OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT OF SEAFIC CLOSURE

Bangkok, March 31st, 2022 – Today we officially announce that SEAFIC shall be closing after concluding our final lab session, the SEAFIC Seed Lab, from April 3-9, 2022. Once Seed Lab has wrapped, SEAFIC’s final day of operation shall be April 15th, 2022. After that date, we will also proceed to shut down our non-profit foundation and henceforth will no longer be in operation.

The loss of funders, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic which has made finding new support much more difficult, are the main deciding factors for this. The difficulty of holding in-person events and rising costs of travel are further reasons. As such, facing budget shortfall, we made the difficult decision late last year to set a deadline for SEAFIC’s closure and let our staff look for new employment, as we could no longer guarantee SEAFIC’s continuation. 

We are very proud of all the work we have done for Southeast Asian cinema during the past 6 years, and we believe that the 20 projects and 5 Seed Lab filmmakers that have been at our lab throughout the years will be a testament to our efforts. With five SEAFIC projects already shot or in production right now, and five more slated to shoot in 2022, we are incredibly excited to see all of our alumni's films finally realized.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us throughout the years and believed in our mission to help Southeast Asian filmmakers, from our funders and partners, our staff and board members, all the SEAFIC filmmakers, mentors and jury, and all the organizations and individuals we worked with in the region and beyond. And thank you to anyone who came to our talks, be they online, at SEAFIC Open Fair, or at various presentations we did throughout Southeast Asia and at film festivals and events around the world. 

We are also very thankful to all of our current sponsors for making it possible for us to conduct SEAFIC Seed Lab, including our upcoming in-person final session in Phuket, Thailand. They are: French Embassy in Thailand Bangkok & Institut français, Purin Pictures, Ministry of Culture, Thailand & Content Thailand, Goethe-Institut Thailand, Film Development Council of the Philippines and Singapore Film Commission. Our program partner Produire au Sud, who has been a part of SEAFIC since the very beginning, plans to continue their Southeast Asian workshop in the future – we are excited to see what they do next, and wish them the very best going forward. 

Our gratitude once again to everyone for their interest in SEAFIC during these past few years. We believe that Southeast Asian cinema continues to grow in stature internationally, and we hope that our hard work has contributed to that growth in some way. 

“Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen.” – Robert Bresson.

SEAFIC

Team Members:

Sasikarn Ganmanee
Komtouch Dew Napattaloong
Penwadee Nophaket Manont
Franz Rodenkirchen
Raymond Phathanavirangoon

SEAFIC SEED LAB ANNOUNCES SELECTED FILMMAKERS AND INTERNATIONAL MENTORS FOR ITS INAUGURAL EDITION

A Brand New Lab Concept Specifically for Promising Shorts Filmmakers 

Bangkok, November 10th, 2021 – SEAFIC (Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab), the pioneering script and development lab created for Southeast Asian filmmakers, is introducing our brand new concept called Seed Lab. Seed Lab shall expand upon our non-profit mission by aiding promising shorts filmmakers in exploring their directorial voices prior to the development of their first features. The upcoming first edition shall be held in two sessions, with the first taking place December 4-10 this year online, and the second to be conducted in-person in Phuket,  Thailand in early April 2022. Produire au Sud, the training workshop that is part of the Festival of 3 Continents in Nantes, France, is once again our partner in this new program. 

SEAFIC Seed Lab’s inaugural edition has chosen five filmmakers coming from Cambodia, the  Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Their works range from incisively amusing video essays, queer-themed fiction, and personal experimental shorts to social-realist dramas about the underbelly of society as well as keenly observed glimpses into the lives of young women in modern-day Southeast Asia. 

Each director comes with an impressive pedigree. San Danech from Cambodia had previous shorts  that won in Singapore Film Festival and was selected in Busan Wide Angle competition. The  Philippines’ Sam Manacsa is an Asian Film Academy alumni whose last short was in Clermont Ferrand competition. ADAM, the short from Singapore’s Shoki Lin, was in Cannes  Cinefondation and won awards at festivals worldwide. CalArts graduate Tulapop Saenjaroen from Thailand made video essays that were screened at Rotterdam and Locarno Leopards of  Tomorrow competition. And Vietnam’s Viet Vu, a Berlinale Talents alumnus, had shorts in  Rotterdam Tiger and Locarno Leopards of Tomorrow competitions. 

In addition, SEAFIC has lined up five industry veterans as lab mentors, headed by directing mentor Juho Kuosmanen, who won the Cannes Grand Prix this year for his film  COMPARTMENT NO. 6. 

Seed Lab Mentors: 

▪ Juho KUOSMANEN (Finland) – Director of 2016 Cannes Un Certain Regard winner  THE HAPPIEST DAY IN THE LIFE OF OLLI MÄKI and 2021 Cannes Grand Prix  winner COMPARTMENT NO. 6 

▪ Isabelle GLACHANT (France/China) – Found of sales agent Asian Shadows and  producer of filmmakers such as Wang Xiaoshuai (11 FLOWERS, IN LOVE WE  TRUST), Mouly Surya (MARLINA THE MURDERER IN FOUR ACTS), among others 

▪ Guillaume MAINGUET (France) – Head of Produire au Sud and director of Cannes  Directors’ Fortnight short THE GIRL AND THE DOGS (2014, co-dir) and the award-winning VINCENT BEFORE NOON (2019)

▪ Franz RODENKIRCHEN (Germany) – Script consultant at Script Circle and SEAFIC  whose works include Sebastian Lelio’s Oscar winner A FANTASTIC WOMAN (2017),  Adina Pintilie’s Berlin Golden Bear winner TOUCH ME NOT (2018), among others 

▪ Raymond PHATHANAVIRANGOON (Hong Kong/Thailand) – SEAFIC Executive  Director and producer on films by Boo Junfeng, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Pang Ho-cheung  and others.  

Here are the five selected shorts filmmakers, in alphabetical order: 

SAN Danech (Cambodia) 

San Danech worked as Casting Assistant and Assistant Production Manager on  DIAMOND ISLAND by Davy Chou (Cannes Critics’ Week 2016), Production Manager on LAST NIGHT I SAW YOU SMILING by Kavich Neang (Rotterdam 2019), and Production Coordinator on ONODA: 10000 NIGHTS IN THE JUNGLE by Arthur Harari (Cannes Un Certain Regard 2021). Her first short film, A MILLION YEARS (2018), won Best Southeast Asian Short at Singapore Film Festival and the Arte Award at Kurzfilm  Hamburg. SUNRISE IN MY MIND (2020), her second short, premiered in Busan Wide  Angle Short competition and screened at the Singapore Film Festival shorts competition and  Berlin Critics’ Week, among others. 

Sam MANACSA (Philippines) 

Sam Manacsa worked as Art Director on award-winning films such as Carlo Francisco  Manatad’s WHETHER THE WEATHER IS FINE (Locarno Junior Jury Award 2021) and  Giancarlo Abrahan’s PLEASE • CARE (2017) and SILA-SILA (2019), among others.  After her first short I WANTED TO SAY HELLO, SO I WROTE A SONG (2015), her second, IF PEOPLE SUCH AS WE CEASE TO EXIST (2016), was selected in  Clermont-Ferrand Competition as well as Kurzfilmtage Winterthur and SeaShorts competition. She is an alumnus of the 2019 Asian Film Academy. 

Shoki LIN (Singapore) 

Shoki Lin studied Digital Filmmaking at Nanyang Technological University, School of  Art, Design, and Media. His first short film, CHANGI (2017), won Best Picture at  Singapore’s National Youth Film Awards. After another short film JOSS (2018),  CHASING PAPER (2018), his third, was in Busan Wide Angle Short competition. His thesis short film ADAM (2019) premiered at Cannes Cinefondation competition and won prizes worldwide. His latest, NEWBORN (2020), was the opening short film at  Singapore International Film Festival. 

Tulapop SAENJAROEN (Thailand) 

Tulapop Saenjaroen received his MFA in Fine Art Media from the Slade School of Fine Art,  University College London, and MA in Aesthetics and Politics from California Institute of the Arts. His short NIGHTFALL (2016), co-directed with Anocha Suwichakornpong,  screened at Locarno and Oberhausen. His solo work A ROOM WITH A COCONUT VIEW  was shown in Locarno and Rotterdam and won at Kurzfilmtage Winterthur. 2020’s  PEOPLE ON SUNDAY premiered in Rotterdam, while 2021’s SQUISH! was in Locarno  Leopards of Tomorrow competition. His latest short, NOTES FROM THE PERIPHERY  (2021), screened at Montreal Festival du Nouveau Cinema and will be in Singapore Film  Festival short film competition. 

Viet VU (Vietnam) 

Viet Vu commenced his filmmaking path with a screenwriting course at Hanoi Film  Program (2010) as well as various documentary workshops at Hanoi Doclab. His debut fiction short, ANT-MAN (2018), won the Purin Award at SeaShorts and was in the  Singapore Film Festival shorts competition. 2020’s AN ACT OF AFFECTION premiered in Locarno Leopards of Tomorrow competition, while 2021’s THE ETERNAL  SPRINGTIME was screened at Rotterdam Tiger Shorts Competition. He completed his  DOC NOMADS Master Degree in Documentary Film Directing in July 2021 and is a  2021 Berlinale Talents alumnus. 

SEAFIC Seed Lab is possible through the support of the Embassy of France in Bangkok, Institut  français, Goethe-Institut Thailand, and Purin Pictures as well as the partnership of Produire au  Sud.

SEAFIC OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON THE ARREST OF MYANMAR FILMMAKER MA AEINT

Bangkok, June 8th 2021

Last night, we received the distressing news that Myanmar producer Ma Aeint was arrested and detained on June 5th, 2021 in Yangon after leaving home at noon. The stated reason for her arrest was not fully revealed. The next day, her family was informed of her arrest. They also learned that she is currently housed at an undisclosed place of interrogation. There has not been any communication with her since her disappearance.

Ma Aeint, who recently produced and co-wrote the Busan New Currents competition film MONEY HAS FOUR LEGS (2020) by director Mg Sun, is a regular attendee of SEAFIC Open Fair, and is alumni of Ties That Bind, FAMU Summer Filmmaking Initiation Campus as well as Locarno Open Doors consultancy. She is a respected and important part of the international film community. We at SEAFIC are extremely concerned for her well-being, and would like to demand for her immediate release. Her safety and well-being is of utmost importance. Moreover, we urge the Myanmar military to cease the crackdown on its filmmakers and free those who have been arrested immediately.

THE WINNERS OF THE 4th EDITION OF SEAFIC

Bangkok, January 11th, 2021 – The Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab (SEAFIC), the pioneering script and development lab for Southeast Asian filmmakers, is proud to announce the winners of the 4th SEAFIC Awards. Despite a challenging edition whereby most of the lab had to be conducted virtually, SEAFIC and its partner Produire au Sud were able to conclude the lab year successfully with the on-line SEAFIC Open House on January 8-11, 2021. The prizes come after 9 months of intense script and project development through the guidance of international experts for the five selected projects. These awards were unveiled after a live final pitching session by the SEAFIC filmmakers in front of a distinguished international jury.

The awards are:

1. The SEAFIC Award, worth US$15,000 in cash prize, is sponsored by Purin Foundation and is given by a panel of distinguished international jury who has read the five filmmakers’ latest scripts and heard their final pitches in person. The jury members are:

• Charles Tesson, Artistic Director of Cannes Critic’s Week since 2012 and President of Aide aux Cinémas du Monde since 2016

• Violeta Bava, founder and producer at Ruda Cine, programs and consults for festivals such as Venice, New York, Macao and New Zealand, and is Head of Studies at TorinoFilmLab FeatureLab and Industry Co-Head at Visions du Réel

• Winnie Lau is EVP, Head of Production, East and Southeast Asia for SK Global and producer/executive producer on INVISIBLE WAVES by Pen-ek Ratanaruang, CITIES OF LAST THINGS by Ho Wi Ding and IMPETIGORE by Joko Anwar

The prize goes to the Malaysian project OASIS OF NOW by director Chia Chee Sum and producer Lee Yve Vonn.  

Jury Comments: Firstly, the jury would like to emphasize the overall quality of all 5 projects, the films of which, we are eager to see on our screens. 

At the end of our deliberation, in which each project was discussed at length, our choice finally fell on a project with a strong subject against a background of social reality, and with its heart, the bonds of affection that are the basis of human relations and family. More than a script, it’s a project inhabited by a true cinematographic vision due to the treatment of the space and its visual and sound mise en scene.

Synopsis: A Vietnamese door-to-door apartment housekeeper lives in pretense as a local in Kuala Lumpur, where she secretly visits her daughter adopted by a local family. During an immigration raid, she encounters a Malay stranger who relives his past that eventually makes the home she forged in this foreign land a reality.

CHIA Chee Sum is a Malaysian filmmaker and co-founder of film and animation production company theCommonist. He is an alumnus of Asian Film Academy and FIRST Training Camp. His 2018 short film HIGH WAY won Jury Prize at the Busan International Short Film Festival.

2. The Open SEA Fund Award, jointly sponsored by VS Service and White Light Post, which gives one SEAFIC project rental credit towards equipment rental from VS Service worth 10,000 USD and post-production services provided by White Light Post worth 15,000 USD. The prize is decided by Lee Chatametikool (White Light Post) and Pithai Smithsuth (VS Service).

The prize goes to the Singaporean project AMOEBA by director Siyou Tan and producers Fran Borgia and Samantha Lee.

Synopsis: 16-year-old Choo joins the graduating year in an all-girls school and befriends 3 rebellious classmates. Together, the misfit schoolgirls try to form a gang in a country with no crime.

Siyou TAN is a Singaporean filmmaker and visual artist based in Los Angeles. Her 2019 short HELLO AHMA premiered at Toronto and Berlinale Generations. She has participated at Asian Film Academy and the Universal Directors Initiative. Her first fiction feature project AMOEBA received the Most Promising Project Award at the Singapore Southeast Asian Film Lab.

SEAFIC’s 4th Edition Feature Projects by Up-and Coming Filmmakers Produced by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Fran Borgia and Yulia Evina Bhara

The Five Projects Come From Indonesia, Malaysia Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand

Bangkok, February 14th, 2020 – Projects from up-and-coming directors produced by Cannes Palme d’Or winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Locarno Golden Leopard-winning A LAND IMAGINED producer Fran Borgia, and Locarno-winning THE SCIENCE OF FICTIONS producer Yulia Evina Bhara are some of the highlights from the 4th edition of SEAFIC, the pioneering script and development lab created for Southeast Asian filmmakers.

The five selected projects, which came from Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and, for the first time at SEAFIC, Malaysia, touch upon urgent topics in today’s world, from sexual assault, illegal immigration, LGBT, superstitions and violent insurgency.

Each director comes with impressive pedigree. Sompot Chidgasornpongse from Thailand, whose 2016 feature documentary RAILWAY SLEEPERS was screened in Busan and Berlinale Forum, embarks on his first fiction film 9 TEMPLES TO HEAVEN. AMOEBA is the first feature from Singapore’s Siyou Tan, whose short HELLO AHMA was recently selected at Toronto and Berlin Film Festivals. Philippines’ Zurich Chan, whose short BOCA premiered in Clermont-Ferrand, is working on his 2nd film CANGREJOS. Indonesian director Eden Junjung’s previous shorts competed in Busan International Short Film Festival and Singapore, and he is now developing his first film MAYDAY. Last but not least, Malaysian Chia Chee Sum follows up his Busan International Short Film Festival-winning short HIGH WAY with his debut film OASIS OF NOW.

The five projects shall once again be automatically enrolled in the SEAFICxPAS programme, a producer’s lab organized by Nantes Festival des 3 Continents’ Produire au Sud initiative that will be held alongside SEAFIC. SEAFIC’s 1st lab session shall take place between March 8-15, 2020 at Monoceros Resort in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Submissions for our 4th edition came from nearly every Southeast Asian country. Selection was evaluated by our esteemed SEAFIC Selection Committee, which is made up of:

Reading Committee:

• Aditya Assarat (Thailand) – Director of WONDERFUL TOWN (Rotterdam Tiger & Busan New Currents winner) & HI-SO (Berlin Forum), and co-director of Purin Pictures

• Martina Bleis (Germany) – Head of Berlinale Co-production Market

• Oh Jungwan (South Korea) – Founder of Bom Film Productions and producer of classics Kim Jee-woon’s A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, E J-yong’s UNTOLD SCANDAL, others

Script Committee:

• Giovanna Fulvi (Italy) – East Asian programmer at Toronto International Film Festival and selection committee member for Rome Film Fest

• Mike Goodridge (United Kingdom) – Artistic Director of International Film Festival  & Awards Macao, ex-CEO of Protagonist Pictures and ex-Editor at Screen International 

• Tomasz Wasilewski (Poland) – Polish Director whose film UNITED STATES OF LOVE (2016) won the Berlin Silver Bear winner for Best Script

Other mentors attending SEAFICxPAS include festival consultant & producer Aihara Hiromi (Japan), international sales Cercamon head Sebastien Chesneau (France/Dubai) and Razor Film Produktion co-founder Roman Paul (Germany).

Here are the five selected projects and their filmmakers, in alphabetical order:

A. 9 TEMPLES TO HEAVEN

Dir: Sompot Chidgasornpongse, Prod: Kissada Kamyoung, Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand, 2nd film)

Synopsis: A family of 9 takes their grandmother on a merit-making trip to 9 temples in 1 day, hoping to prolong her life. From dawn to dusk, the family’s relationships and beliefs are tested along the way.

Sompot CHIDGASORNPONGSE is a Berlinale Talents & Talents Tokyo alumni whose shorts include TO INFINITY AND BEYOND (Rotterdam 2004), BANGKOK IN THE EVENING (Oberhausen 2006), DISEASES AND A HUNDRED YEAR PERIOD (Viennale 2008). His first feature documentary, RAILWAY SLEEPERS (2016), was in Busan, Berlinale Forum, others.

B. AMOEBA

Dir: Siyou Tan, Prod: Fran Borgia, Judith Tong (Singapore, 1st film)

Synopsis: In 90s Singapore, teenage misfit Choo wreaks havoc in her all-girls’ school with her free-spirited girl gang while secretly navigating her budding attraction to one of her friends. As she grapples with her otherness within a conformist society, she commits a deed that almost upends her and her friends’ futures.

Siyou TAN is a Singaporean filmmaker and visual artist based in Los Angeles. Her 2019 short HELLO AHMA premiered at Toronto and Berlinale Generations. She has participated at Asian Film Academy and the Universal Directors Initiative. Her first fiction feature project AMOEBA received the Most Promising Project Award at the Singapore Southeast Asian Film Lab.

C. CANGREJOS

Dir: Zurich Chan, Prod: Gale Osorio (Philippines, 2nd film)

Synopsis: Villagers turn against each other as their idyllic island home falls into hard times due to insurgent activity in the area. They pull each other down as they strive to be lifted from their situation—like crabs in a basket—escalating into violence and the gradual loss of their humanity.

Zurich CHAN is a Filipino Asian Film Academy alumni. His first short film BOCA (2010) competed in Clermont-Ferrand, Tokyo Short Shorts and Busan International Film Festival. His debut feature film TEORIYA (2011) was selected at the Cinemalaya Film Festival and won the Young Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematography and Visual Design.

D. MAYDAY

Dir: Eden Junjung, Prod: Siska Raharja, Yulia Evina Bhara (Indonesia, 1st film)

Synopsis: A new female worker in an Indonesian bra factory keeps a secret from her frustrated, jobless husband – that she has been sexually harassed at work. When he finds out, he decides to, behind his wife’s back, disguise himself as an army soldier and take revenge on the molester.

Eden JUNJUNG is an Indonesian filmmaker whose shorts include FLOWERS IN THE WALL

(2016, Bogota & Busan International Short competition), HAPPY FAMILY (2017, Valletta & Taipei) and BURA (2019, Singapore & Tampere competition). His feature project MAYDAY won Best Future Project at Jogja Future Project, Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Fest 2018.

E. OASIS OF NOW

Dir: Chia Chee Sum, Prod: Lee Yve Vonn (Malaysia, 1st film) 

Synopsis: A Vietnamese door-to-door apartment housekeeper lives in pretense as a local in Kuala

Lumpur, where she secretly visits her daughter adopted by a local family. During an immigration raid, she encounters a Malay stranger who relives his past that eventually makes the home she forged in this foreign land a reality.

CHIA Chee Sum is a Malaysian filmmaker and co-founder of film and animation production company theCommonist. He is an alumnus of Asian Film Academy and FIRST Training Camp. His 2018 short film HIGH WAY won Jury Prize at the Busan International Short Film Festival.

THE WINNERS OF THE 3rd EDITION OF SEAFIC 2019

Bangkok, October 28th, 2019 – The Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab (SEAFIC), the pioneering script and development lab for Southeast Asian filmmakers, is proud to announce the winners of the 3rd SEAFIC Awards. The prizes come after 8 months of intense script and project development for the five selected projects, with the guidance of international experts.

The five projects selected for SEAFIC’s 3rd Edition finally concludes their curriculum at the SEAFIC Open House event at Alliance française Bangkok from October 26-28, 2019. These awards were unveiled after a live final pitching session by the SEAFIC filmmakers in front of a distinguished international jury. The awards are:

1. The SEAFIC Award, worth US$15,000 in cash prize, is sponsored by Purin Foundation and is given by a panel of distinguished international jury who has read the five filmmakers’ latest scripts and heard their final pitches in person. The jury members are:

• Albert Lee, Executive Director, Hong Kong International Film Festival

• Georges Goldenstern, General Manager, Cannes Cinefondation

• Sophie Bourdon, Head of Locarno Open Doors

The prize goes to the project SOME NIGHTS I FEEL LIKE WALKING (Philippines) by director Petersen Vargas and producers Alemberg Ang and Jade Castro.

2. The Open SEA Fund Award, jointly sponsored by VS Service and White Light Post, which gives one SEAFIC project rental credit towards equipment rental from VS Service worth 10,000 USD and post-production services provided by White Light Post worth 15,000 USD. The prize is decided by Lee Chatametikool (White Light Post) and Pithai Smithsuth (VS Service).

The prize is shared by two projects:

• AUTOBIOGRAPHY (Indonesia) by director Makbul Mubarak and producer Yulia Evina Bhara

• SKIN OF YOUTH (Vietnam) by director Ash Mayfair and producer Tran Thi Bich Ngoc

3. The SEAFIC-HAF Award, in which one SEAFIC project shall be selected for the 2020 edition of the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum with flight and accommodation provided, shall be announced at a later date by the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum.

Here are the five projects at the 3rd Edition of SEAFIC eligible for the awards:

1. Autobiography

Dir: Makbul Mubarak, Prod: Yulia Evina Bhara (Indonesia, 1st film)

Synopsis: Rakib is a male housekeeper who works in an aristocratic mansion belongs to Purna, a retired military general who is running for a mayoral election. When Purna’s election poster is vandalized, Rakib doesn’t hesitate to track down the culprit, kicking off an increasingly violent chain of events.

Makbul MUBARAK is an Indonesian film critic-turned-filmmaker. A Berlinale Talents and Asian Film Academy alumni, he made award-winning shorts THE DOG’S LULLABY (2016) and THE MALEDICTION (2017). His feature project AUTOBIOGRAPHY has been selected at Berlinale Talent Project Market, TorinoFilmLab and others.

2. Skin of Youth

Dir: Ash Mayfair, Prod: Tran Thi Bich Ngoc (Vietnam, 2nd film)

Synopsis: 1990s Saigon, San wants to have enough money for a sex-change operation that will fulfil her dream of living in a woman’s body. San’s lover, Nam, must work as an underground dog-cage fighter to support this dream. The young lovers are unaware that the dark forces they will have to battle may cost them their relationship and test the limit of their humanity.

Ash MAYFAIR was born in Vietnam and received her MFA in filmmaking at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Her feature debut, THE THIRD WIFE (2018), premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and won the NETPAC Jury Award. It also won prizes at San Sebastian, Chicago, Cairo and other film festivals. SKIN OF YOUTH was selected at Busan Asian Project Market 2019, where it won the Sorfond Prize.

3. Some Nights I Feel Like Walking

Dir: Petersen Vargas, Prod: Alemberg Ang, Jade Castro (Philippines, 2nd film)

Synopsis: A rich teenage runaway finds belonging in a band of street hustlers as he joins them on a road

trip to fulfill their dead friend's final wish: to go home.

Petersen VARGAS is a Filipino filmmaker and Asian Film Academy alumni whose thesis short GEOGRAPHY LESSONS won him Best Director at Cinemalaya Film Festival. His feature debut 2 COOL 2 BE 4GOTTEN was awarded Best Picture at CinemaOne Originals and Audience Award at Torino LGBTQI Film Festival. SOME NIGHTS I FEEL LIKE WALKING was selected this year at Locarno Open Doors 2019.

4. Till the Cave Fills

Dir: Nguyen Le Hoang Viet, Prod: Joshua Levy, Nguyen Le Hang (Vietnam, 1st film)

Synopsis: Struggling to conceive a child and uphold her conventional responsibilities, Thao feels extreme pressure from her husband and family’s traditional expectation. She escapes to Phong Nha - a faraway village known as “the kingdom of caverns” - where she finds her faithfulness challenged when she meets a mysterious man in a cave.

NGUYEN Le Hoang Viet is a Vietnamese filmmaker whose short film THE CAT AND THE ORANGE SEEDS garnered acclaim at Shorts Shorts Film Festival and others. His latest short ROOMMATE won at Hanoi International Film Festival 2018. He is an alumni of Film Leaders Incubator (FLY), Autumn Meeting and others. TILL THE CAVE FILLS was selected this year at Produire au Sud in Nantes 2019.

5. The Women

Dir: The Maw Naing, Prod: Oh Youngjeong (Myanmar, 2nd film)

Synopsis: Mi-Thet (18), has suddenly become the head of her household after the military causes the collapse of her family. She moves to Yangon to work in a garment factory, but she has not been paid for several months. Though she wants to join her coworkers in a strike, she is paralyzed by a traumatic past. In time she realizes that the real problem facing women like her is not money but the lack of rights. At last she finds the strength to change her situation.

The Maw Naing studied at Yangon Film School in 2005 and FAMU Prague in 2008. A poet, artist and filmmaker, he co-directed NARGIS: WHEN TIME STOPPED BREATHING (IDFA, CPH:DOX 2010), first under a pseudonym. His debut feature THE MONK (2014) premiered at Karlovy Vary and later attended Busan & Rotterdam. THE WOMEN was selected at Locarno Open Doors 2018, where it won the Production Grant, as well as Busan Asian Project Market 2017 and Cannes Atelier 2019.

For more information about SEAFIC and SEAFIC Open House, please contact us at info@seaficlab.com.

SEAFIC’s 3rd Edition Lab Announces Its Selected Projects

The Five Filmmakers Are From Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines & Vietnam

Bangkok, February 1st, 2019 – Latest projects by directors of award-winning recent films THE THIRD WIFE from Vietnam (award winner at Toronto, San Sebastian & Chicago) and THE MONK from Myanmar (Rotterdam, Karlovy Vary & NETPAC Prize at Vesoul) are some of the selectees at the 3rd Edition of SEAFIC. Filmmakers with their 2nd film projects make up the majority of the filmmakers selected, while Philippine and Myanmar projects join SEAFIC for the first time.

Other filmmakers selected include Indonesia’s Makbul Mubarak, whose project AUTOBIOGRAPHY was previously at TorinoFilmLab and shall be attending Berlinale Talent Project Market this February; Philippines’ Petersen Vargas, whose first film 2 COOL 2 BE 4GOTTEN won Best Picture at CinemaOne Originals Digital Film Festival 2016; and Vietnam’s Nguyen Le Hoang Viet, who won Best Young Director at Hanoi International Film Festival 2018 with his short film ROOMMATE.

The five projects were decided by selection committees comprising of Chief Asia Film Critic for Variety Maggie Lee, acclaimed Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz (MADAME SATÃ, FUTURO BEACH), international sales Luxbox CEO Hédi Zardi and other notable industry veterans.

Submissions for our 3rd edition came from nearly every Southeast Asian country. The full list of SEAFIC’s Selection Committee members are as follows:

Reading Committee:

• Kanako Hayashi (Japan) – former Festival Director of TOKYO FILMeX and ex-Chairperson of Talents Tokyo

• Myriam Sassine (Lebanon) – COO of Schortcut Films, co-founder of Maskoon Fantastic Film Festival and Producer at Abbout Productions

• Hédi Zardi (France) – co-CEO of French international sales and co-production outfit Luxbox

Script Committee:

• Karim Aïnouz (Brazil/France) – Acclaimed Brazilian Director of MADAME SATÃ (Cannes 2002), LOVE FOR SALE (Venice 2006) and FUTURO BEACH (Berlin Competition 2014)

• Ho Hock Doong (Malaysia) – Director of Content for Southeast Asia at MUBI

• Maggie Lee (Hong Kong/Japan) – Chief Asia Film Critic for Variety, Consultant for Tokyo International Film Festival and Artistic Director of CinemAsia

Other mentors attending SEAFICxPAS, the parallel producers’ lab co-organized with Produire au Sud during SEAFIC’s 1st session, include World Cinema Fund’s Vincenzo Bugno, Asmik Ace and Unijapan’s Kayo Yoshida, and Acrobates Films’ Claire Lajoumard, whose co-productions include Cannes titles A YELLOW BIRD from Singapore and BI, DON’T BE AFRAID from Vietnam.

Here are the five selected projects and their filmmakers, in alphabetical order:

1. Autobiography

Dir: Makbul Mubarak, Prod: Yulia Evina Bhara (Indonesia, 1st film)

Synopsis: When his military employer comes home after years of absence, a teenage housekeeper realizes a new chapter is rising. They begin to build an intense yet peculiar friendship. One day, a mysterious high school kid foreshadows death for both of them.

Makbul MUBARAK is an Indonesian film critic-turned-filmmaker. A Berlinale Talents and Asian Film Academy alumni, he made award-winning shorts THE DOG’S LULLABY (2016) and THE MALEDICTION (2017). His feature project AUTOBIOGRAPHY has been selected at Berlinale Talent Project Market, TorinoFilmLab and others.

2. Skin of Youth

Dir: Ash Mayfair, Prod: Tran Thi Bich Ngoc (Vietnam, 2nd film)

Synopsis: 1990s Vietnam, San and Nam find their love tested when they court the criminal underworld in order to find enough money for San’s sex-change operation.

Ash MAYFAIR was born in Vietnam and received her MFA in filmmaking at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Her feature debut, THE THIRD WIFE (2018), premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and won the NETPAC Jury Award. It also won prizes at San Sebastian, Chicago, Cairo and other film festivals.

3. Some Nights I Feel Like Walking

Dir: Petersen Vargas, Prod: Alemberg Ang, Jade Castro (Philippines, 2nd film)

Synopsis: Over the course of one night, a rich teenage runaway joins a four-man crew of street hustlers in a cross-country odyssey in search of a home for their dead friend’s body.

Petersen VARGAS is a Filipino filmmaker and Asian Film Academy alumni whose thesis short GEOGRAPHY LESSONS won him Best Director at Cinemalaya Film Festival. His feature debut 2 COOL 2 BE 4GOTTEN was awarded Best Picture at CinemaOne Originals and Audience Award at Torino LGBTQI Film Festival.

4. Till the Cave Fills

Dir: Nguyen Le Hoang Viet, Prod: Joshua Levy, Nguyen Le Hang (Vietnam, 1st film)

Synopsis: Struggling to have a baby, Thao feels like she’s failing her husband and family. She escapes to Phong Nha and finds her faithfulness challenged when she meets a mysterious man in a cave.

NGUYEN Le Hoang Viet is a Vietnamese filmmaker whose short film THE CAT AND THE ORANGE SEEDS garnered acclaim at Shorts Shorts Film Festival and others. His latest short ROOMMATE won at Hanoi International Film Festival 2018. He is an alumni of Film Leaders Incubator (FLY), Autumn Meeting, Singapore Southeast Asian Film Lab and others.

5. The Women

Dir: The Maw Naing, Prod: Oh Youngjeong (Myanmar, 2nd film)

Synopsis: A group of Burmese women struggle to survive while working menial jobs when they begin to realize that their biggest problem isn’t a lack of money but a lack of rights. As they face decisions that could change their futures, they are unsure if they are walking into the darkness or out of it.

The Maw Naing studied at Yangon Film School in 2005 and FAMU Prague in 2008. A poet, artist and filmmaker, he co-directed NARGIS: WHEN TIME STOPPED BREATHING (IDFA, CPH:DOX 2010), first under a pseudonym. His debut feature THE MONK (2014) premiered at Karlovy Vary and later attended Busan & Rotterdam.

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The five projects shall once again be automatically enrolled in the SEAFICxPAS programme, a producer’s lab organized by Nantes Festival des 3 Continents’ Produire au Sud initiative that will be held alongside SEAFIC. SEAFIC’s 1st lab session shall take place between February 24th – March 3rd, 2019 at Monoceros Resort in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Announcing The Winners Of The 2nd SEAFIC Awards

Bangkok, November 5th, 2018 – The Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab (SEAFIC), the pioneering script and development lab for Southeast Asian filmmakers, is proud to announce the winners of the 2nd SEAFIC Awards. The prizes come after 8 months of intense script and project development for the five selected projects, with the guidance of international experts.

In addition to our existing partnership with Produire au Sud and TorinoFilmLab, this year SEAFIC also announces a new partnership with Link of Cine-Asia, organized by Busan Film Commission and Asian Film Commissions Network. Held in parallel with last month’s Busan International Film Festival from October 7-9, 2018, Link of Cine-Asia sponsored the five SEAFIC producers from this year to travel to Busan and pitch at their forum.

The five projects selected for SEAFIC’s 2nd lab year finally concludes their curriculum at the SEAFIC Open House event at Alliance française Bangkok and Goethe-Institut Thailand from November 3-5, 2018. The projects are:

1. AH GIRL

dir: Ang Geck Geck, prod: Fran Borgia, co-prod: Sharon Ng (Singapore, 1st film)

Logline: Seven year old Ah Girl is asked to choose between living with Mum or Dad, a decision that will change her life forever.

ANG Geck Geck’s first short film, BROKEN CRAYON, won Best Fiction at 2013’s Singapore Short Film Awards and traveled to festivals worldwide. She later attended the Asian Film Academy in Busan and directed two other short films, HAPPY BIRTHDAY (2014) and THREE LITTLE PIGS (2014).

2. AJOOMMA

dir: He Shuming, prod: Tan Si En, exec prod: Anthony Chen (Singapore, 1st film)

Logline: A middle-aged, Korean-drama obsessed widow from Singapore trying to find a new purpose in life travels out of the country for the first time to Seoul, and promptly gets lost.

HE Shuming completed his Master’s in Directing at the AFI Conservatory. He contributed the short LETTERS FROM THE MOTHERLAND to the omnibus 667 (2017), which premiered at Busan Film Festival. His project AJOOMMA won Most Promising Project at 2015’s Southeast Asian Film Lab.

3. ARNOLD IS A MODEL STUDENT

dir: Sorayos Prapapan, prod: Donsaron Kovitvanitcha (Thailand, 1st film)

Logline: Arnold is a high school student in Bangkok and a school representative for an academic contest. One day, he got involved in cheating a prestigious military school’s entrance examination.

Sorayos PRAPAPAN’s project ARNOLD IS A MODEL STUDENT received the Hubert Bals Script Development Fund and previously attended Ties That Bind, Produire au Sud and Tokyo Talents labs. His short DEATH OF A SOUND MAN (2017) premiered in Venice Orizzonti competition.

4. CROCODILE TEARS

dir: Tumpal Tampubolon, prod: Mandy Marahimin (Indonesia, 1st film)

Logline: Johan and Mama are very close. One day, Johan falls in love. This is when Mama’s jealousy begins to turn violent.

Tumpal TAMPUBOLON previously attended Berlinale Talents and Busan Asian Film Academy, and participated in the omnibus BELKIBOLANG, which premiered at Rotterdam Film Festival. In 2014 he won Indonesia’s Citra Award for Best Original Screenplay for writing the fiction TABULA RASA.

5. RAISING A BEAST

dir: Xaisongkham Induangchanthy, co-prod: Steve Arounsack (Laos, 1st film)

Logline: Two Hmong siblings with diverging destinies are responsible for grooming a bull into a prize fighter that will earn the family money and honor.

Xaisongkham INDUANGCHANTHY, a 2012 Busan Asian Film Academy alumni, in 2015 completed a Master’s Degree in Filmmaking in New York under Fulbright Scholarship. He made short fiction and documentary, with the latter, BECAUSE I AM A GIRL… (2016), funded by NHK Japan.

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These awards were unveiled after a live final pitching session by the SEAFIC filmmakers in front of a distinguished international jury:

1. The SEAFIC Award, worth US$15,000 in cash prize, is sponsored by Purin Foundation and is given by a panel of distinguished international jury who has read the five filmmakers’ latest scripts and heard their final pitches in person. The jury members are:

• Christine Vachon, CEO of Killer Films, producer of CAROL, BOYS DON’T CRY and VOX LUX

• Jacob Wong, Director of the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF)

• Meinolf Zurhorst, Head of Fiction, ZDF/arte

The prize goes to the project AJOOMMA by director He Shuming and producer Tan Si En from Singapore.

2. The Open SEA Fund Award, jointly sponsored by VS Service and White Light Post, which gives one SEAFIC project rental credit towards equipment rental from VS Service worth 10,000 USD and post-production services provided by White Light Post worth 15,000 USD. The prize is decided by Lee Chatametikool (White Light Post) and Pithai Smithsuth (VS Service).

The prize goes to the project AH GIRL by director Ang Geck Geck and producer Fran Borgia from Singapore.

3. The SEAFIC-TFL Award, whereby Matthieu Darras, the Artistic Director of TorinoFilmLab, chooses one producer from SEAFIC to attend this year’s TorinoFilmLab Meeting Event (November 23-24), with flight and accommodation covered. This is a result of the close collaboration between SEAFIC and TorinoFilmLab.

The prize goes to the project RAISING A BEAST from Laos and its co-producer Steve Arounsack.

For more information about SEAFIC and SEAFIC Open House, please contact us at info@seaficlab.com.

2nd SEAFIC Lab Selects Projects from Promising First-Time Filmmakers

Five Southeast Asian Projects Come From Laos, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand

Bangkok, February 1st 2018 – The pioneering script and mentoring lab Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab (SEAFIC) has finalized its selection for its 2nd year, this time concentrating on first-time filmmakers hailing from Laos, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. The projects themselves include topics touching on family strife, sociopolitical bureaucracy, cross-cultural humor and deadly crocodiles.

Submissions for the 2nd year came from nearly every Southeast Asian country, and they were evaluated by SEAFIC’s Selection Committees, which include the following experts:

Vimukthi Jayasundara – Cannes Camera d’Or-winning Sri Lankan director
Yukie Kito – Producer of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s TOKYO SONATA and Atsuko Hirayanagi’s OH! LUCY
Jan Naszewski – CEO, New Europe Films Sales
Lorna Tee – Producer & Head of Festival Management, International Film Festival & Awards Macao
Florian Weghorn – Programme Manager, Berlinale Talents
Michael J. Werner – Producer & ex-Chairman, Fortissimo Films

Here are the five selected projects and their filmmakers, in alphabetical order:

1. Ah Girl
dir: Geck Geck Ang, prod: Sharon Ng, Fran Borgia (Singapore, 1st film)
Synopsis: Ah Girl, 7 years old, has to choose to live with either her Mum or Pa after her parent’s
divorce.

Geck Geck ANG’s first short film, BROKEN CRAYON, won Best Fiction at 2013’s Singapore ShortFilm Awards and traveled to festivals worldwide. She later attended the Asian Film Academy in Busan and directed two other short films, HAPPY BIRTHDAY (2014) and THREE LITTLE PIGS (2014).

2. Ajoomma
dir: He Shuming, prod: Si En Tan, Anthony Chen (Singapore, 1st film)
Synopsis: A middle-aged, Korean-drama obsessed widow from Singapore trying to find a new purpose in life travels out of the country for the first time to Seoul, and promptly gets lost.

HE Shuming completed his Master’s in Directing at the AFI Conservatory. He contributed the short LETTERS FROM THE MOTHERLAND to the omnibus 667 (2017), which premiered at Busan Film Festival. His project AJOOMMA won Most Promising Project at 2015’s Southeast Asian Film Lab.

3. Arnold is a Model Student
dir: Sorayos Prapapan, prod: Donsaron Kovitvanitcha (Thailand, 1st film)
Synopsis: Arnold is a high school student in Bangkok and a school representative for an academic contest. One day, he got involved in cheating a prestigious military school’s entrance examination.

Sorayos PRAPAPAN’s project ARNOLD IS A MODEL STUDENT received the Hubert Bals Script Development Fund and previously attended Ties That Bind, Produire au Sud and Tokyo Talents labs. His latest short DEATH OF A SOUND MAN (2017) premiered in Venice Orizzonti competition.

4. Crocodile Tears
dir: Tumpal Tampubolon, prod: Mandy Marahimin (Indonesia, 1st film)
Synopsis: A mother tries to prove her son’s innocence after he was accused of murdering a young woman who died in their crocodile farm.

Tumpal TAMPUBOLON previously attended Berlinale Talents and Asian Film Academy, and participated in the omnibus BELKIBOLANG, which premiered at Rotterdam Film Festival. In 2014 he won Indonesia’s Citra Award for Best Original Screenplay for writing the fiction TABULA RASA.

5. Raising a Beast
dir: Xaisongkham Induangchanthy, prod: Abigail Lazaro, Steve Arounsack (Laos, 1st film)
Synopsis: Two Hmong siblings with diverging destinies are responsible for grooming a bull into a prize fighter that will earn the family money and honor.

Xaisongkham INDUANGCHANTHY, a 2012 Asian Film Academy alumni, in 2015 completed a
Master’s Degree in Filmmaking in New York under the Fulbright Scholarship. He has made short fiction and documentary, with the latter, BECAUSE I AM A GIRL... (2016), funded by NHK Japan.

The five projects shall once again be automatically enrolled in the SEAFICxPAS programme, a producer’s lab organized by Nantes Festival des 3 Continents’ Produire au Sud initiative that will be held alongside SEAFIC. SEAFIC’s 1st lab session shall take place between February 24th – March 3rd, 2018 at Monoceros Resort in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Announcing The Winners of The 1st SEAFIC Awards

SEAFIC’s inaugural year is capped off with an awards ceremony with prizes given by leading industry experts

Bangkok, July 4th, 2017 – The Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab (SEAFIC), the pioneering filmmakers’ lab for Southeast Asian directors and producers, announces the winners of the 1st SEAFIC Awards.

After 8 months of intense script and project development, the five projects selected in SEAFIC’s inaugural year finally concluded their lab curriculum at the SEAFIC Open House event at Alliance française Bangkok from July 1-3, 2017.

The projects are:

Cu Li Never Cries - Dir: Pham Ngoc Lan, Prod: Phan Dang Di (Vietnam)

Pham Ngoc Lan’s first short fiction film ANOTHER CITY (2016) was in competition at the Berlin
Film Festival. He also attended the Berlinale Talents in 2015. This project was selected at Busan Asian Project Market 2016 and Cannes Atelier 2017.

Doi Boy - Dir: Nontawat Numbenchapol, Prod: Steve Chen, Supatcha Thipsena (Thailand/Cambodia)

Nontawat Numbenchapol’s first two documentaries, BOUNDARY and BY THE RIVER, premiered at the Berlinale Forum and Locarno Film Festival in 2013, respectively. His latest documentary #BKKY premiered at the Busan Film Festival last year. DOI BOY was selected at the EAVE Ties That Bind this year.

Stranger Eyes - Dir: Yeo Siew Hua, Prod: Fran Borgia (Singapore)

Yeo Siew Hua’s first feature film IN THE HOUSE OF STRAW (2009) was in competition at the
Bangkok International Film Festival, among other film festivals. He attended Tokyo Talents in 2015.

Regretfully at Dawn - Dir: Sivaroj Kongsakul, Prod: Pimpaka Towira (Thailand)

Sivaroj Kongsakul’s first feature ETERNITY (2010) won the Rotterdam Tiger award and Best
Film at Deauville Asian Film Festival. In 2011, he was part of the 22nd Cannes
Cinefondation residency. This project received the Hubert Bals Fund for script development this year.

You Are There - Dir: Nicole Midori Woodford, Prod: Jeremy Chua (Singapore)

Nicole Woodford’s latest short FOR WE ARE STRANGERS (2015) was selected at Busan
Film Festival’s Wide Angle Competition. She is an alumni of the Berlinale Talents and Busan Asian Film Academy.

These awards, unveiled after a live invitation-only final pitching session by the filmmakers of the five SEAFIC projects in front of a distinguished international jury, is part of the SEAFIC Open House event at Alliance française Bangkok from July 1-3, 2017.

The 1st SEAFIC Awards consist of three prizes:

a. The SEAFIC-TFL Award, whereby Matthieu Darras, the Artistic Director of TorinoFilmLab,
chooses one producer from SEAFIC to attend this year’s TorinoFilmLab Meeting Event (November 24-26). This is a result of the close collaboration between SEAFIC and TorinoFilmLab. The prize goes to producer Jeremy Chua from the Singaporean project YOU ARE THERE.

b. The Open SEA Fund Award, jointly sponsored by VS Service and White Light Post, which gives one SEAFIC project rental credit towards equipment rental from VS Service worth 10,000 USD and post-production services provided by White Light Post worth 15,000 USD.
The prize goes to director Nicole Midori Woodford and producer Jeremy Chua for the Singaporean project YOU ARE THERE.

c. The Purin Award, worth US$15,000 in cash prize, given by a panel of distinguished international jury who has read the five filmmakers’ latest scripts and heard their final pitches in person.

The jury members are:

• Christian Jeune, Director of Film Department & Deputy General Delegate, Cannes Film Festival

• Kini Kim, formerly EVP/Head of International, CJ Entertainment

• Nansun Shi, Producer and Co-founder of Film Workshop & Distribution Workshop

The prize goes to director Nontawat Numbenchapol and producers Steve Chen and Supatcha Thipsena for the Thai-Cambodian project DOI BOY.

For more information about SEAFIC and SEAFIC Open House, please contact us at
info@seaficlab.com.

SEAFIC Open House, Prizes and Award Jury unveiled

SEAFIC’s inaugural year is capped off with a public event that culminates in an awards ceremony with prizes given by leading industry experts.

Bangkok, April 12th, 2017 – The Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab (SEAFIC), the pioneering filmmakers’ lab for Southeast Asian directors and producers, announces the launch of SEAFIC Open House, which each year shall run parallel to the 3rd and final session of SEAFIC’s 8-month long program. The idea behind Open House is akin to opening the campus of a university to visitors to come and know more about what goes on inside.

The first ever SEAFIC Open House shall take place July 1-3, 2017. During this event, international and domestic industry guests and curious public are invited to discover, through a free screening, panels and talks, SEAFIC’s mission to develop filmmakers and producers from the region, as well as to learn more about the film industry. We welcome all industry guests from the region and beyond to attend.

SEAFIC Open House’s 2017 program includes:

• a free screening of a Southeast Asian film that has been developed in script labs and are coproductions. After the screening, there shall be an extensive talk with the director and producer of the film about how the script was developed, and how the co-productions were formed.

• panels by prominent experts and Award Jury members

• live pitch by the 5 SEAFIC filmmakers who have undergone the last 8 months of script development*

• awards ceremony where prizewinners are announced*

*these two events are for industry guests only

For this 1st edition, MEN WHO SAVE THE WORLD (2014) by Malaysian director Liew Seng Tat has been chosen as the opening screening. The film, a Malaysia/Germany/Netherlands/France coproduction, was developed at both Sundance Institute and TorinoFilmLab. Both director Liew Seng Tat and producer Sharon Gan shall be on hands after the free screening to talk about the development and financing of their film.

AWARDS & JURY

SEAFIC is also pleased to announce the three-person award jury who shall be giving the Purin Award, worth US$15,000 in cash prize, after reading the five filmmakers’ latest scripts and hearing their final pitches in person. The jury members are:

• Christian Jeune, Director of Film Department & Deputy General Delegate, Cannes Film Festival

• Kini Kim, formerly EVP/Head of International, CJ Entertainment

• Nansun Shi, Producer and Co-founder of Film Workshop & Distribution Workshop

In addition to the Purin Award, which is sponsored by the Purin Foundation, SEAFIC has also partnered with two other organizations for new prizes:

• SEAFIC-TFL Award, whereby Matthieu Darras, the Artistic Director of TorinoFilmLab, chooses one producer from SEAFIC to attend this year’s TorinoFilmLab Meeting Event (November 24-26). This award is a result of the close collaboration between SEAFIC and TorinoFilmLab.

• The Open SEA Fund Award, jointly sponsored by VS Service and White Light Post, which gives one SEAFIC project rental credit towards equipment rental from VS Service worth 10,000 USD and post-production services provided by White Light Post worth 15,000 USD.

SEAFIC Open House shall take place at, and is supported by, the Alliance française de Bangkok (179 Thanon Witthayu, Khwaeng Lumphini, Lumpini, Bangkok 10120). Further venue is supported by the Goethe-Institut Thailand, who has also come on board as a SEAFIC sponsor.

SEAFIC Announces Its Inaugural Selection of Projects

Five Southeast Asian Projects From Across Genres by 1st and 2nd-time Directors Are Represented.

Bangkok, October 9th 2016 - After receiving a total of 57 applications from nearly every Southeast Asian country, the Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab (SEAFIC) has finalized its selection, which represents a strong mix of projects that showcases the diversity of topics and genres coming from the region.

All submissions, hailing from Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, were evaluated by SEAFIC’s Reading Committee (TorinoFilmLab’s Matthieu Darras, Sundance Film Institute’s Paul Federbush and Asian Shadow’s Isabelle Glachant), which selected 13 projects for the shortlist. Our Script Committee (Cannes Critics’ Week’s Remi Bonhomme, Tokyo Filmex’s Shozo Ichiyama and director Pen-ek Ratanaruang) then assessed the scripts by the shortlisted filmmakers to decide upon the 5 projects which shall be attending SEAFIC’s 9-month long script development program.

Here are the five selected projects, in alphabetical order:

1. Cu Li Never Cries
Director: Pham Ngoc Lan, Producer: Phan Dang Di (Vietnam, 1st film)

Pham Ngoc Lan’s first short fiction film ANOTHER CITY (2016) was in competition at the Berlin Film Festival. He also attended the Berlinale Talents in 2015.

2. Doi Boy
Director: Nontawat Numbenchapol, Producer: Supatcha Thipsena, Steve Chen (Thailand, 1st fiction film) 

Nontawat Numbenchapol’s first two documentaries, BOUINDARY and BY THE RIVER, premiered at the Berlinale Forum and Locarno Film Festival in 2013, respectively. His latest documentary #BKKY premieres at the Busan Film Festival this year. 

3. In the Eyes of a Stranger
Director: Yeo Siew Hua, Producer: Fran Borgia (Singapore, 2nd film) 

Yeo Siew Hua’s first feature film IN THE HOUSE OF STRAW (2009) was in competition at the Bangkok International Film Festival, among other film festivals.

4. Regretfully at Dawn (Arunkarn)
Director: Sivaroj Kongsakul, Producer: Pimpaka Towira (Thailand, 2nd film) 

Sivaroj Kongsakul’s first feature ETERNITY (2010) won the Rotterdam Tiger award and Best Film at Deauville Asian Film Festival. In 2011 he was part of the 22nd Cannes Cinefondation residency.

 5. You Are There
Director: Nicole Midori Woodford, Producer: Jeremy Chua (Singapore, 1st film)

Nicole Midori Woodford’s latest short FOR WE ARE STRANGERS (2015) was selected at Busan Film Festival’s Wide Angle Competition. She is also a Berlinale Talents alumni in 2010.

The genres tackled by these projects include crime thriller, arthouse drama, LGBT theme and supernatural mystery. These five shall also be automatically enrolled in the SEAFIC x PAS programme, a producer’s lab organized by Nantes Festival des 3 Continents’ Produire au Sud initiative that takes place alongside SEAFIC. As such, both the director and producer of each project shall be invited to Chiang Mai, Thailand from October 23-30, 2016 to participate in the SEAFIC script lab programme as well as SEAFIC x PAS. The filmmakers will also be attending the 2nd session in late February 2017 in Chiang Mai, as well as the final 3rd session in late June 2017.

SEAFIC’s 3rd session in June 2017 shall no longer take place in Singapore. Instead, this final session shall now be held in Bangkok, Thailand. The United States Embassy in Bangkok has also joined the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japan Foundation, Thailand as SEAFIC’s sponsor.

SEAFIC Teams Up with Produire au Sud

Bangkok, July 7th 2016 - Combining forces to create a comprehensive film lab for directors, screenwriters and producers in Southeast Asia, the Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab (SEAFIC) and Nantes Festival des 3 Continents' Produire au Sud (France) announces a new collaboration which merges SEAFIC's 9-month intensive script development program with Produire au Sud's long-running producers' workshop in Bangkok under one roof.

Called SEAFIC x PAS, this new arrangement shall consolidate both program's calls for entries. The five projects eventually selected for SEAFIC shall automatically be enrolled in Produire au Sud's Southeast Asia workshop: the directors and screenwriter shall attend SEAFIC's script development lab, while in parallel the producers of those same projects shall attend Produire au Sud. Previously held yearly in Bangkok in November, Produire au Sud's Southeast Asia lab shall now move to Chiang Mai and shall take place concurrently with SEAFIC's first session, from October 23-30, 2016. Furthermore, SEAFIC x PAS shall hold a second follow-up session for these same producers in June 2017 to coincide with SEAFIC's final session in Singapore.

SEAFIC x PAS is supported by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The deal was negotiated by Produire au Sud's Coordinator Guillaume Mainguet and SEAFIC's Executive Director Raymond Phathanavirangoon, with the help of Loïc Wong, Regional Audiovisual Attaché for Southeast Asia at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In addition, for its inaugural year, SEAFIC has assembled six experts from around the world to select the final five projects:

Reading Committee:
Matthieu Darras, TorinoFilmLab
Paul Federbush, International Director, Sundance Institute
Isabelle Glachant, CEO of Chinese Shadows, Producer of IN LOVE WE TRUST and 11 FLOWERS

Script Committee:
Remi Bonhomme, Program Manager, Cannes Critics’ Week
Shozo Ichiyama, Program Director, Tokyo FILMeX, Producer of A TOUCH OF SIN and 24 CITY
Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Thai Director of LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE and PLOY

Furthermore, The Japan Foundation in Bangkok has come on board SEAFIC as sponsor, joining the Singapore Film Commission and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in their support of the script lab. Singapore's The Arts House, which occupies the almost 200-year-old building that was Singapore’s first Parliament House and now promotes and presents multidisciplinary programmes and festivals such as literary arts, film, performing and visual arts, has also come on board as SEAFIC's partner and venue sponsor for SEAFIC's final session in June 2017. The Chiang Mai sessions shall be held at Monoceros Resort in Mae Rim, Chiang Mai.

SEAFIC's call for entry ends on August 1st, 2016. The final five selected projects shall be announced in early October 2016.

SEAFIC'S Launch

Hong Kong, March 15th 2016 - The Southeast Asian Fiction Film Lab (SEAFIC), supported by Purin Foundation and with the sponsorship of the Singapore Film Commission and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announces the launch of a pioneering script lab for Southeast Asian filmmakers. The first intensive script lab of its kind in East Asia, SEAFIC follows film labs such as TorinoFilmLab (Italy), Sundance Institute (USA), and the Jerusalem International Film Lab (Israel).

Each year, SEAFIC shall select five 1st, 2nd and 3rd-time filmmakers with work-in-progress scripts to work with our veteran script consultant for 9 months to develop and refine their screenplays. Each of the participants shall be invited to three lab sessions, beginning with the first session in Chiangmai, Thailand from October 23-30, 2016. Subsequent sessions shall take place in Chiangmai in late February 2017, and the final session in Singapore in late June 2017.

During the final session in Singapore, each of the five lab participants shall participate in a pitch session, whereby one project shall be awarded a cash prize of US$15,000, as determined by a three-person award jury. 

With project selection committees and award juries comprising of international film veterans such as Cannes Film Festival's Director of Film Department Christian Jeune, Program Director of Tokyo Filmex, and renowned producer Shozo Ichiyama, Thai New Wave pioneer filmmaker Pen-ek Ratanaruang, among others, SEAFIC shall draw from experts from around the world to select the best projects from the region, be they arthouse or commercial.

Furthermore, SEAFIC is collaborating with the TorinoFilmLab, whereby one of TorinoFilmLab's representatives shall also take part in SEAFIC's selection process. 

“Our goal with SEAFIC is to create a world-class script lab that helps projects realize their full potential. Too often projects are rushed into production without enough time for script development. A well-developed screenplay can also help filmmakers find more financing, and thus help them realize their vision,” explains SEAFIC Executive Director Raymond Phathanavirangoon. “Moreover, at SEAFIC we encourage commercial, genre and arthouse projects to apply, as there are great ideas and unique visions in all types of cinema. We want this kind of diversity.”

Franz Rodenkirchen, SEAFIC's script consultant, says, “Raymond and I have been working together on a curriculum tailored just for Southeast Asian filmmakers for nearly three years. I'm very excited that SEAFIC is now a reality, and I look forward to working with talented filmmakers from the region.” 

Visra Vichit Vadakan from Purin Foundation adds, “Our mission is to identify and support artists in the region who have the courage to question and challenge, to create change, and to inspire others to do the same. SEAFIC is our first step in supporting independent film in the region.”

SEAFIC shall begin accepting applications starting from April 1st, 2016.