ANDERSON ENT. AND SPACE AGE FILMS TO LAUNCH MERRY CHRISTMAS, EARTHLINGS! AT EFM.

Anderson Entertainment, the company responsible for managing and developing the creative legacy of Gerry Anderson, has partnered with fellow U.K. outfit Space Age Films to develop and launch a new animated feature Merry Christmas, Earthlings! Based on an original story by the legendary creator The Thunderbirds and Space 1999, the project will be officially introduced at the Berlin Film Festival’s Animation Days, part of the European Film Market’s spotlight on British animation.

The film marks the latest step in Anderson Entertainment’s long-term strategy to reimagine and expand the Gerry Anderson legacy for contemporary global audiences, pairing classic storytelling with modern animation sensibilities. Written by Gerry Anderson in 2006, Merry Christmas, Earthlings! presents a more intimate, character-led storytelling approach alongside Anderson’s trademark sense of scale and imagination.

The film centres on an unlikely friendship between a boy and an alien, united on a shared quest to discover whether Father Christmas is real, a belief each needs for very different reasons. At its core, it is a festive buddy adventure combining humour, heart and exploring the enduring bond between a parent and child. 

Jamie Anderson (pictured, right), Managing Director of Anderson Entertainment, says: “My father wrote this story at a moment when he was thinking a lot about family, belief, and what we pass on to the next generation. I always felt there was something special about it, but it needed the right partner and the right moment. This needed to be approached as a contemporary animated film with real emotional weight rather than as a heritage project."

Space Age Films' produced the hit children’s series The Deep, and the popular live-action Christmas film, A Christmas Number One. Key executive Robert Chandler was the creative producer on the hit film, The Amazing Maurice and cites Gerry Anderson's work as a major influence "Gerry Anderson shaped the imagination of generations. For many of us, it began in the 1960s with Stingray and Thunderbirds, then evolved through Captain Scarlet and the live-action series UFO and Space: 1999," says Chandler.

"What unites all of these audiences over the years is the power of Gerry Anderson’s vision—his creativity and fearless storytelling in making shows that were high-stakes and exciting, carried big philosophical ideas, and were far ahead of their time," says Chandler, who moonlights as film critic for his local events site, Let's Go Sussex. "He is our Walt Disney and Irwin Allen rolled into one.”

Anderson Entertainment and Space Age Films have engaged award-winning writers Keiron Self and Giles New to adapt the original story into a feature screenplay designed to resonate with contemporary family audiences. Known for balancing high-energy adventure with character-driven humour and emotional warmth, Self and New bring a modern sensibility to the material. 

Merry Christmas, Earthlings! has a target release window of Christmas 2028.

APRIL TAKES BEST FILM AT 17th ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS

Dea Kulumbegashvili’s sophomore feature April pulled off a stunning double win at the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA). The gripping drama took home the APSA for Best Film, with the APSA for Best Performance going to Ia Sukhitashvili (pictured, below) for her deeply personal portrayal of a Georgian Ob Gyn providing women’s health services.

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards honours the cinematic excellence of 78 countries and areas of the Asia Pacific, and films that best reflect their cultural origins and the diversity of the vast region.

In a strong year for women’s stories, the International Jury awarded its Grand Prize to All We Imagine as Light (pictured, right), the acclaimed second feature from India’s Payal Kapadia. The Prize, selected at the discretion of the jury, was awarded to this story of two working-class nurses amidst the nocturnal landscape of Mumbai.

Best Youth Film also goes to a female director from India, Lakshmipriya Devi for Boong, the heartwarming story of a young boy in remote Manipur who goes on an adventure to reunite his family.

The APSA for Best Animated Film has been won by The Missing (Iti Mapukpukaw, Philippines). The film, a groundbreaking adult sci-fi animation, is a personal tale from director Carl Joseph Papa who accepted the award on the night.

Best Documentary Film was won by No Other Land (Palestine, Norway), directed as a group by Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham, and giving their perspective on the violence and destruction surrounding them.

Georgian director Tato Kotetishvili was awarded Best Director for his debut feature, the dark comedy Holy Electricity (Georgia, Netherlands), which sees cousins selling neon crucifixes door to door in Tbilisi, in a cinematic ode to the city and its people.

From Türkiye, the tense legal thriller Hesitation Wound (Tereddüt Çizgisi; Türkiye, Spain, Romania, France) has seen writer/director Selman Nacar win for Best Screenplay for his second feature, the story of a fiercely intelligent female defence attorney facing mounting professional, personal and moral challenges.

Winning Best Cinematography is French cinematographer Michaël Capron (Blue Is the Warmest Colour) for Mongrel, the contemplative Taiwanese drama that puts the unseen life of an undocumented Thai carer in the spotlight.

And New Zealand’s prolific producer, actor and former APSA winner Cliff Curtis was the recipient of the prestigious FIAPF Award, determined by Federation of Film Producers Associations, and awarded for outstanding achievement in film in the Asia Pacific region. “My heart is filled with gratitude for the privilege of working alongside the artists, collaborators and mentors whose works have made this award possible,” said Curtis.

The three previously announced winners were all in attendance to accept their awards: Neo Sora received APSA’s Young Cinema Award in partnership with NETPAC for Happyend and Nepali director Min Bahadur Bham accepted the Cultural Diversity Award for Shambhala. Georgia’s Data Chachua accepted his APSA for Best New Performer for Panopticon (trailer, above), a film which also stars APSA Best Performance winner Ia Sukhitashvili.

SAUDI FILM COMMISSION FETES FILM CRITICISM AT MAJOR KINGDOM CONFAB

The Saudi Film Commission has held the second edition of the International Film Criticism Conference in Riyadh, over five days from November 6 to 10. The conference is distinguished by a vast presence of international filmmakers, critics, and cinephiles and provides a global platform for artistic and academic exchange with regards to the moving image, from film and video to new media, artificial intelligence, augmented/virtual reality, and video games.

The second edition of the Film Criticism Conference was held in the Saudi Arabian capital as the final stop after a series of mini-forums across the Kingdom, notably Hail on September 27 and Al-Ahsa on October 25. The gathering embraced the theme "Sound in Cinema", welcoming an exploration of sound as part of the film experience and its influence on the sector. Panel discussions covered such diverse elements as film scores, sound effects, and nature sounds and included workshops, film screenings, and interactive exhibits.

At the opening ceremony, a compelling introductory video set the tone for the event, outlining its objectives and highlighting past milestones in the Saudi film industry. It was followed by a speech by the CEO of the Saudi Film Commission, Mr. Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Qahtani, expressing the idea behind this year’s theme. 

"The Saudi Film Commission is dedicated to establishing, developing, and sustaining a strong and vibrant film industry, in line with Saudi Vision 2030.” Al-Qahtani said. “The Film Commission focuses on empowering criticism as an intellectual and artistic tool that illuminates the path of cinema and opens new prospects for it." 

He points out that the conference was created as a platform to bring together critics and cinematic innovators. “[It has] provided them with the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences, ultimately leading to the formation of a deeper Arabic cinematic awareness that elevates our film sector to international levels, while staying true our authentic culture and identity," said Al-Qahtani.

The ceremony included a speech by prominent Saudi director, Mr. Abdullah Al-Muheisen (Dhilal al sammt, 2006; pictured, left) In his opening remarks, he declared, "Film criticism relies on sentient, honest, and purposeful criticism. It is the dynamic driver of development and creativity for the director. Cinema is and will always be a message before being anything else." 

Al-Mohaisen’s speech was followed by a screening of his 1977 film Assassination of a City, a pioneering Saudi documentary that screened at the Cairo Film Festival where it won the Golden Nefertiti Award for best short movie. A follow-up discussion was held between the director and moderated by film critics Ahmad Shawqi and Ahmad Alayyad (pictured, top).

Prior to this conference, two other film criticism events were held this year, Hail on September 27 and Al-Ahsa on October 25. It was the second major film event to be held in Riyadh in as many months, with the the second edition of the three-day Saudi Film Confex wrapping up on October 12.

IFFR UNVEILS FIRST SELECTIONS FOR 2025 EDITION’S FILM PROGRAMME

The 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has unveiled the first wave programming selections for its upcoming event, taking place from 30 January – 9 February, 2025. These 13 titles span the Bright Future and Harbour programming strands and will each have their world premiere at IFFR.

Vanja Kaludjercic, IFFR Festival Director (pictured, below), said: “One of the biggest joys of curating IFFR is working with our team of programmers to create a line-up that showcases the breadth of cinematic experiences and a multitude of perspectives – and our first selection of titles demonstrates our commitment to this ambition.”

IFFR’s Bright Future selection of feature-length debuts is characterised by original subject matter and an individual style, representing the cutting edge of contemporary filmmaking: The 2025 Bright Future selected titles are:

1 GIRL INFINITE - Dir: Lilly Hu (United States, Latvia, Singapore) Two teenage girls, Yin Jia and Tong Tong, live together in this colour-drenched vision of Changsha, China. When Tong Tong drifts away and falls in with a drug dealer, Yin Jia’s love for her means she’ll risk everything to keep Tong Tong by her side.

CAMP D'ÉTÉ - Dir: Mateo Ybarra (Switzerland, France) In Switzerland, the Scout Movement is not a nostalgic fantasy but a vibrant social reality. This bubbly documentary captures the communal cycle of activities during a 14-day camp for youth. No reality TV-style contrived scenes here, this is a moving, joyful glimpse into life-changing experiences.

LATER IN THE CLEARING - Dir: Márton Tarkövi (Hungary, Spain; pictured, left) In a small Hungarian town painter Péter Molnár leads filmmaker Márton Tarkövi on a journey through meadows, clearings and Molnár’s drawings. The viewer joins them, as they discuss art, time and life itself. 

INVISIBLE FLAME - Dir: Oskar Weimar (Kenya) When fish begin to vanish, community members are quick to blame Dani, the elderly woman rumoured to be a witch. Daisy, a fisherman’s daughter, must decide whether to stand by her friend or heed the warnings of those around her.

YOUR TOUCH MAKES OTHERS INVISIBLE - Dir: Rajee Samarasinghe (Sri Lanka, United States) As many as 100,000 people, predominantly members of the minority Tamil community, are estimated to have disappeared during the 26-year-long Sri Lankan Civil War. Through a unique synthesis of interviews, news clips and re-enactments this docufiction feature reflects on this harrowing history as families search for loved ones that disappeared without a trace.

Echoing Rotterdam’s port city identity, Harbour offers a safe haven to the full range of contemporary cinema that the festival champions. The Harbour strand’s first wave of selected titles digs into themes of self-discovery, societal norms and the human condition:

AND THE REST WILL FOLLOW - Dir: Pelin Esmer (Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania; pictured, left) Dreamy housekeeper Aliye spends her days between hotel rooms, escaping into the lives of the guests. But after a brief encounter with a famous filmmaker, Aliye decides that she has a story to tell, which leads to an entanglement of lives and fictions. 

DEAD DOG - Dir: Sarah Francis (Lebanon) Walid and Aida, husband and wife, are reunited after Walid’s many years spent living abroad. Answers to long-hidden secrets are sought in Sarah Francis’ dissection of an estranged marriage.

FINDING RAMLEE - Dir: Megat Sharizal (Malaysia) An endearing retro dramedy set in swinging seventies Kuala Lumpur. Destitute and deep in debt, Zakaria is offered a lifeline by his loan shark: impersonate the Malaysian screen icon P. Ramlee in order to entertain his homebound, time-warped sister.

NO DEJES A LOS NIÑOS SOLOS - Dir: Emilio Portes (Mexico) A mother moves into a new house with her two children. One night she must leave the siblings home alone. What begins as a blast of carefree play soon turns into a claustrophobic horror story. 

PRIMITIVE DIVERSITY - Dir: Alexander Kluge (Germany; pictured right) Filmmaker Alexander Kluge loves to use the expression ‘primitive diversity’ in relation to the origins of his art: the first films that were made, their genres, motives and moods. With the development of AI, Kluge asks, what could its primitive diversity look like?

THANK YOU SATAN - Dir: Hicham Lasri (Morocco, France) In this dark comedy set in the early 1990s, all Serge wants to do is write his Fucking Best Seller! When his publisher nags him to shake things up and bring out his ‘mainstream potential’, he gives it all he has and, with a killer edge.

THE NIGHT IS DARK AND BRIGHTER THAN THE DAY - Dir: Christina Friedrich (Germany) Filmmaker Christina Friedrich asks 33 primary school children about their fears, taking us on a long night-journey through a magic world of their creation. What can the ‘real world’ learn from the games and rituals of children? 

UN GRAN CASINO - Dir: Daniel Hoesl (Austria; pictured, left) The largest casino in Europe but is it just a big mess? Daniel Hoesl presents Un gran casino as an angry musing on a building, an Italian village and all that is done in the name of the unfettered creation of wealth. 

The complete programme for IFFR’s 54th edition will be launched on the 17th December 2024.

AUSTRALIA’S MEMOIR OF A SNAIL, MAGIC BEACH NOMINATED AT 17th ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS

The Asia Pacific Screen Academy has announced the nominees in the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) with Australian films Magic Beach (pictured, below) and Memoir of a Snail among 31 films from 23 Asia Pacific countries and areas represented in the 2024 nominations roster. 

Leading the field for the 17th annual event, with nominations in five categories, are two powerful, cinematic stories by and about women. Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light (France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg), described as an ode to nocturnal Mumbai, and Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April (Georgia, Italy, France), the story of an ob-gyn, are both nominated for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Performance. 

SEE THE FULL LIST OF 2024 APSA NOMINATED FILMS HERE

“Congratulations to all the nominees in the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, who we welcome into the esteemed group of the region’s filmmakers, The Asia Pacific Screen Academy,” said Chair of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Tracey Vieira. “In 2024, two thirds of our nominated films are debut or second films, representing the cinematic excellence of the next generation of Asia Pacific voices, and the unique and compelling stories they are choosing to tell.” 

Adam Elliot’s Memoir of a Snail (Australia; pictured, right) has received a nomination for Best Animated Film, one of five outstanding works that represent a broad range of animation styles from classic hand-drawn to rotoscoping, motion capture and claymation. Elliot’s previous feature Mary and Max won the APSA in the same category in 2008 at the 2nd annual event.

Memoir of a Snail is up against Yoko Kuno and Nobuhiro Yamashita’s Ghost Cat Anzu (Japan, France), Hur Bum-wook’s Pig That Survived Foot-and-Mouth Disease (Republic of Korea), Naoko Yamada’s The Colors Within (Kimi no Iro, Japan) and Carl Joseph Papa’s The Missing (Iti Mapukpukaw, Philippines).

APSA has, since its inception, celebrated films made for and about young people, and as a collection they provide insight into the unique and the universal issues facing young people across the region. Magic Beach (Australia), the live action and animated omnibus adaptation of Alison Lester’s classic children’s book, is nominated for Best Youth Film and was previously a recipient of the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund in its early script development stages.

Magic Beach will be competing alongside Lakshmipriya Devi’s Boong (India), Qu Youjia’s She Sat There Like All Ordinary Ones (Kai Shi De Qiang, People’s Republic of China; pictured, right), Antoinette Jadaone’s Sunshine (Philippines), and Rachel House’s The Mountain (New Zealand). 

Three further feature film awards will be announced and in 2024 are supported by the Top 51 World Filmmakers Club as a Major Partner. These categories are Best New Performer, in recognition of an exceptional debut or sophomore performance in a feature film; The Cultural Diversity Award, for outstanding contribution to the promotion and preservation of cultural diversity through film; and, the Young Cinema Award (in partnership with NETPAC) is awarded to an impressive first or second time feature director in recognition of the abundant emerging talent of the Asia Pacific.

The FIAPF AWARD is determined by APSA founding partner FIAPF–International Federation of Film Producers Associations for outstanding achievement in film in the Asia Pacific region. Also to be announced during the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards Ceremony are the four recipients of the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund grants of US$25,000 wholly supported by the MPA (Motion Picture Association) Asia Pacific. 

APSA’s theme in 2024, Land, holds profound significance across the Asia Pacific, encompassing traditional, cultural, and historical meanings, and serves as a powerful lens through which we can explore the relationship between identity, sovereignty, and the stories we tell through film.

In 2024, an unprecedented number of nominated films are set for Australian theatrical release across the peak summer box office period, allowing local audiences the opportunity to connect with the best cinema of the region. These include APSA frontrunner All We Imagine as Light (Rialto, 30 Jan), Magic Beach (Madman, Jan 16), The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Sharmill, 23 Jan), No Other Land (Hi Gloss, 21 Nov), Ghost Cat Anzu (Kismet, Dec 5; pictured, right), The Colors Within (Kismet), Hesitation Wound (Arcadia), the recently released The Mountain (Madman) and Memoir of a Snail, which opens this week (Madman). 

The 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards on Saturday 30 November and the 6th Asia Pacific Screen Forum, 27-30 November, will be held at The Langham, Gold Coast, on the traditional land of the Kombumerri families of the Yugambeh language region.