Chinese Internet Films Reimagined as PopC Linear Channel – World News
With material provided by mainland China streamer iQiyi, Celestial Tiger Entertainment, the operator of Asian TV channels, and myTV SUPER, the over-the-top platform of Hong Kong’s Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), are set to launch PopC, a cinema channel devoted to Chinese online films. On May 1, it debuts in Hong Kong.
“We were originally inspired to start PopC after seeing how many excellent, high-caliber films were being made in China for the internet. Ofanny Choi, CEO of CTE, said, “We want to bring these movies to an international audience outside of China by curating them all in one great channel. The domestic reception and online hit rates for these movies are just phenomenal.”
Every day, different themes will be included in its roster, including fantasy-adventure, Chinese heroes, suspense, action, and humor.
BUDAPEST-TAIPEI
Budapest, Hungary, will be honored in the Taipei Film Festival’s “City in Focus” category, which has been revived. It will screen a twenty-film selection that is tied to each other and feels like a distilled history of Budapest cinema. This year’s Filmmaker in Focus is none other than the renowned Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr.
The digital restoration of his first feature film, “Family Nest,” and second feature film, “The Outsider,” aligns with the period. This year’s lineup also includes Tarr’s previous feature, “The Turin Horse,” which took home the FIPRESCI Prize and the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at Berlinale. The festival’s 20th iteration will take place from June 21 to July 6.
A portion of the 2024 schedule for the annual Nippon Connection film festival in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, has been revealed. The German premiere of “Kubi” (also known as “Neck”), in which Kitano Takeshi unorthodoxly concentrates on homosexual elements of Samurai culture, is one of the highlights. In Iwai Shunji’s “Kyrie,” an orphaned girl experiences hardships as a singer after the Fukushima accident. Additionally, there will be room for up-and-coming filmmakers like Ushimaru Ryo, who challenges conventional family imagery in “Qualia.” This year’s on-site recipient of the Nippon Rising Star Award will be the up-and-coming actress Furukawa Kotone. June 2nd is the second day of the event.
Spanish calls it “freeze.”
Fremantle has sold the humorous game show concept “Freeze” to Portuguese broadcaster TVI. TVI, hosted by actor Pedro Teixeira, will modify it for the regional audience. The program is scheduled to premiere at the start of June. FANY Studio and Yoshimoto Kogyo produced “Freeze” in Japan for Amazon Prime Video.
Contestants enter a chamber during the program, and they have to “freeze” until the presenter releases them. Along the journey, there will be tricks and traps that make the players respond, such flying mannequins and enormous exploding balloons. Only the players who don’t give up will compete for a spot in the grand finale.
