Montreal: The just-wrapped action and fantasy film festival Fant Asia ’97 drew a record audience of close to 70,000 this year in only its second edition, a major coup for fest sponsor and Montreal post house Global Vision.

Pierre Corbeil, president of both the festival and Global Vision, says he hopes to add more industry names and business profile next year to the already impressive list of ’97 guests from Hong Kong, Japan, Europe and the u.s.

Some 75 films were screened at the two-month-long festival, sourced mainly from 10 leading Asian suppliers but also from North American companies like Alliance Releasing/Le Monde, Miramax and New Line, says Corbeil.

‘I think there’s a bright future for Hong Kong and Japanese movies because more and more they are in tune with public taste around the world,’ he says.

Hitomi Nakagaki, gm, Rex Entertainment, Osaka, attended Fant Asia ’97 for the world premiere of Perfect Blue, ‘the first psycho-horror theatrical animation film in Japan.’ The us$3 million film, distributed by Rex and produced by Mad House, will be released in theaters in Japan in February ’98.

Nakagaki says Japanese animation has been mainly restricted to ‘robot, explosion and science fiction’ themes but Perfect Blue tells a human story of ‘young girls establishing themselves and becoming real, mature adults.’ She says Rex’s mission is ‘to create a new genre of Japanese animation and promote it all over the world.’

According to Nakagaki, big distribution companies control most of Japan’s theatrical screens but a new wave of indie-owned theaters are popping up, giving new hope to titles like Perfect Blue. ‘We already have several [u.s.] offers,’ she says. Rex is a subsidiary of Kotobuki Seiban Printing of Osaka, a diversified printing and digital information company.

Rick Baker, distributor with u.k.-based Eastern Her’es Home Video and editor of Asian cinema magazine Eastern Her’es, says Hong Kong movies ‘have become a multimillion-dollar industry within the u.k.’

Sell-through video

The business is more festival and sell-through video oriented than theatrical in nature, with the exception of John Woo and Jackie Chan movies.

Baker says the u.k. audience for Asian movies has grown as genres have broadened and Hong Kong film stars have gained international acceptance. And while the lack of access to mainstream screens in the u.k. has hampered coventure efforts between British and Hong Kong action film producers, Baker says enough individuals have made breakthroughs to the point where ‘it d’es seems at this stage that there is a credible chance we will see some Hong Kong-stylized action films with American moneyŠwithout having to have the big American names in them.’

‘A lot of the major Hong Kong [producers] are very keen at the moment to do coventures provided that they can retain some of the territories,’ says Baker.

A case in point, Daniel Lee’s Fant Asia ’97 closer Black Mask which was financed by wins, Alliance Releasing and Distant Horizon and has been posted for a u.s. release. Another recent movie, The Big Hit, an $11-million action feature produced by Wesley Snipes and Terence Chang, John Woo’s manager and the coproducer on Face Off, is also financed with American and Hong Kong money, he says.

According to Baker, many Hong Kong movies are produced in the us$3 million range, ‘and yes, they are turning a dollar.’

Baker says Hong Kong movies are financed by the Triads, criminal associations, or the three major studios, wins (China Star), Golden Harvest and Media Asia, ‘technically owned by Rupert Murdoch.’ There are as many as 70 smaller active production companies,’ he says.

Hiromi Aihara, a cult film producer and president of Be wiz, Tokyo, an international sales and import agent, says her goal is to promote young Japanese cinema to the world market. One of Aihara’s promotional projects is Mamoru Oshii’s animated cyberpunk movie Ghost in the Shell.

Aihara says she’s very proud to have 10 Japanese films showcased in the upcoming Montreal World Film Festival, Aug. 22 to Sept. 2, including Postman Blues which she reps. Recent theatrical releases like Shall We Dance, ‘a hit in Japan last year,’ should open up new export opportunities for young Japanese filmmakers, she says.