Chinese Online Movies Repackaged as PopC Linear Channel

FROM ON DEMAND TO LINEAR

Operator of Asian TV channels Heavenly Tiger Entertainment And myTV SUPERHong Kong’s OTT platform Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) will be launching PopCa movie channel dedicated to Chinese online movies, with content provided by a streamer in mainland China iQiyi. It will launch in Hong Kong from May 1.

“The idea of ​​PopC came about when we saw how many great, high-quality films were being produced in China for the online space. The domestic reception and online hit rates for these films are simply phenomenal, and we want to bring them to an international audience beyond China by bringing them all together on one great channel.” said Ofanny ChoiCEO of CTE.

The line-up will feature rotating themes daily, from fantasy adventure to Chinese heroes, suspense, action and comedy.

TAIPEI-BUDAPEST

The Taipei Film Festival has reinstated the “City in Focus” category and will honor Budapest, Hungary. A selection of twenty related films is played, resembling an abbreviated history of cinema in Budapest. The legendary Hungarian director Bela Tarr is also named as this year’s Filmmaker in Focus.

The timing coincides with the digital restoration of his first feature film ‘Family Nest’ and second feature film ‘The Outsider’. Tarr’s last feature film, “The Horse of Turin,” which won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlinale, has also been selected for this year’s programme. The 20th edition of the festival will take place from June 21 to July 6.

NIPPON CONNECTION

The annual one Nippon connection film festival in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, has unveiled part of its programming for 2024. Highlights include the German premiere of “Kubi‘(also known as ‘Neck’) in which Kitano Takeshi focuses unconventionally on strange aspects of Samurai culture. In “Kyrie” by Iwai Shunji, an orphan girl struggles as a singer in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster. There will also be room for emerging directors such as Ushimaru Ryō, who focuses on traditional family images in ‘Qualia’. The newcomer actress Furukawa Kotone will receive this year’s Nippon Rising Star Award locally. The festival runs from May 28 to June 2.

PORTUGAL NABS ‘FREEZE’

Portuguese broadcaster TVI has acquired Fremantle’s comedy game show format “Freeze”. TVI will adapt it for the local market with actor Pedro Teixeira as host. The show will be broadcast from early June. “Freeze” was created in Japan by FANY Studio and Yoshimoto Kogyo for Amazon Prime Video.

In the show, contestants enter a room and have to “freeze” until the host releases them. With traps and tricks along the way that provoke reactions from the players, such as flying mannequins and giant popping balloons, only those left will survive to compete for a spot in the grand final.