The inaugural edition of the Cinema at Sea – Okinawa Pan-Pacific International Film Festival takes place next month (23-29 November) on the Japanese island of Okinawa. With a line-up of 40 titles, a competition and a strong international selection, the festival says its mission is to “explore the ocean and the Pacific regions [using] film as a global lens [that] allows us to bridge the gap between different islands, fostering an inclusive atmosphere in Okinawa where different cultures and nationalities come together”.
The festival will open with From Okinawa With Love by Sunairi Hiroshi, which premiered at the DMZ Documentary Festival in Korea and follows the work of a photographer who investigated the African-American G.I. scene around the island’s US air bases. The programme concludes with We Are Still Here, a portmanteau film by indigenous people from Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.
The competition section includes Rolf de Heer’s “The Survival of Kindness”; Andres Peyrot’s documentary “God Is a Woman”; “Orpa” by Indonesian Theo Rumansara; Alaska’s “One With the Whale”; “Bee and the Spectrum of Misunderstanding” by Fabien Laubry from New Caledonia; “Intimate Space” by Japan’s Koshikawa Michiko; “The Mimicry” by Taiwan’s Chung Yu-lin; “Abang Adik”, also from Taiwan, directed by Lay Jing Ong; and “Lonely Eighteen” by Tracy Choi from Macau.
The festival is curated by Japan-based Taiwanese director Huang Yin-yu. The competition awards will be decided by a jury chaired by Iranian director Amir Naderi.
Australian star Jai Courtney (“Terminator Genisys”, “The Suicide Squad”) returns to narrate “For the Love of Pets”, an eight-part animal welfare docuseries that follows the heart-warming stories of the staff, volunteers and animals that come through the doors of two animal welfare organisations. In Season 2, the story moves to Queensland to follow a cast of passionate and colourful characters at RSPCA Queensland and 24/7 veterinary clinic QVS Pet Emergency. Vets and nurses perform life-changing and life-saving surgeries alongside skilled animal behaviourists and rehoming experts.
“For the Love of Pets Season 2 (8 x 1 hour) was funded by Omnicom Media Group subsidiary OMnet Australia for the 9Network Australia and is executive produced by Context Media’s Peter Jenetsky and Tim Clucas with series producer Ian Withnall. Escapade Media is handling international sales. Season one aired in Australia on 9Network and has been licensed to broadcasters in the US, UK and New Zealand.
“Sex Education producer Eleven has launched a casting call for the TV adaptation of William Golding’s classic novel Lord of the Flies. In the book, which has already been adapted into a film, schoolboys stranded on a Pacific island create their own savage civilisation. The 4 x 60′ drama for BBC One and BBC iPlayer, the first time the work has been adapted for television, is written by Jack Thorne (“Help”) and executive produced by Eleven’s Joel Wilson and Jamie Campbell.
BAFTA award-winning casting director Nina Gold (“Game of Thrones”) will lead the casting process and the production has announced a call for boys aged 10-13. No previous acting experience is necessary.
