Two of the six episodes of HBO Asia’s new horror anthology Original drama series, Folklore, have been selected for the prestigious 43rd Toronto International Film Festival® (TIFF). This is the first time an Asian TV series has been officially selected since the inception of Primetime programme at TIFF since 2015.
The Primetime programme channels the best international television fit for the silver screen, focusing on powerful, small-screen storytelling that pushes the boundaries of original scripted series and episodic programming.
Folklore (#FolkloreHBO) is an HBO Asia (@HBOAsia) Original series, produced with the support of the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), and created by award-winning Singaporean film maker, Eric Khoo.
The two selected episodes are Folklore: A Mother’s Love from Indonesian director Joko Anwar (“Halfworlds”, “Satan’s Slave”) and Folklore: POB, directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (“Samui Song”, “Last Life in the Universe”) from Thailand.
The series is scheduled to premiere later this year on HBO Asia’s on-air, online and on-demand platforms.
Helmed by different directors from various countries in Asia, each episode of Folklore seek to modernise or update Asian horror, exploring societal dysfunctions in a manner that is specific to the country but possessing themes that will resonate across the continents.
All six hour-long episodes of Folklore take place across multiple Asian countries including Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand and each episode will be based on each country’s deeply-rooted superstitions and myths.
Folklore is filmed in the local language of the country that the episode is based in, with English and local language subtitles (where available).