Global Flicks: Rachida El Garani Tackles Domestic Violence, Hamaguchi Ryusuke Premiere's New Film
Rachida El Garani
Africa: Ishaya Bako (The Royal Hibiscus Hotel, Road To Yesterday) will direct the film adaptation of Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani‘s award-winning 2009 novel I Do Not Come to You by Chance. The film follows a struggling Nigerian graduate who is involved in assisting his dubious uncle’s fraudulent email scam. The film is set to star Paul Nnadiekwe, Blossom Chukwujekwu, Jennifer Eliogu, Sambasa Nberibe, and Beverly Osu. Femi Awojide is set to be the Director of Photography. This project secured a spot in the Toronto International Film Festival 2023 Centrepiece program.
Moroccan Belgium filmmaker Rachida El Garani will produce a film that tackles domestic abuse through a personal lens. She aims to empower women to free themselves from abusive marriages. El Garani states, “What I lived through destroyed me to the core as a woman. I had to rebuild myself and I’m still doing it until this day.” Hoping that the impact of her film will transcend nationality and will be an influence worldwide.
Asia: Director and writer Hamaguchi Ryusuke will premiere a new drama, Evil Does Not Exist, at the Venice Festival. The film will star Omika Hitoshi, Nishikawa Ryo, Kosaka Ryuji and Shibutani Ayaka. Composer Ishibashi Eiko will rejoin Ryuskuke for the film’s composition. The story follows Takumi and his daughter Hana, who live in Mizubiki Village, as they live a modest life until one day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a glamping site that will harm the local water supply and endanger the area's ecological balance. It has been picked up for a North American Release by Sideshow and Janus Films.
Auteur Mostofa Sarwar Farooki spearheads Ministry of Love, a 12-film anthology by the leading creatives of the Bangladesh film industry for streamer Chorki. Something Like an Autobiography is heavily inspired by Farooki and his actor wife Nusrat Imrose Tisha’s personal life, is co-written by Tisha and Farooki and is co-produced by Anna Katchko. Farooki will also direct a project titled Last Defenders of Monogamy. The lineup of films includes Couple by Raka Noshin Nower (Laugh Lines), Shangkha Dasgupta (Guti) will direct 50/50, Redoan Rony (Behind the Puppy) will direct Uki, Abu Shahed Emon (Busan title Jalal’s Story) directs Oboni, Shihab Shaheen (Myself Allen Shawpan) will direct Kacher Manush Dure Thuiya, Ashfaque Nipun (Mohanagar) We Need to Talk, Robiul Alam Robi (Unoloukik) will direct Forget Me Not, Raihan Rafi (Shurongo) directs Muhabbat, Anam Biswas (Dui Diner Duniya) Shoulder Man, Rezaur Rahman (Internsheep) 36-24-36, and Arifur Rahman (Scooty) Jui. Three films are already in production, one film is in post and the rest are being developed. The films are expected to release in October.
Man on the Run is the new documentary on the 1MDb scandal about how a corrupt group of co-conspirators came together to pull off one of the biggest frauds in history. The film is directed by Cassius Michael Kim (The Wonder List With Bill Weir). The film features interviews with FBI agents Charles W. O’Neal and David Smith. Also, it includes the last filmed interview with former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak before he was sent to prison for his involvement and an interview with then-opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, now the current Prime Minister of Malaysia. The film is set for release in theaters in New York on Sept. 22 and in Los Angeles on Sept. 29.
The King of Kotha trailer has been unveiled, starring Dulquer Salmaan. Abhilash Joshiy will direct the film featuring Aishwarya Lekshmi, Shabeer Kallarakkal, Prasanna, Nyla Usha, and Gokul Suresh. The film is produced by Zee Studios and Salmaan’s Wayfarer Films and will be released worldwide on Aug. 24, during the Onam festival holiday frame.
Ananth Narayan Mahadevan is in post-production on Phule, about the pioneers of women’s education in India. Set to take on the lives of Jyotirao Govindrao Phule and his wife Savitribai as social reformers known for their efforts against India’s endemic caste system. As Mahadevan said: “Gender discrimination and caste discrimination is prevalent everywhere today. The Phules emerge as icons for this fight that has been going on for generations.”
Byun Sung-Hyun has signed with Independent Artist Group for representation. Byun’s latest debuted as the most-watched non-English film on Netflix globally. Officially launched in June, following a merger between Agency for the Performing Arts and the music touring agency Artist Group International.
Indian filmmaker Dominic Sangma’s Rapture (Rimdogittanga) is the second in a trilogy of films based on his memories of village life that began with his debut feature Ma’ama. The film revolves around a 10-year-old boy gripped by the fear of child kidnappers and explores themes of others and outsiders.
Cineverse has acquired all North American rights to body-swap psychological thriller Devils. The film is directed by Kim Jae-hoon and stars Oh Dae-hwan and Jang Dong-yoon with Cho Il-hyung and Kim Sang-yoon as Executive Producers and Gu Sung-mok as Producer. The film follows a homicide detective assigned to take down a ring of serial killers, who has a personal motivation as one of the victims is his brother-in-law.
Nitin Chandrakant Desai, the Indian production designer best known for his work on the Oscar-nominated Lagaan (2001) was found dead on Aug. 2 at his studio in Karjat. He was 57 years old.
The Indian parliament has passed the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, which aims to stop piracy that causes losses of INR200 billion ($2.4 billion) to the film industry. The law will now punish lawbreakers with a minimum of three months imprisonment and a fine of $3,650, which can be extended up to three years imprisonment and a fine up to 5% of the audited gross production cost.
Heavens: The Boy and His Robot, a Singapore-produced movie, will have its world premiere in November. The film follows the journey of a young pilot, Kai, and his fighter mecha, Little Dragon and explores Kai’s dream of joining the Mecha Corps to bring peace to a war-torn world. Rich Ho is the producer, director, writer, film music composer, art director, set designer, director of photography, and co-visual effects supervisor. International sales are being handled by Ho’s Heavens Entertainment.
Principal photography has begun on Darrell Dennis’s coming-of-age Indigenous romance Sweet Summer Pow Wow. The film was written and directed by Dennis and Katya Gardener. The film will shoot on location in Duncan, BC on Vancouver Island and follows a young Indigenous couple when they find each other through a summer of love on the Pow-Wow circuit, the trail of traditional summer gatherings of Indigenous people across Canada and the United States. Tatyana Rose Baptiste (In The Blink of an Eye) and Joshua Odjick (The Swarm, Bones of Crows) will play the young lovers. The cast will also feature Tanis Parenteau (Gossip Girl), Lisa Ravensbergen (The Unauthorized Saved By The Bell Story), Joel Montgrand (Beans), and veteran actor Graham Greene.
Europe: IFC Films has acquired Xavier Gens’ Mayhem! (Farang) from Studiocanal. Produced by Vincent Roget (Same Player) and Dimitri Stephanides (WTFilms) the film will be released in 2024. The film was shot in France and Thailand and stars Nassim Lyes.
Juan Pablo González
Latin America: Buchwald announced its signing of Juan Pablo González for his premiere of Dos Estaciones at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. The drama is set in the Jalisco highlands, as an iron-willed businesswoman Maria (Teresa Sánchez) fights against the impending collapse of her tequila factory. The Cinema Guild has picked it up for distribution.
Two movie projects that best capture the brewing revolution in Latin American filmmaking walked off with the biggest plaudits at this year’s Locarno Open Doors prize ceremony. Pantasma, directed by Gloria Carrión based on the memoirs of former Sandinista Felix Vigiland, and Three Bullets, directed by Genésis Valenzuela, investigates the murder of Dominican immigrant Lucrecia Pérez, shot and killed by four neo-Nazis in 1992.
Marianly Tejada (One of Us Is Lying) and Jean Jean (Woodpeckers) star in Predicament (Predicamento), an action-thriller written, produced and to be directed by Dominican Republic’s Ico Abréu.
