PURIN PICTURES ANNOUNCES
GRANT RECIPIENTS FOR SPRING 2023

May 1, 2023 - Bangkok

Bangkok-based film fund Purin Pictures has finalized the grantees for the Spring 2023 session.  After evaluation and discussion of the submissions, the reading committee chose three fiction and two documentary projects for production support.  A total of 120,000 USD will be given out this session to the following projects:

Production Grants (30,000 USD in cash for fiction, 15,000 USD in cash for documentary)

DON’T CRY, BUTTERFLY (Vietnam, Singapore)
Director: Duong Dieu Linh, Producer: Tan Si En, Tran Thi Bich Ngoc, Production Company: Momo Film, An Nam Productions
After finding out about her husband’s affair, Tam decides to voodoo him back into love, not knowing that her actions may be spawning something peculiar at home.

AH GIRL (Singapore)
Director: Ang Geck Geck, Producer: Zhi Qi Yeo, Production Company: Aggregate Films
Following her parents’ divorce, seven-year-old Ah Girl has to choose between living with her mom or dad, a decision that will change her life forever.

FARID (Malaysia)
Director: Emir Ezwan, Producer: Nandita Solomon, Production Company: Apparat
Hafiz, an unemployed man mired in debt, befriends a flesh-eating djinn who grants him wealth and success but exacts a large payment in return.

BABY JACKFRUIT, BABY GUAVA (Vietnam)
Director: Quang Nong Nhat, Producer: Trang Dao Thi Minh, Production Company: Doc Cicada, Flaneur Films
A personal documentary about a conservative mother, a mentally ill daughter, and a gay son as they prepare for the arrival of an unplanned baby into their family.

THE ITINERANT (Thailand)
Director: Ukrit Sa-nguanhai, Producer: Tuntita Nititsopon, Production Company: Khrueamas Films
A documentary that explores the propaganda film operations in Cold War Thailand, tracing through memories, historical documents, and fragments of old films.

This Spring 2023 session, the reading committee chose two Vietnamese, one Singaporean, one Malaysian, and one Thai project to receive grants.  

Says Purin Pictures co-director Aditya Assarat, “Over the past several years, Vietnam, in particular, has proved to be a bright spot in the region for cinema.  You could say we are in the midst of a Vietnamese New Wave.”  Don’t Cry Butterfly by Duong Dieu Linh and Baby Jackfruit, Baby Guava by Quang Nong Nhat both have a confident personal style that is indicative of the new generation of Vietnamese filmmakers.  Continues Assarat, “We are also excited to support Farid by rising Malaysian filmmaker Emir Ezwan, a fantasy-comedy that straddles the gap between independent and mainstream genre cinema.” Ezwan’s debut horror feature Roh was a breakout success that was selected as Malaysia’s submission to the 2020 Academy Awards.  Rounding out the selection are two projects that have been developed at other Southeast Asian regional labs.  Ah Girl, the debut feature of Singapore’s Ang Geck Geck, was awarded at the 2018 SEAFIC Lab, and The Itinerant, from Thailand’s Ukrit Sa-nguanghai, won Most Promising Project from the 2021 SGIFF Southeast Asian Film Lab.

The call for entries for the Fall 2023 session opens on August 1, 2023.