2025 finds me hard-pressed to avoid the looming presence of Ne Zha at Hong Kong Filmart. From the vibrant posters of China’s cherished little demon boy plastered on bus stops and subway walls across the bustling city, to the lively discussions about the annual film and TV market echoing in the streets, Ne Zha’s shadow is everywhere I turn.
The second installment of “Ne Zha,” a Chinese-produced animation, has raked in over $2 billion at the global box office, making it the highest-grossing animated film ever made. As a result, the industry is eager to see what they can do next.
That’s music to the ears of the people behind this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival’s (HKIFF) Industry Project Market. Whether by a stroke of genius or sheer luck, the project market has this year expanded its program into animation — just as Enlight Pictures’ Ne Zha 2 conquers the world.
“That success seems just to be auspicious,” says Jacob Wong, head of HKIFF Industry, the organization that co-ordinates both the HKIFF Industry Project Market and the Hong Kong — Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF). “Of course, we didn’t plan it that Ne Zha [2] would be such an enormous moneymaker, but it’s good timing. Maybe I should open a business as a fortune-teller for the film industry!”
The two HKIFF Industry-run initiatives have built up an impressive strike rate over the past decade, backing the rural China-set drama Living the Land, which won this year’s Berlin Silver Bear for Best Director for Huo Meng, and, before that, handing some of its prizes to animated productions such as Liu Jian’s Berlinale entry Art College 1994 (2023) and Yee Chih-yen’s Golden Horse Award winner, City of Lost Things (2020).
This year, the HKIFF Industry Project Market and HAF have more than $250,000 to share across 24 cash and in-kind prizes covering 20 in-progress film development categories.
Wong reports that there were around 50 submissions received for the first edition of their animation section. From that number, six have been selected for the animation showcase, with three being works in progress, while there will also be two animation seminars hosted as part of the main FIlmart program.
“We are, I think, happy with the quality,” says Wong. “Because this is the first year, we’ll just see how it goes. I think if it goes well, then we will probably see other project markets doing more animation.”
Among the titles touted as possible winners is the new work from Toe Yeun — the animator behind the Hong Kong favorite My Life as McDull (2001) — who returns with A Mighty Adventure, produced between Taiwan and Malaysia and following the story of three strong-willed insects (a grasshopper, a spider and a butterfly) who try to chart the course of their own destiny.
The HKIFF Industry is keenly focusing on capitalizing on the expansion of China’s animation market, which annually generates approximately $22 billion. Meanwhile, other Asian markets are also experiencing activity, notably Indonesia, where analysts predict that the local animation industry could be valued at around $6.6 billion by 2026.
“Indonesia is also a major country in Southeast Asia producing animation, especially animation for children, which is a big moneymaker,” says Wong. “There’s a major production line. We’ve also started a small collaboration with Jakarta Film Week and they’re bringing two Indonesian projects over, one of which is an animation.”
That would be veteran game developer Pelixiano’s first foray into animated features, Fly!, which sees a young boy use a magical kite to reunite with his deceased father.
The inaugural Jakarta International Film Week festival took place in 2021 with a mission to boost and broaden the domestic film industry, and Wong expressed his enthusiasm to present local Indonesian films to the international filmmakers who attend Filmart annually.
Wong believes that they are embarking on a new venture. In Indonesia, films are being produced at a rapid pace, primarily focusing on profitable genres and animation. Wong suggests this approach as an effective method to engage with this audience.
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2025-03-17 01:26