Malaysia’s Abnormal Studio will officially enter Hong Kong Filmart’s international sales field.
The company previously participated in the market under the name Westec Media.
The centerpiece of its debut sales is “Because of You Ka Kui,” a feature-length documentary about Wong Ka Kui, the creative heart of Beyond, widely considered to be the defining Cantonese rock band in music history. The film is produced by Yip Sai Wing, one of the founding members of Beyond, and manager Leslie Cheung, who is credited with discovering the group, and directed by Hong Kong director Rosa Pan.
The film is based on candid conversations with people who knew Wong personally and professionally, and features rare concert recordings, unreleased archival material from his formative years, and works he never released publicly.
The broader slate includes a selection of Indonesian library titles across multiple genres, compiled with platform and broadcast buyers in mind. The horror selection includes Rocky Soraya’s Mata Batin series and three films in the Doll series produced by Hitmaker Studios and Soraya Intercine Films: The Doll (2016), The Doll 2 (2017) and Sabrina (2018). The Indonesian lineup also includes the acclaimed dramas “5 cm” (2012) and “Tenggelamnya Kapal Van der Wijck” (2013). Romance work “Eiffel…I’m in Love” (2003), its sequel 2018, “Sunshine Becomes You” (2015). and three comedies starring Raditya Dhika: “Single” (2015), “The Guys” (2017) and “Target” (2018).
Among the new releases from Southeast Asia is “Next Stop Somewhere,” a drama by Malaysian director James Lee about loneliness and the experience of living away from home, starring veteran Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong. The second Malaysian title, “KL Love Story,” is an ensemble urban drama directed by Teng Bi set in Kuala Lumpur’s Chinese community, with a cast that includes Haoren, Ms. Pui Yi, Thomas Kok, Jacqueline Tian, Tong Bing Yu, and Steve Yap.
Vietnamese director Dinh Tuan Vu delivers The Hermit Crab, a horror film about a widow who begins to suspect that her wife’s death may not be as it seems.
Abnormal Studios will also be arriving at FilMart with a diverse Cambodian lineup. Jimmy Henderson, who directed “Jailbreak” (2017), is currently developing “What the Darkness Keeps,” an action horror movie about a couple on vacation who are hunted as food by a mysterious creature. Other Cambodian titles include “Wedding Dress,” which explores love, resilience, and loss by transposing the original Korean novel to Phnom Penh. “The Banana Tree Ghost” is a modern retelling of a local ghost legend. “Far Away Close to You” is a film about young love and paths that is not directed by Mony Kang Dalun. Silent Murders is a crime thriller set in Cambodia’s criminal underworld by filmmaker Amit Dubey. and “Her Deadly Eyes,” a revenge horror based on a popular Cambodian electronic novel.
The company is also seeking pre-sales, co-production and financing partners to bring several projects to market. These include Chen Gongming’s “Angels on the Streets of Kyoto,” about a Japanese housewife whose life changes when she wins the lottery, and “Taiwan Boys,” an eight-episode cross-cultural LGBTQ action drama set in the world of Muay Thai. Two vertical drama series in Taiwan round out the development plan. the supernatural horror series “Sisters of Evil” and the romantic drama “Summer Serendipity.”
Abnormal Studios, a subsidiary of Westec Media, has released approximately 100 films annually since 2020 with over 400 titles in Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Mongolia and Nepal. Distribution credits include How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies and Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In.
