SFIAAFF 2009: Dirty Hands director Harry Kim
APA talks to director Harry Kim in San Francisco, where his debut film Dirty Hands: the Life and Crimes of David Choe won a special jury prize.
SFIAAFF 2009: Karma Calling director Sarba Das
Director Sarba Das talks about growing up with feet in two cultures, translating that biculturalism into a transnational call-center comedy, and then finding an audience in India.
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Edison Chen
April 17, 2009: News from Abroad
Edison Chen promotes The Sniper, Jackie Chan starts shooting a new action comedy, and lesbian film in Cambodia is a big hit. All this and more in the latest edition of News from Abroad.
Edison Chen braves death threats to promote new movie
Despite death threats, Asian pop star Edison Chen appeared in public in Singapore to promote his movie The Sniper, the first of his films to be released after sexual photos of him with some of Hong Kong's biggest celebrities forced him into retirement. His appearance came less than a month after a Hong Kong television station received an anonymous letter that contained a gold bullet warning him to stay away from public events if he wanted to live. Chen arrived with about 20 security personnel, fully armed at the media conference. Hong Kong triads have allegedly offered a US$110,000 reward for the star's right hand, according to Hong Kong media reports. At the news conference, Chen thanked Singapore for welcoming him and said he hopes to resume his career in Hong Kong. The actor/singer has allegedly been hiding out in Canada. Despite his promise to retire from the entertainment industry indefinitely, Chen has recently expressed his desire to return. --Kristie Hang
Jackie Chan's Big Soldier
Jackie Chan is to star in the Chinese period action comedy, Big Soldier, directed by Ding Sheng (Underdog Knight). Working with a $25 million budget, the film is being shot in southwest China in the Yunnan province. Set during the Qin dynasty, Jackie Chan will star as a soldier who travels to claim his reward for abducting the general of an enemy state. Produced by Jackie Chan's JC Group International and Bona Entertainment, the film will also star Lust, Caution actor Lee-Hom Wang, Korean singer Yoo-Seung Jun, Beijing Olympic performer Lin Peng, and Jackie Chan's martial arts disciple Xu Dongmei. --Megan Chun
Cambodia's taboo lesbian film a success
Who Am I? is Cambodia's first film featuring a lesbian couple -- and is now a hit film in the country. The film follows a Cambodian-American woman's love for a well-known Cambodian actress, and since its opening, has attracted about 4,000 moviegoers. Director Phoan Phuong Bopha wrote the film to draw attention to issues of discrimination against lesbians -- as with the case of Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly disowning his daughter after she came out as a lesbian. The success of the film proved hopeful for Cambodia's declining film industry. --Kanara Ty
Director Lu Chuan's City of Life and Death retells Nanking history
Lu Chuan's third film, City of Life and Death, tackles a history worth repeating. Chuan's film captures the experiences of a Chinese general, a Japanese soldier, and a young Chinese teacher during the backdrop of the 1937 Japanese invasion of Nanking. With over 1,200 prints to screen in China, Lu's 12 million dollar film will premiere in Beijing on April 16th. While researching for the film, Lu discovered the story of how China's Nationalist troops, led by Chiang Kai-shek, fought hard against the Japanese. "Their soldiers were well educated, so we were defeated. But it doesn't mean we didn't fight back," Lu said, some 72 years after the event. "This was kind of a big secret for me." Lu became the first mainland Chinese director to win the best picture award at Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards for his 2005 film Kekexili. --LiAnn Ishizuka
Princess is back in the Castle
Yoon Eun Hye, ex-member of Baby VOX and the lead in Princess Hours and Coffee Prince No. 1, announced her plans to return to drama after her popular role as everyone's favorite gender-bending caffeine peddler roughly two years ago. The new drama, Lady Castle, was initially announced back in January however the company overseeing the production, Lee Kim Productions, had suspensions placed for not having paid Park Shin Yang due wages, whose subsequent law suit led to his ban from television by the Korea Television Drama Production Company Association. Although Park remains banned, the suspension was lifted from Lee Kim Productions, and on April 6th the resumption of production, as well as Yoon's continued participation was announced. The drama, a romantic comedy, revolves around sisters who inherit a large amount of money from their father. Yoon, the second sister, ultimately pursues a relationship with a poor man who enters their lives, little knowing that he is in actually after the household money. --Frederick Stiehl
Kamal Hassan returns to film A Wednesday remake
Actor Kamal Hassan will be filming a bilingual remake of the well-received Hindi film A Wednesday. After the success of Dasavathaaram, Hassan is finally returning as an actor to take on the lead role in the forthcoming remake. There will also be two directorial debuts in the film: one for actor Chakri, as director of the film, as well as Hassan's daughter, Shruthi Hassan, a famous singer and actress, will also make her first mark as a musical director. The film recently began shooting on April at Ramoji Film City (near Hyderabad). The original film starred Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher. The Telugi version, titled Ee Nadu, will feature Venkatesh in Anupam Kher's role, while Malaysian star Mohan Lal will take on the same role in the Tamil version entitled Unnaipol Oruvan. --Kanara Ty
Alexa Chung Among Best Dressed Women of 2009
British television presenter, actress, and former model Alexa Chung has been voted as one of Britain's Best Dressed. In the poll conducted by the television channel The Style Network, Alex Chung made the top 5 "Best Dressed Woman of 2009" along while style icon Cheryl Cole took the top spot. Chung had previously co-hosted T4's Popworld on Channel 4, co-starred in Ben Elton's comedy series Get A Grip for ITV, and currently presents Channel 4's early-morning music show. She first came to the attention of the fashion press in 2007 for her unique, quirky style. --Kristie Hang
Aishwarya and Abhishek to get Crooked
With Mani Ratnam's Raavan wrapping, Mumbai couple Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai are teaming up for the film, Crooked. It will be along the same lines of The Bourne Identity, shooting in Greece, Istanbul, Thailand, and India, according to Ritesh Sidhwani, the producer of Crooked. --Joyce Huang
Manga gets a push from high places
Japan has found a unique solution to the economic crisis: increasing exports of entertainment goods, most notably manga. The bid, supported by Prime Minister Taro Aso, himself an avid manga fan, would seek to increase entertainment from 2% to 18% of the export economy. The increase would create an estimated half-million jobs and generate 20-30 billion yen, Aso claimed. Taro Aso has also declared himself an "Otaku," or manga-geek, perhaps in a move to soften his otherwise hard appearance. The manga market has been falling slightly in the past few years, and export markets even more so, and this leads to some skepticism in regards to the future success of the 12 billion yen stimulus request from the Cultural Affairs Agency. --Frederick Stiehl
Project Superstar's Poon to star in "subway drama"
Project Superstar, Singapore's famous talent search show, has one of its winners set to star in a "subway drama", which will be featured on trains and train stations in Singapore and China. Kelly Poon, the female winner from the first season will star in the drama alongside Taiwanese actor Robert Fan. A Starry Night features a love story between the two, who both take on roles as aspiring singers. Co-produced by Media Development Authority (Singapore), Ufinity (Singapore), and Prime Time Entertainment (China), the drama will be in Mandarin and shown in fifty episodes, with each part being two and a half minutes long. They will be broadcast about once an hour, 18 times a day. In addition to being shown as a subway drama, the series will also receive a feature film production for theatrical release. --Kanara Ty
Date Posted: 4/17/2009