Filmart Wrap Up: CHAW, THE PACK And A Boatload Of Legends ...

So, Filmart has come to an end and I'm sitting in the airport lounge awaiting my flight home as I type this. This was my first Filmart doing some business beyond simply festival scouting, which was a very different experience but also a rather productive one and hopefully I'll be able to announce a few things soon. But first, a couple items I don't want to slip through the cracks ...

First up, Korean giant pig movie Chaw. While the effects - dominantly CGI - in the promo being shown here didn't appear to be quite finished this thing looked like a whole lot of fun. Basically someone in Korea has been watching Razorback and decided to run with it, only this time using a pig at least five times larger. Seriously, this thing is huge. I've had smaller apartments. Lots of action, good bit of gore, great big pig. That's Chaw.

Second, while sales outfit Overlook Entertainment don't have a promo reel for upcoming creature horror picture The Pack - you remember this one, it's the one with the amazing Charles Burns-style promo art and Philippe Nahon in the lead - just yet, the do have the first production stills, which just so happen to include a pair of shots of the ghoul-creatures that feature prominently. And the creature designs are STUNNING. Very, very cool and quite unique. I've read the script for this one and it'll be one very splattery good time ...

And, finally, not a film but an event. Two nights ago I was invited to a party (thanks Lorna!) to celebrate the twenty fifth anniversary of Films Workshop, an event that ended up being a wet dream for Hong Kong film fans. In attendance - and more than happy to chat - were the likes of John Woo, Tsui Hark, Donnie Yen, Johnnie To, Brigette Lin and a host of others. In a quick chat with Donnie he confirmed that, yes, he's on board for Ip Man 2 and that while this film will chart the early Hong Kong years of the master Bruce Lee will not appear, the screen icon being held back for the anticipated third Ip Man feature. I took only one picture because I suck, but that picture was a candid shot of Woo and To having a moment, I'll post it up when I get the chance ...