HKIFF Industry Project Market has completed this year’s line-up with the addition of a new animation section and a tie-up with Jakarta Film Week in Indonesia.
According to the event organisers, there has been a 60% surge in animation submissions since last year reflecting the industry’s rapid growth in the region. Chinese feature-length animation Nezha 2 shattered records over the recent Lunar New Year holiday in China, grossing $1.6bn (RMB11.93m) at the time of writing.
The animation section at HKIFF Industry Project Market includes three titles in development and three works-in-progress. The three works-in-progress include A Mighty Adventure from Hong Kong filmmaker Toe Yuen, best known for the McDull series of hit animated films; Li Jiajia’s Min, produced by Liu Jian, whose Have A Nice Day and Art College 1994 both screened at the Berlinale; and coming-of-age drama Wildheart from Marceau Nakayama, a Tokyo-born art director and concept artist now based in France.
In development projects include Cloud Of The Unknown, from Gao Yuan who won the Arte Laguna prize when her eponymous animated short film premiered at Locarno in 2020; Indian filmmaker Triparna Maiti’s The Tale Of The Holy Beast, which was previously selected for Mifa Pitches at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival; and Light Pillar, directed by Xu Zao and produced by actor-director Da Peng. Xu Zao’s 43-minute animation, No Changes Have Taken In Our Life, won the Golden Dove at DOK Leipzig.
Meanwhile, HKIFF Industry Project Market is collaborating with Jakarta Film Week (JFW) to launch a new section, Jakarta Film Week Projects, showcasing the in-development projects of two emerging Indonesian filmmakers.
Jason Iskandar’s First Breath After Coma follows three Chinese Indonesian siblings torn between their dilemmas and family obligations as their father lies in a coma in the late 1990s. Fly! by Pelixiano is an animated family adventure that follows a young boy on a mystical journey to the afterlife.
“Through this collaboration with HKIFF Industry, we hope to enhance the visibility of Indonesian projects on the international stage and help them find production and investment partners and global distribution opportunities,” said JFW Festival Director Rina Damayanti
Organised by The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS), HKIFF Industry Project Market will take place March 17-19 alongside Filmart. The event encompasses Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), the biennial HKIFF Industry – CAA China Genre Initiative (HCG) and the new Animation section. HAF previously announced 40 In Development and Works-in-Progress projects.
HAF Animation Projects 2025:
*First feature projects
Cloud Of The Unknown (Hong Kong, France) *
Director: Gao Yuan
Producers: Isabelle Glachant, Camille Li
Production Companies: Chinese Shadows, Shasha & Co Production
Light Pillar (China) *
Director: Xu Zao
Producers: Da Peng, Lu Xiaowei
Production Company: Fengduan Film (Shanghai) Co
The Tale Of The Holy Beast (India) *
Director: Triparna Maiti
Producer: Bejon K Vinod
Production Company: FAEM
A Mighty Adventure (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia)
Director: Toe Yuen
Producers: Chen Yi-Ching, Wee Meng Hee
Production Companies: Zero One Film, Flystudio
Min (China) *
Director: Li Jiajia
Producer: Liu Jian
Production Company: School of Animation and Games, China Academy of Art
Wildheart (France, Belgium, Japan) *
Director: Marceau Nakayama
Producers: Matteo Paolini, Justin Ambrosino
Production Companies: Keytales, Forerunner Films
Jakarta Film Week (JFW) Projects:
*First feature projects
First Breath After Coma (Indonesia)
Director: Jason Iskandar
Producers: Florence Giovani Chandra, Shanty Harmayn
Production Companies: Studio Antelope, Base Entertainment
Fly! (Indonesia) *
Director: Pelixiano
Producer: Ellen Xie
Production Company: ArtCodeStory
