The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society has unveiled the second slate of projects selected for the 24th Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum, spotlighting 12 work-in-progress titles that bring together Asian cinema heavyweights and promising new voices.
Set to be presented March 17-19 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre as part of the HKIFF Industry Project Market, the WIP lineup features established stars including Nick Cheung Ka-fai, Chung Suet-ying, Dian Sastrowardoyo, Christine Hakim, Reza Rahadian and Anjali Patil. Veteran producer Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting is among the notable names backing the projects, which carry budgets of up to $2.2 million each.
Seven of the 12 titles mark directorial debuts, with first-time filmmakers including Arvin Belarmino, Shu Hui and Chahat Mansingka stepping behind the camera. The projects, mostly in post-production, will be pitched alongside FilMart, now in its 30th edition.
Cheung and Chung topline “Good Trip,” a comedy-drama directed by Norris Wong Yee-lam and Wong Hoi about a film production assistant who embarks on an unexpected journey with her dying father to fulfill his final wishes. Cheung Yuen-ting, whose credits include “Echoes of the Rainbow,” winner of the 2010 Berlinale Generation’s Crystal Bear, produces the Hong Kong project.
Indonesian stars Rahadian and Sastrowardoyo lead “The Sea Speaks His Name” (Laut Bercerita), a political drama tracking a student activist whose 1990s disappearance leaves his family searching for answers. Yosep Anggi Noen directs from a script produced by Gita Fara, whose “Pangku” (On Your Lap), directed by Rahadian, won at Busan in 2025.
Hakim portrays a mother desperate to reconnect with her daughter on death row in Saudi Arabia in “My Mother,” directed by Eddie Cahyono, whose “Siti” claimed Indonesia’s Citra Award for Best Film in 2015. The Indonesia-Japan-Hong Kong co-production is produced by Tika Bravani and Isabelle Glachant.
Among the debut features, Belarmino’s “Ria” follows a hotel housekeeper leading her punk community against displacement while caring for her foster mother. The Philippines-Norway-Netherlands-Saudi Arabia co-production is produced by Kristine De Leon and Alemberg Ang. Belarmino’s short “Agapito” competed at Cannes in 2025.
Taiwan’s Chin Chia-Hua, whose “Trouble Girl” won at the 2024 Golden Horse Awards, directs supernatural drama “A Ghost in the Market” about a murdered housewife who returns in her decaying body to continue her daily routine. The project previously participated in HAF Film Lab in 2023 before advancing to the in-development section.
Other titles include Zhang Tao’s “Farewell My Blue Bird,” exploring China’s rural youth through a woman who relocates to the city after her construction worker husband is injured; Lu Po-Shun’s “Will You Still Be My Friend,” a Taiwan-Singapore co-production about two 13-year-old boys whose friendship faces pressure from their feuding families; and Ken Yang’s directing debut “A Vampire, Probably,” a horror fantasy about a teenage murderer learning body reconstruction at a funeral home.
Mansingka’s “Like a Feather in the Wind,” set in Kolkata’s fading Chinatown, centers on a lonely woman who begins seeing her late husband after her children leave home. Sailesh Rathnakumar, a sound engineer making his directorial debut, helms “Selvi,” with Patil starring as a migrant home care nurse whose exhausting work schedule blurs boundaries.
Also in the lineup is “A Thousand Stars in the Galactic Night,” directed by former editor Shu Hui. The sci-fi suspense film stars Huang Yao and Bate’er Liu as an odd-job laborer who uncovers hidden truths following her boyfriend’s disappearance. Shu’s short “Walking with Her Into the Night” competed in Cannes Critics’ Week in 2023.
Indonesian producer Meiske Taurisia, whose “Sleep No More,” directed by Edwin, screens in Berlinale Specials this year, backs Ariani Darmawan’s debut “Jani Be Good,” a drama about a 13-year-old Chinese Indonesian girl caught between her controlling mother and runaway sister.
The WIP projects will be pitched March 17 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre’s Starlight Theatre, with teams presenting 10-minute first looks to industry attendees including distributors, producers, investors, festival programmers and funding representatives.
HKIFFS previously revealed 17 in-development projects for HAF24 and will unveil selected animation and genre projects next week.
Source: variety.com
