The Thai psychological thriller and romance drama film project, Ray of Light, directed by Nontawat Numbenchapol, has achieved another major milestone by being officially selected for the highly esteemed QCinema Project Market (QPM) in the Philippines.

As the industry wing of the QCinema International Film Festival, QPM is celebrated for championing bold voices, distinctive genres, and globally resonant stories. This year the selection process was highly competitive, with 71 submissions from across Southeast Asia. Ray of Light is honored to be chosen as one of only 20 exclusive film projects, and one of just eight selected from neighboring countries outside the Philippines.

Being recognized on this platform is a significant step forward, elevating the film to new heights on the international stage. Please continue to follow and support the journey of Ray of Light.

Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) has unveiled a bumper line-up of 94 projects to take part in its TCCF Pitching showcase, set to run November 4-7.

This year’s lineup features several cross-border adaptations of renowned IPs and international co-productions with strong market potential and international appeal, reflecting an ongoing global trend.

These include Taiwan Travelogue, a series adapted from Yang Shuang-zi’s award-winning novel of the same name; The Ones I Killed And The Ones Who Killed Me, a series adapted from Akira Higashiyama’s acclaimed novel; LOMÁ, a documentary from Berlinale Teddy award winner Huang Hui-chen; and animation A Banquet For Hungry Ghosts, adapted from Asian American food writer Ying Chang Compestine’s young adult horror story collection.

Some 56 titles will be showcased in the Project segment, including 20 feature films, 10 projects apiece for series, animations and documentaries as well as a further six series with the theme of “If Romance Comes Again”.

Scroll down for feature film Project titles

Among the highlights from the Project segment are Spent Bullets, adapted from Tetsuya Terao’s bestselling novel by Taiwanese filmmaker Henry Tsai; Goodbye My Love, Calendar Studios’ Taiwanese version of Korean drama Do It One More Time; Diary Of Summer from Japan’s Robot Communications, the production company behind Godzilla Minus One; documentary Atomic Paradise, headed by Sally Aitken, a two-time Emmy nominee; and drama series Second Woman, winner of both the FriDay Video Original Story Award and TVBS Storytelling Impact Grant Award in the Story to Screen segment of TCCF in 2023.

Several titles from the Project segment have also made it into this year’s Golden Horse Film Project Promotion, including two series (Taiwan Travelogueand The Ones I Killed And The Ones Who Killed Me) and four feature films (Burning Blossoms, Spent Bullets, Soul Lantern and Spring’s Grocery).

A further 38 projects of original published texts will be presented for IP adaptations in the Story segment.

Highlights include A Sketch Of A Female Serial Killer: Taiwan’s Only Female Death Row Prisoner And The Murders That Shocked a Nation, winner of the Taipei International Book Exhibition Grand Prize in the non-fiction category; Bodacious! Archdemons and Lifesaver Deployed, both of which are also selected for the upcoming Busan Story Market; and The Taste Of Brown Sugar, winner of the 2025 Taipei International Book Exhibition Grand Prize in the children’s book and young adult novels category.

TCCF Pitching received nearly 700 submissions from 44 countries this year and is set to be held at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center. Aside from Taiwan, the top submitting countries were Japan, Thailand, the US, South Korea and Singapore. International submissions and co-productions involving Taiwan accounted for 60% of the entries, underscoring TCCF’s growing recognition on the global stage and a trend of cross-border collaboration in the content industry.

TCCF Pitching Project titles (feature films)

Burning Blossoms (Tai-Japan)
EP. Hitoshi Endo
Pro. Nobu Awata
Wri. Su I-Hsuan
Prodco. Suz Creative Studio

Diary Of Summer (Japan)
Dir. Remi Noda
Pro. Yusuke Yagi
Wri. Remi Noda
Prodco. Robot Communications

Fortune Seekers (Thai)
Dir. Yanyong Kuruangkura
EP./Pro. Nakarin Narkpreecha
Wri. Ploibutsara Phattrapornphisit
Prodco. Bebrave Entertainment Hub

Game Never Over (Tai)
Dir. Sean Chuang
EPs. Stefano Centini, Chang Chuti
Pro. Hung Sung-Ju
Wri. Ho Shing-Ming
Prodco. Volos Films

Goodbye My Love (Tai)
Dir. Yin Chen-Hao
EP./Pro. Jin Pai-Lunn
Wri. Ryan Tu
Prodco. Calendar Studios

Kamol (Thai)
Pro. Supatcha Thipsena
Wri. Chartchai Ketnust, Kong Pahurak
Prodco. White Light Studio

Love Letters From Tomorrow (Tai-Japan-S Kor)
EP. Peter Choe
Pros. Hsieh Yi-Lin, Ianne Cha
Wri. Yossef K. & Orign Pictures, Anne Wang
Prodco. Yoosonn Entertainment, Blintn

Midnight Express (Japan-HK-Thai-Malay-India-Uzbek-Turk-Greece-It-Fr-Sp-Port)
EP. Yamaguchi Shin
Pros. Abe Yoko, Sekiguchi Mio
Wri. Uchida Eiji, Mineo Kento
Prodco. Knockonwood

Mother Tongue (Japan-Tai)
Dir./Wri. Fu Tien-Yu
EP. Shinji Ogawa
Pro. Shoko Miyamori
Prodco. Bridgehead Co.

Mother’s Neck (Sing-Tai)
Dir. Yc Tom Lee
EPs. Jordan Lim, Charlyn Ng
Prod. Charlyn Ng
Wri. Nicholas Wang
Prodco. Juo Studios, Kusu Films

Naked In Glendale (US-China)
Pros. Jane Zheng, Julia Xu
Wri. Haohao Yan
Prodcos. Seesaw Productions, Q&A Entertainment

One Fine Day (Malay-Tai)
Dir. Tan Seng Kiat
EP. Sylvia Chang
Pros. Elyce Chin, Lim Shu Jia, E.N. Lee
Wri. Leong Siew Hong
Prodcos. One Fine Day Production House, Sunshine And Moonlight

Pivot (Tai-Turk-Ger-Serb)
Dir. Melisa Önel
Pros. Alara Hamamcıoğlu, Wesley Ko
Wri. Feride Çiçekoğlu
Prodcos. Awesomework S Production, Vigo Film, Aniden Film, Digitalkraft, Electric Sheep

Ray Of Light (Thai-Sing)
Dir. Nontawat Numbenchapol
Pros. Awat Ratanapintha, Tan Bee Thiam, Looi Wan Ping
Wri. T. Hantaweewatana
Prodcos. Mobile Lab Project, 13 Little Pictures

Seoul Story (S Kor)
EP. Summer Noh
Pro. Mark Brazeal
Wri. Kim Taeyang
Prodco. Milkyway Cinema

Soul Lantern (Tai)
Dir. Danny Tseng
EP. Lester Hsi
Pro. Fiona Hu
Wri. Jen-Fang Wang
Prodco. D-Day Pictures

Spent Bullets (Tai-US)
Dir. Henry Tsai
Pro. Jacqueline W. Liu
Wri. Henry Tsai, Terao Tetsuya
Prodco. Each Other Films

Spring’s Grocery (Tai-Indo)
Dir. Pan Ke Yin
EPs. Janice Chua, Cora Yim
Pro. Holly Chan
Wri. Aurora Lee

Prodco. Neverland Entertainment

The Daughter (Tai-HK)
Dir./Wri. Guan Tian
Pros. Patrick Mao Huang, Vivian Bao, Ding Ningyuan
Prodco. Flash Forward Entertainment, Uluka Productions

The Ghost Has A Rifle (Indo)
Dir./Wri. Iqbal Fadly
Pros. George Timothy, Siera Tamihardja
Wri. Cecille Christophia
Prodco. Creative Goods

Screen Daily

The Philippines‘ QCinema Project Market (QPM), the industry wing of QCinema International Film Festival, has unveiled its lineup of 20 selected film projects for its third edition, chosen from 71 submissions across Southeast Asia.

The slate comprises 12 projects from the Philippines and eight from neighboring countries, showcasing what organizers describe as bold voices, distinctive genres, and globally resonant stories.

Several QPM alumni are already making their mark on the international circuit. Malaysian auteur Woo Ming Jin’s “The Fox King” is set to world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival this month, underscoring the market’s role as an incubator for globally competitive works. Alumni also include Dương Diệu Linh’s “Don’t Cry, Butterfly,” winner of the grand prize at Venice Critics’ Week, and Loeloe Hendra’s “Tale of the Land,” which earned the Fipresci Prize at Busan.

“QPM is not just a platform — it’s a bridge,” said QCinema industry head Liza Diño. “By connecting Southeast Asian stories to the wider world, we are giving filmmakers the visibility and access they need to secure funding, partners, and distribution.”

The regional projects span diverse genres and themes. Singapore’s “Penumbra,” directed by Russell Morton and produced by Sophia Sim and Jeremy Chua, follows a man on the run who washes up on a floating fish farm with no means of escape, where he encounters mysterious occupants. From Thailand comes Nontawat Numbenchapol’s “Ray of Light,” a class-divided story set on a present-day film set styled after 1960s glamour, where a puppet-like star actress and an unseen lighting technician form a forbidden bond.

Cambodia’s “Romdoul, the Evening Fragrance,” directed by Lomorpich Rithy, tells the intertwined story of three generations of Cambodian women in a country still haunted by war and silence. Singapore’s 11th-century period fantasy “Strange Root,” directed by Lam Li Shuen and Mark Chua, features a yam-born demigod cast aside when a shipwrecked beast reawakens islanders’ lost desires. Malaysia’s “The Willing,” from director Joon Goh, follows an Indonesian migrant teen forced into underground fights and a schoolgirl trapped by her volatile mother who find sanctuary in each other.

Thailand’s “Ghost of the Currents,” directed by Patiparn Boontarig, centers on a man returning to his Mekong riverside village after a devastating flood, where villagers blame a vengeful River Ghost for the disaster. Vietnam’s “The River Knows Our Names,” directed by Mai Huyền Chi, explores life on the undocumented floating homes of the Mekong through a little girl’s birthday wish. Myanmar’s “When the World is Paused,” from director Han Thit Htoo Aung, spans from 2019 to 2025 as Than Sin falls into a coma before confessing his feelings to Nyein and must find her upon waking.

The Philippine slate showcases the country’s filmmaking diversity. Glenn Barit’s “Luzonensis and Floresiensis” presents two prehistoric hominids from the Philippines and Indonesia meeting as migrant workers in the land of colonizers. Jaime Pacena II’s “Ozzy and Onie” follows two star-crossed lovers in 1996 Manila torn between faith, family, and a collapsing system. Carl Joseph E. Papa’s “Sentinel” connects five lives grappling with fears and loyalties as a student newspaper article threatens to expose dark school secrets.

Jopy Arnaldo’s “KomiXXX” pairs two Filipinos on break from their Japanese film — an aspiring director and a “sexy” actress wanting to star in “serious” films — who come together to make an erotic comic. Sam Manacsa’s “The Void is Immense in Idle Hours” follows 19-year-old Rosemary, the only witness to a young boy’s disappearance, as she’s drawn into the search by the child’s desperate mother Agnes.

Tyrone Acierto’s “What’s Left Of Us” presents a couple and their chronically ill daughter fighting to stay sane in a collapsed world consumed by a dementia-like plague. Dominic Bekaert’s “Daddy Cool” unfolds during martial law in Manila’s disco era as a career woman finds herself in a tangle of love and jealousy with her female boss and their shared gigolo. Dodo Dayao’s “Dear Wormwood” disrupts the quiet lives of four mountain-dwelling women of faith with the arrival of a time-traveling ghost bringing the world to an end.

VARIETY

The Thailand Creative Culture Agency (THACCA) will present three promising sophomore features from acclaimed Thai filmmakers at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, marking the 10th edition of the Thai Pitch at Cannes program.

The pitching event, scheduled for May 19-20 at the Thai Pavilion in Village International, continues its mission of connecting Thai filmmakers with potential investors, co-producers, funders, sales agents, distributors and festival programmers. The initiative has established a strong track record of launching successful Thai productions into the international festival circuit.

Taiki Sakpisit returns with “The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth” after his Rotterdam Fipresci Prize-winning debut “The Edge of Daybreak” (2021). The new project follows sisters Chareeya and Chalika who, after their parents’ deaths, become entangled in desire and haunted by memories within Bangkok’s shadowy underworld. Producer Cattleya Paosrijaroen, whose credits include Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Cannes Jury Prize winner “Memoria,” is attached.

Itt Patiparn Boontarig presents “Ghost of the Currents,” which follows his debut “Solids by the Seashore” (2023) that won multiple awards at the Busan International Film Festival. His new supernatural drama centers on a man who returns to his flood-ravaged Mekong riverside village where locals believe a vengeful “River Ghost” is responsible for the disaster.

Nontawat Numbenchapol, who successfully transitioned from acclaimed documentary work to fiction with “Doi Boy” (2023), brings “Ray of Light,” a class-conscious drama set on a film production where a lighting technician and leading actress from vastly different worlds briefly connect. Veteran line producer Tanade Amornpiyalerk is producing.

All three projects recently received funding support from THACCA, with selection handled by a committee including Thai filmmaker-producer Pimpaka Towira, World Film Festival Bangkok director Donsaron Kovitvanitcha, and industry veteran Raymond Phathanavirangoon, who will coordinate the Cannes meetings.

Previous Thai Pitch success stories include “Arnold is a Model Student” (2022), “Anatomy of Time” (2021), “Die Tomorrow” (2017), and “Malila: The Farewell Flower” (2017), all of which secured international festival premieres and recognition.

Variety

The Thailand Creative Culture Agency (THACCA) will present three promising sophomore features from acclaimed Thai filmmakers at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, marking the 10th edition of the Thai Pitch at Cannes program.

The pitching event, scheduled for May 19-20 at the Thai Pavilion in Village International, continues its mission of connecting Thai filmmakers with potential investors, co-producers, funders, sales agents, distributors and festival programmers. The initiative has established a strong track record of launching successful Thai productions into the international festival circuit.

Taiki Sakpisit returns with “The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth” after his Rotterdam Fipresci Prize-winning debut “The Edge of Daybreak” (2021). The new project follows sisters Chareeya and Chalika who, after their parents’ deaths, become entangled in desire and haunted by memories within Bangkok’s shadowy underworld. Producer Cattleya Paosrijaroen, whose credits include Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Cannes Jury Prize winner “Memoria,” is attached.

Itt Patiparn Boontarig presents “Ghost of the Currents,” which follows his debut “Solids by the Seashore” (2023) that won multiple awards at the Busan International Film Festival. His new supernatural drama centers on a man who returns to his flood-ravaged Mekong riverside village where locals believe a vengeful “River Ghost” is responsible for the disaster.

Nontawat Numbenchapol, who successfully transitioned from acclaimed documentary work to fiction with “Doi Boy” (2023), brings “Ray of Light,” a class-conscious drama set on a film production where a lighting technician and leading actress from vastly different worlds briefly connect. Veteran line producer Tanade Amornpiyalerk is producing.

All three projects recently received funding support from THACCA, with selection handled by a committee including Thai filmmaker-producer Pimpaka Towira, World Film Festival Bangkok director Donsaron Kovitvanitcha, and industry veteran Raymond Phathanavirangoon, who will coordinate the Cannes meetings.

Previous Thai Pitch success stories include “Arnold is a Model Student” (2022), “Anatomy of Time” (2021), “Die Tomorrow” (2017), and “Malila: The Farewell Flower” (2017), all of which secured international festival premieres and recognition.

Variety