KUNG FU HUSTLE
Kung Fu superstar Sammo Hung will deliver a masterclass on May 4 as part of the 12th Singapore Chinese Film Festival. He will also attend a mini-retrospective of his films. Hung studied under Peking Opera master Yu Jim Yuen at a young ageand was the “big brother”’ to the China Drama Academy’s performance troupe known as the Seven Little Fortunes, whose members included Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu and Corey Yuen.He starred in “Painted Faces” (1988), which was based on his time in the Seven Little Fortunes.
Hung’s career as an actor, action choreographer, director and producer spans some 60 years. His acting credits include action comedies “Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog” and “Odd Couple,” paranormal horror comedies “Encounters of the Spooky Kind” and “The Dead and the Deadly,” comedy film series “Lucky Stars” and gangster action film “Shanghai, Shanghai.” In 1982, Hung won the best actor prize at the second Hong Kong Film Awards for his directorial effort “Carry on Pickpocket,” as well as best action choreography for “The Prodigal Son,” which he also directed and starred in. More recently, he had major roles in two of the “Ip Man” franchise films and a role in 2022 action thriller “Man on the Edge.”
In 2023, Hung was presented with a lifetime achievement honor at theAsian Film Awards. The Singapore event is organized by the Asian Film Awards Academy, co-organized by the Singapore Film Society, financially supported by Create Hong Kong and the Film Development Fund, and supported by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Singapore. Hung titles screening at the festival include “Warriors Two” (1978), “Encounters of the Spooky Kind” (1980), “Winners and Sinners” (1983) and “The Bodyguard” (2016), with “Painted Faces” as the closing film.
FAST AND FURIOUS
Live motorsport event tour Monster Jam is driving into the FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) track via a partnership with Spacemob. The first Monster Jam FAST channel is now live on free streaming television service Pluto TV across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, Spain, Italy and the Nordics with planned launches in Latin America and Brazil later this year.
Programming at launch includes the Monster Jam world finals including stadium event episodes, arena episodes and “Inside Monster Jam,” a video podcast featuring inside access to Monster Jam drivers, track designs and the Monster Jam garage.
CLIMATE WARRIOR
Climate warrior and Bollywood star Bhumi Pednekar is being recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and will be inducted into its class of 2024 at Geneva later this year. Pednekar is known for her efforts towards raising awareness on sustainability and climate change along with her work to save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.
STREAMING ADD-ON
South Asia focused streamer ZEE5 Global has added Cpics, a U.S. based streaming platform specializing in South Asian film and television to its aggregator platform ZEE5 Add-ons. Cpics focuses on curating and developing content from independent South Asian creators. Titles available on the platform include Pankaj Tripathi starrer “Kissebaaz,” Priyanshu Chatterjee-led “Barun Rai and the House on the Cliff” and romantic comedy “The Committed.”
MAKING MUSIC
Indian singer-songwriter Armaan Malik is debuting radio show “only Just Begun” exclusively on Apple Music worldwide. Debuting on April 5, the show will feature well-known Indian and international music industry guests.
