MANILA, Philippines - Filipino filmmaker Rico Ilarde had just arrived from South Korea, where his upcoming science fiction flick ?Killdroid? was included in the IT Project of the 12th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival.

According to Ilarde, the IT Project ?was set up to help producers network with potential investors and hopefully raise additional financing for their projects.?

?Puchon is the biggest ?fantasy? festival in Asia,? Ilarde noted. ?Puchon has always been supportive of our movies. ?Sa Ilalim ng Cogon? was screened there in 2006.?

Ilarde was in Puchon from July 19 to 24.

He said that 19 projects were picked for the pitching platform: seven from South Korea; three from China; two from Japan and the United States; and one each from Taiwan, UK, New Zealand, Singapore and the Philippines.

One of the projects from Korea is ?Astral Control,? produced by Hanna Lee, who is also the producer of ?Secret Sunshine,? big winner in the Asian Awards this year, said Ilarde.

?Killdroid,? which is currently on ?the writing and funding stage,? has Filipino Mammu Chua and British Pete Tombs of Mondo Macabro as producers.

Ilarde recalled that Puchon was a ?productive? trip. ?I had a good time meeting the ?movers and shakers? of the Korean film industry as well as other prominent film talents,? particularly the head of the IT Project Takashi Shimizu, director and creator of ?The Grudge? film series (both the Japanese and US versions).

After watching the ?Killdroid? trailer, Shimizu told Ilarde that the visuals ?have the feel of a cinematic fairy tale.?

Fairy-tale quality

?It?s like ?Sleeping Beauty? in reverse,? explained producer Tombs. That was precisely what attracted Tombs to the project.

(The flick centers on a girl who awakens a sleeping android with disastrous consequences.)

?The story offers mythic possibilities,? Tombs explained. ?It has a kind of fairy-tale quality that?s not present in most modern-day horror movies.?

The project has potential, he said, as ?it recounts genuine human dilemmas ? I like those kinds of stories. They?re a challenge to make believable, but that?s the fun of doing them.?

Tombs has high hopes for Puchon. ?We?re very optimistic about forging some useful links there,? he related. ?The last 10 years of fantasy cinema has been hugely influenced by what?s going on in Asia and we?re proud to be part of that.?

Meanwhile, Ilarde?s Cinema One entry ?Altar? will be screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival in September, while an earlier work produced by Regal, ?Dugo ng Birhen, El Kapitan,? will be featured at the Sitges Fantastic Film Fest in Spain in October.

Ilarde is currently working on a horror movie under Star Cinema.

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