Hollywood
11 films from India at Busan this year, festival to show 100 feature films
NEW DELHI: 11 films from India will be screened at the forthcoming Busan International Film Festival next month.
To be held between 2 and 11 October, the Festival will open and close with two films from Greater China. The festival’s opening is the international premiere of Taiwan’s Paradise in Service, Doze Niu’s coming-of-age drama about a young soldier stationed at a brothel on Kinmen Island. The film is produced by Hou Hsiao-hsien. The world premiere of Hong Kong’s Gangster Pay Day by Lee Po-cheung about a washed-out gang boss who turns legitimate by taking over a restaurant, closes the festival. It stars Anthony Wong and Charlene Choi.
This year’s festival is screening over 100 Asian feature films among a total of 313 films (features and shorts) from 79 countries. The lineup includes the world premieres of 65 feature films and the international premieres of 33 feature films.
Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider, Homi Adajania’s Finding Fanny and Shonali Bose’s Margarita with a straw are among the six films that will be showcased in “A window to Asian Cinema” section.
Other films that will screen in the section include: Malayalam film Zahir by Siddharth Siva, Tamil film Goli Soda by Vijay Milton and Adityavikram Sengupta’s Labour of Love that earlier screened at Venice Days sidebar of Venice Film Festival.
Omung Kumar’s Mary Kom will be screened outdoors in a special programme titled Open Cinema. The film had its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival.
Sunrise by Paris based Indian filmmaker Partho Sen-Gupta will compete in the New Currents section.
Our Metropolis by Gautam Sonti and Usha Rao has been shortlisted for documentary competition while Balaka Ghosh’s Foot Prints in Desert will be screened in the Documentary Showcase section.
The festival will also screen Gitanjali Rao’s True Love Story that has earlier screened at Cannes Critics Week and has won award for best animation film at Mumbai International Film Festival.
The annual Korean Cinema Retrospective is dedicated to veteran director Jung Jin-woo. Hong Kong’s Ann Hui is this year’s Asian Filmmaker of the Year and her latest film The Golden Era will have a gala screening at the festival.
Hollywood
Disney sells out ad slots for 98th Oscars broadcast
Strong demand for live events turns the Academy Awards into a global, multi-platform marketing moment
NEW YORK: Hollywood’s biggest night has also become one of advertising’s hottest tickets. Disney has sold out all advertising inventory for the 98th Oscars, underscoring the growing demand from brands eager to ride the cultural wave of major live events.
The sell-out marks the sixth consecutive live tentpole success for Disney Advertising. The streak includes last year’s 97th Oscars, the 59th Annual CMA Awards, and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, signalling strong appetite among marketers for moments that bring audiences together in real time.
For advertisers, the Oscars are no longer just a single night of glitz and gold statues. Disney’s “Content Everywhere” strategy has expanded the awards show into a sprawling, multi-platform brand playground spanning linear television, streaming, social media and digital content.
“Live continues to be one of the most powerful ways for brands to connect with engaged audiences at scale, and the Oscars represent the very best of culture, creativity and community,” said Disney Advertising SVP, entertainment and streaming solutions John Campbell. He added that the company has reshaped the show’s commercial potential into a connected experience that stretches well beyond the broadcast.
Brands such as Mazda, Pfizer and Volkswagen of America are tapping into Disney’s wider ecosystem, appearing across original content segments including Know Your Movies on Hulu and Critically Acclaimed on Disney+. Partnerships also extend to social media through TikTok Pulse Premiere and to custom brand storytelling created by Disney CreativeWorks.
The result is what Disney calls the “Oscars Everywhere” approach. Rather than a few high-profile ad breaks, advertisers now find themselves woven through a series of moments before, during and after the ceremony.
These include On The Red Carpet at The Oscars, a live pre-show syndicated across major local markets and streamed nationwide, and the After the Oscars Show, which keeps the conversation going once the final award has been handed out.
This year’s sponsors include Rolex, returning for its ninth year, and Burger King, which joins the Oscars advertiser roster for the first time. Other brands in the mix include Disney Cruise Line, Dunkin’, Eli Lilly and Company, Eucerin, Intuit TurboTax, L’Oréal, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Miebo, Paris Baguette, Peacock, Starbucks, State Farm, Toyota and Verizon.
The 98th Oscars will take place on March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The ceremony will be broadcast live on ABC and streamed on Hulu, reaching audiences in more than 200 territories worldwide.
