FOCUS ASIA 2025 unveils All Selected Projects & Works In Progress!
After the successful last edition, FOCUS ASIA 2025, the industry section of the Far East Film Festival, is happy to announce the complete selection of the All Genres Project Market, the market for projects with an Asian and European co-production potential, and Far East in Progress, the first and only European platform completely dedicated to Asian films in post-production seeking international distribution and festival premiere.
Out of over 120 submissions from over 31 countries, received in the past months, the Focus Asia selection committee formed by Martin Horyna (Czech Republic), Mike Hostench (Spain), Young-woo Kim (South Korea), Ming-Jung Kuo (Taiwan), Eiko Mizuno-Grey (Japan), Valeria Richter (Denmark), has selected 11 projects from 10 territories, offering once again to industry guests the opportunity to discover a unique line up that comprises an incredible diversity of projects, from drama, coming of age, art-house to surreal, sci-fi and horror. Besides the variety of genres, the final selection includes again a perfect mix of first-time directors and experienced filmmakers, backed-up by talented upcoming producers and renowned multi-awarded companies.
The projects selected for the All Genres Project Market 2025 are:
- Cubs, directed by Riri Riza and produced by Forka Films (Indonesia)
- Delight Delight, directed by Sunny Yu and produced by In Bloom Films (Taiwan) and E&W Films (Singapore)
- Dinosaur Boy, directed by Zhiquan Liu and produced by Dinosaur Studio (China)
- Green Valley and the Amber Marbles, directed by Nguyen Nam Vu and produced by AN NAM PRODUCTIONS (Vietnam), Purple Tree Content (Singapore), Scarlet Visions (Germany), Flash Forward Entertainment (Taiwan) and Storm Films (Norway)
- Left Turn, directed by Mami Sunada and produced by Ear films (Japan)
- Mr Korea, directed by Sun Hee Engelstoft and produced by Beo Starling (Denmark)
- Seoulers, directed by Hee Young Pyun and Jiajun 'Oscar' Zhang and produced by Seesaw Pictures (South Korea)
- Suffering is Optional, directed by Zarrar Kahn and produced by LBG Films Inc (Canada)
- The House On The Moon, directed by Nelson Yeo and produced by Momo Film Co. (Singapore) and AVIEW Images (Taiwan)
- What's Left Of Us, directed by Tyrone Acierto and produced by FUSEE (Philippines) and Cine Bandits (Philippines)
- Yellow, directed by Miyoh Yamaura and produced by BUNBUKU (Japan)
Great expectations also for Far East in Progress, a perfect example of the virtuous system that the Far East Film Festival has managed to create over the years, where international projects are first incubated and developed within the Ties That Bind workshop or the All Genres Project Market, for being then presented to over 50 festival programmers, sales agents and distributors attending the rich Focus Asia programme. Success stories like Sunshine by Antoinette Jadaone (Toronto International Film Festival 2024, Berlinale Generation 2025) and Last Shadow at First Light by Nicole Woodford (San Sebastian IFF 2023) clearly show the potential of this industry section targeting Asian films in post-production.
The titles selected at Far East in Progress 2025 by the selection committee headed by Marie-Pierre Vallé are:
- Ah Girl, directed by Priscilla Ang Geck Geck and produced by Aggregate Films (Singapore) and IFA Media (Singapore, China, Taiwan, Thailand, New Zealand)
- Akashi, directed by Mayumi Yoshida and produced by Musubi Arts Inc. (Canada) and Experimental Forest Films (Canada)
- Big Little Things, written and directed by Tong Zhou and produced by Snow Island Pictures (Hong Kong) and Three Dots Films (US)
- Ghost of Ueno, directed by Qi Wang and produced by SS Kobo (Japan), W Field (Japan), La Fonte (China), Chuo Eigaboeki (Japan), Odessa Entertainment (Japan), Seven Plus (South Korea)
- My Neighbor the Gangster, directed by Mario Cornejo and produced by THIS SIDE UP (Philippines) and Nathan Studios (Philippines)
- On Your Lap, directed by Reza Rahadian and produced by Gambar Gerak (Indonesia)
- That Burning House, directed by Yin-chuan TSAI and produced by THE MOVIE BIRD FILMS LIMITED COMPANY (Taiwan)
Udine will become a true global epicenter, where business, cultural exchange, and industry knowledge converge in a uniquely crafted programme for over 200 industry participants coming from Europe, Asia, Canada and Latin America.
In addition to the project market and works in progress section, Focus Asia has shaped an ambitious programme of lectures, case studies, labs, one to one meetings, and networking activities, all built thanks to an extremely solid network of international partners. From training to networking and business development, Focus Asia solidifies its role as a key meeting point, a place where industries intersect, new opportunities emerge, and the future of cinema takes shape.
For the third year running, Focus Asia and Ties That Bind, the historic workshop that has been bringing together producers from Asia and Europe in Udine for over 15 years, are confirming the partnership with the Marché du Film - Festival de Cannes in order to shape a joint programme in two stages: the first at the end of April within Focus Asia and the second in Cannes as part of the Spotlight Asia initiative.
The MiC confirms itself as the main supporter of Focus Asia, and furthermore, the General Directorate for Cinema and Audiovisual of the Ministry of Culture, with the organizational support of Cinecittà, will inaugurate the 2025 edition with a special reception set up on the opening night of the event and a special showcase of Italian producers.
In cooperation with Cinema Chile, CCIDAHK (Hong Kong), FFA - German Federal Film Board, Netherlands Film Fund and Telefilm Canada, delegations of producers will participate in exclusive tailor made labs designed to open doors to the Asian and European market. Through this initiative, participants will gain valuable insights and connect with key decision-makers, strengthening global collaboration and fostering new opportunities between Asia and the rest of the world.
The team from Europa Distribution, the main European network of independent distributors, will also be back in Udine, together with over 15 European distributors who will be taking part in the third edition of the Distribution Lab.
At the same time, Europa International, the network of European Sales Agents, will join Focus Asia, marking the beginning of an exciting new partnership. As part of this collaboration, Focus Asia will host the first edition of the Sales Lab, an exclusive initiative offering direct market access and valuable insights into sales strategies tailored to Asia’s highly fragmented and dynamic industry.
The industry activities opened to all Focus Asia attendees will once again merge with the programme of Ties That Bind, the EAVE Asia Europe Co-Production Workshop. For this 2025 special edition TTB will curate two recent co-production case studies between Europe and Asia, and will offer insights on success stories of Asian remakes and IPs management, and an intriguing session on the usage of AI within the film industry.
Once again this year TAICCA - Taiwan Creative Content Agency confirms its central role in planning all the industry activities of the Far East Film Festival, and after becoming the main Asian partner of Ties That Bind and having hosted the first session of the workshop in Taipei last November, renews the TAICCA/Focus Asia Co-production Award, a prize worth
€10,000 which will be awarded to the project with the greatest potential for co-production between Europe and Asia.
Furthermore, thanks to the collaboration of the TAICCA - Taiwan Creative Content Agency, FDCP - Film Development Council of the Philippines and VIPO - Visual Industry Promotion Organisation, the Project Market and the Far East in Progress section will be able to count on direct support for the directors and producers of the projects and of the works in progress featured in this edition, in order to guarantee the physical presence of the greatest possible number of selected teams.
In summary, the 2025 edition of Focus Asia will not just be a meeting point for film industries worldwide, it will be a gateway for films and professionals of the future.