Southeast Asian filmmakers among Locarno's Open Doors lineup

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Southeast Asian filmmakers among Locarno's Open Doors lineup

Writer: Florey DM

Open Doors Hub and Lab 2020 will be the core of Locarno Film Festival.

11 Jun – Locarno Film Festival might be forgoing its physical edition this year, like other film festivals of 2020, but it will forge ahead with the online edition of its Open Doors Hub and Lab.

As stated on Locarno's website, "Open Doors will shine a light on 17 projects and stories that are waiting to be put in motion."

Eight projects of Open Doors Hub and the nine projects of Open Doors Lab were announced earlier today on the official website, which include participants from several Southeast Asian countries.

Malaysia's "Oasis of Now" by Chee Sum Chia, along with "Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell" by Pham Thien An, which is a co-production between Vietnam, Singapore and France, are the two Southeast Asian titles under Open Doors Hub.

Both projects, as well the six others that are part of the international coproduction platform, will be vying for the development, production or post-production support that a professional jury will grant to a few winning projects on the last day. The biggest award is the Open Doors Grant amounting to 50.000 CHF.

As for Open Doors Lab, Choo Mun Bel from Malaysia and Darung Mony and Lomorpich Rithy from Cambodia have been selected to participate in the six-day personalised programme that's focused on the role of the creative producer.

All 17 projects are as listed below:

Open Doors Hub
"Fruit Gathering" - Aung Phyoe  (Myanmar, France, Czech Republic)
"Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell" ("Bên Trong Vỏ Kén Vàng") - Pham Thien An (Vietnam, Singapore, France)  
"The Godmothers" - Anucha Boonyawatana (Thailand)
"This City is a Battlefield" ("Perang Kota") - Mouly Surya (Indonesia)
"Tropical Gothic" - Isabel Sandoval (The Philippines)
"Oasis of Now" - Chee Sum Chia (Malaysia)
"Ze" - Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (Mongolia, France)
"Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah vs the Amazonistas of Planet X" - Avid Liongoren (The Philippines, France)

Open Doors Lab
Darung Mony (Studio4, Cambodia)  
Lomorpich Rithy (PlerngKob, Cambodia)
Vannaphone Sitthirath (Lao New Wave Cinema Productions, Laos)
Choo Mun Bel (Sixtymac Production, Malaysia)
Lamin Oo (Tagu Films, Myanmar)
Uran Sainbileg (IFI Production, Mongolia)
Supatcha Thipsena (Mobile Lab Project, Thailand)
Kyle Nieva (Screen Asia, The Philippines)
Nguyen Luong Hang (EAST Films, Vietnam) 

Screenings of works from countries that are the focus of Open Doors will be made available to the public from 5 to 15 August as part of Locarno 2020 – For the Future of Films, a special online edition of the film festival after this year's physical edition had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

(Photo source: Locarno Film Festival)  

Cinema Online, 11 June 2020