Haziqah Azemi, co-founder of Johor-based company Kapsul Studio/ Johor Street Film School, has been selected to participate in the International Business Academy Programme at Busan Asian Film School for eight months, where she will develop her first feature film “Garek”, written and directed by Cech Adrea.
Aside from the personal cause for the plot, the film is initially a short film format that is expanding into a full feature film as they see the potential of the premise.
“Garek”, according to Johor Street Film School, follows in the footsteps of Damien Chazzelle, who used a short film to generate financing for his Oscar-winning picture “Whiplash”.
Cech Adrea said that after a few creative development and mentoring sessions, it is time to craft the business part. The project was awarded Best Project Presentation at MIFFEST Project Market 2022 and was chosen as an Official Selection at the Bangkok Asian Film Festival SEAPITCH 2022. Well-known producers and partners began to step in to co-produce at this stage.
They were hoping to be accepted into the International Business Academy Programme, for the fellowship recruitment for 2023, and Busan Asian Film School selected only 18 applicants from 14 countries out of a total of 143 candidates from 24 countries, with only two Malaysians among these applicants.
Eleanor Teh, another Malaysian representative, is the producer of “Under Foreign Skies”, directed by Anwar Johari Ho, and one of the eight projects chosen for Finas My Lab 2022. Eleanor is a Zian Pictures producer best known for her short films “Forget Me Not” and “Unforgettable”.
The selection committee interviewed 39 applicants in the final step of the application process for the 2023 International Film Business Academy at Busan Asian Film School.
In Busan Asian Film School’s website, deciding on only 18 of this group to compete in the IFBA was a problem, and they had no choice but to turn away many skilled and deserving applications. Final judgments were made based on candidates’ prior experience and filmography, knowledge of the field, communication abilities, interview performance, and the uniqueness and promise of the proposed projects.
The worldwide Film-business Academy provides practical education that is closely related to the industry through the educational process, encompassing feature film development, production, investment, distribution, and worldwide marketing.
By professionalising the talents at the heart of the film business, the foundation and development of the Korean film industry will be strengthened, as will international collaborative film projects.
“Garek”, a film in development, earned Best Project Presentation at the Malaysia International Film Festival Project Market and was chosen as an Official Selection at the Bangkok Asian Film Festival SEAPITCH. Meanwhile, “Under Foreign Skies” was created in the incubator project My Lab 2022.
