jury headed by Hong Kong filmmaker...

Werner Herzog’s thriller Salt And Fire will have its world premiere at the festival.

Longman Leung and Sunny Luk’s Cold War 2 [pictured], the sequel to Edko Films’ hit 2012 action thriller, will open this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival (June 11-19).

Meanwhile, Werner Herzog’s Salt And Fire, Bruce Beresford’s Mr Church and Cao Baoping’s Coke And Bull are among the films selected for the Golden Goblet Awards (see full list below).

As previously announced the competition jury is headed by Emir Kusturica and also includes Atom Egoyan, Daniele Luchetti, African filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (Timbuktu), Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden (Tharlo), Hong Kong actress Karena Lam and Chinese writer Yan Geling.

Japanese filmmaker Kazuo Hara will oversee a separate jury for documentaries, while Swiss animation director George Schwizgebel heads the jury for animated films.

Siff also unveiled nominations in six categories for the Asian New Talent Awards, which has a jury...

On March 17, at Macau’s Venetian Theater the 10th Asian Film Awards will be underway. Winners from nearly 1,600 submissions from 32 countries will be announced. Since its inauguration in 2007, the award has grown in scale and is now largest film awards event in Asia.

This year, The Assassin has the most nominations (best film, director, actress, supporting actress, cinematography, original music, costume design, production design, and sound). This historical drama featuring Shu Qi has been hailed as “the most ravishingly beautiful film Hou [Hsiao-hsien] has ever made, and certainly one of his most deeply transporting” by Variety.

Bajirao Mastani by Sanjay Leela Bhansali follows with five nominations. This Indian historical romance is one of the highest grossing Indian films of all time. It will compete with The Assassin, Three Stories of Love (Koibito Tachi, Japan), Mr Six (Hu Guan, China) and Veteran (Ryoo Seung-wan, South Korea) in the Best film category.

Asian...

Exclusive: Hong Kong Film Awards-nominated drama stars Karena Lam and Jacky Cheung.

Hong Kong’s Emperor Motion Pictures (Emp) is launching sales on sexual harrassment drama Heaven In The Dark, starring Karena Lam and Jacky Cheung.

Adapted from the play French Kiss by Candace Chong, the film tells the story of a woman who shares a kiss with a pastor and then files sexual harrassment charges against him. The pastor ends up losing his faith as a consequence of her actions, while the woman tries to find salvation in religion.

The film, which is scheduled for a Hong Kong release on March 24, marks the directorial debut of Lam’s husband Yuen Kim-wai, an established commercials and music video director.

Although not yet released, the film has already picked up best actress (Lam) and best actor (Cheung) nominations at this year’s Hong Kong Film Awards, which take place on April 3. It has also been selected as the...

In an online free live stream conference the Asian Film Award Academy announced the list of nominees for the 10th Asian Film Awards. The Assassin (Taiwan) by Hsiao-Hsien Hou lead the list with 9 nominations (Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Original Music, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design and Best Sound), Then comes Bajirao Mastani (India) by Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Best Film, Best Editing, Best Original Music, Best Costume Design and Best Visual Effects) and Port of Call (Hong Kong) by Philip Yung (Best Supporting Actress, Best Newcomer, Best Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Cinematography) with 5 nominations each. Mountains May Depart (China) by Jia Zhang Ke, Mr. Six (China) by Guan Hu and Veteran (South Korea) by Ryoo Seung-wan have 4 nominations each.

Best Film

The Assassin (Nie yin niang) by Hou Hsiao-Hsien

Hong Kong, China, Taiwan | 2015 Bajirao Mastani by Sanjay Leela Bhansali – India...

Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Assassin leads the nominations for the 10th Asian Film Awards with nine nods, followed by India’s Bajirao Mastani and Hong Kong’s Port Of Call with five apiece.

The Assassin, which won best director in Cannes last year, was nominated for best film, director, actress (Shu Qi), supporting actress (Zhou Yun), cinematography (Mark Lee Ping-bing) and four other technical categories.

Another sumptious period epic, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani, was also nominated for best film, along with best editing, original music, costume design and visual effects.

Philip Yung’s social drama Port Of Call, based on the true story of a mainland prostitute who was murdered in Hong Kong, picked up nods for best supporting actor (Michael Ning), newcomer (Jessie Li), screenplay, editing and Christopher Doyle’s cinematography.

Rounding out the best film category are Jia Zhangke’s Mountains May Depart (France-China); Hashiguchi Ryosuke’s Three Stories Of Love (Japan...

Hong Kong-based Celestial Tiger Entertainment (Cte) has renewed its exclusive, multi-year output deals with Hong Kong studios Emperor Motion Pictures (Emp), Mega-Vision Project Workshop (Mvpw) and Universe Entertainment.

Under the terms of the deals, Cte has secured first and exclusive pay-tv rights, as well as pay-per-view (PPV), video-on-demand (VOD) and over-the-top (Ott) rights, to each studio’s upcoming slate of movies for Cte’s Celestial Movies channel in Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.

Upcoming Emp productions include Heaven In The Dark, a drama reuniting Jacky Cheung and Karena Lam who both starred in July Rhapsody in 2002; Fruit Chan’s suspense thriller Kill Time, starring Ethan Ruan and Angelababy; and The Mobfathers, starring Anthony Wong and Chapman To.

Mvpw’s slate includes the third installment of blockbuster franchise From Vegas To Macau, which will star Andy Lau in addition to Chow Yun Fat and Nick Cheung. Mvpw is also in pre-production on The Invincible 12, which marks the 100th film from...

Exclusive: Taipei-based sales company Ablaze Image has picked up international rights to Tom Lin’s Zinnia Flower and mainland actor Chen Jianbin’s directorial debut A Fool.

Starring Karena Lam and Shih Chin-hang, lead guitarist of Taiwanese rock band Mayday, Zinnia Flower revolves around the friendship between a man and woman whose partners have been killed in the same accident.

Currently in post-production, the film is produced by Taiwan’s Atom Cinema. Lin previously directed award-winning dramas Winds Of September (2008) and Starry Starry Night (2011).

A Fool, which also stars Chen Jianbin, is a comedy drama about a farmer who tries to bribe a local big shot to get his son released from prison.

The film, which also stars Jiang Qinqin and Wang Xuebing, won best new director and best actor at last year’s Golden Horse Awards.

Ablaze Image has also picked up Lee Chung’s action comedy The Laundryman, about a laundry...

Sudabeh Mortezai’s Macondo won the Firebird Award in the Young Cinema Competition of this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hkiff), while Tetsuichiro Tsuta’s The Tale Of Iya took the Jury Prize.

The jury praised Macondo, an Austrian drama centring on an 11-year-old Chechnyan refugee, for its “simplicity and humanity [which] show great sensitivity to universal human problems”. Ayumi Sakamoto’s Forma received a special mention in the Young Cinema Competition.

The Firebird Award in the Documentary Competition went to Farida Pacha’s My Name Is Salt, while the Jury Prize went to Gu Tao’s The Last Moose Of Aoluguya and Bernard Bloch’s Meat And Milk received a special mention.

Hu Wei’s The Butter Lamp, about Tibetan nomads, won the Firebird Award in the Short Film Competition. The Jury Prize went to Leo Woodhead’s Cold Snap, while Janie Geiser’s Kriminalistik won the Internet Audience Award and Reka Bucsi’s [link...

By Erin Lashley, MoreHorror.com

Since supernatural horror movies from Asia became popular worldwide, I have often heard complaints that there are too many of them and that they are too formulaic. While I agree that many fall under the second category, I don’t believe there is such a thing as too many supernatural horror movies.

What keeps a movie from becoming more of the same old “I have long black hair and I am mad at you because I am dead” stuff is fresh writing and the effective drama contained within. You have to have human drama to tell a good ghost story; otherwise you’re just watching a ghost and her effects team find creative ways to kill people. Because I am on a quest to watch every movie with a ghost in it, I can help you wade through the flood of ectoplasm.

Here are five...

If you thought Hollywood was done raiding Asian cinema for horror movie material, you’d be wrong. Dead wrong. Get it? Because the genre is horror? And people usually die in it? But I digress. The latest Asian horror movie to find its way to Hollywood via the remake chopping block is the 2006 Taiwanese supernatural drama “Silk”, about “scientists who capture the ghost of a child in an apartment and the detective charged with discovering clues to the ghost’s identity and demise.” Gold Circle Films is remaking the movie, and has assigned writers Marko King, Mary King and Jonathan Watters to take a crack at the script. The remake is expected to divert from the original premise, and the new premise is being called “Michael Crichton meets The Sixth Sense.” By which I’m guessing they mean science will figure prominently into the plot. Plus, ghosts, I would imagine.

Until director Terry Gilliam finally delivers his own unique adaptation of this classic Spanish tale, I suppose Agan’s upcoming 3-D extravaganza “Don Quixote” will have to suffice. That’s not to say that there’s anything inherently wrong with this particular endeavor, of course, though I am initially turned off by the 3-D aspect of the film. The sooner this annoying trend dies, the better. But, I digress. Agan’s adaptation, which stars Karena Lam (“Claustrophobia”) and Liu Ye (“City of Life and Death”), certainly looks a little cheesy, but given my adoration of the source material, I’m willing to give it a shot. And if you haven’t read Don Quixote yet, then shame on you. Stop watching silly trailers and read a book, you illiterate heathen. Much love to Film Smash for providing the goodies.

And here's the rest fo them which includes loads of world premiers, plenty of Asian flare, and lot's of film makers I've never heard of before..

Check the list after the break.

Panorama Main Programme

Dongbei, Dongbei (A North Chinese Girl) by Zou Peng, People’s Republic of China (Wp)

With Tian Yi-Wen, Wu Rui-Peng, Liu Xing-Ping

Rabioso sol, rabioso cielo (Raging Sun, Raging Sky) by Julián Hernández, Mexico (Wp)

With Jorge Becerra, Javier Oliván, Guillermo Villegas, Giovanna Zacarias

Rossiya 88 (Russia 88) by Pavel Bardin, Russian Federation (Wp)

With Petr Fyodorov, Vera Strokova, Kazbek Kibizov

Schläft ein Lied in allen Dingen (Sleeping Songs) by Andreas Struck, Germany (Wp)

With Stefan Rudolf, Chulpan Khamatova, Traute Hoess, Paula Kalenberg, Barnaby Metschurat

Strella by Panos H. Koutras, Greece (Wp)

With Mina Orfanou, Yiannis Kokkiasmenos, Minos Theoharis, Betty Vakalidou

Vingança (Retribution) by Paulo Pons, Brazil

With Bárbara Borges, Erom Cordeiro, Branca Messina, Guta Stresser, Marcio...

[Our thanks to Twitch reader James Hadfield for the following review.]

Screenwriter Ivy Ho has penned some memorable films in her time, including July Rhapsody and Comrades, Almost a Love Story, but this is the first time she’s gotten behind the camera to direct one of her own scripts. Claustrophobia is an almost infuriatingly subtle piece of work, which implies much more than it actually shows.

Told in reverse, the story revolves around Pearl (Karena Lam), an attractive young woman who works in the marketing department of a struggling import-export firm. Each day, she leaves the cramped confines of her office to share a car home with her coworkers: boorish know-it-all Karl (Felix Lok), talkative tart Jewel (Chucky Woo), shy nerd John (Derek Wsang) and handsome family man Tom (Ekin Cheng).