Pitching Forum
The SGIFF Pro Pitching Forum is the centrepiece and culminating event of SGIFF Pro, the festival’s professional hub bringing together various industry initiatives under one umbrella. A platform for the region’s most promising feature film projects, the Pitching Forum is where meaningful coproduction conversations become real.
Held on 30 October 2026, participants will be able to present their projects to and meet with key decision-makers and high-calibre experts in independent film from across the globe. They will also have the opportunity to establish new and strategic relationships through curated and informal business matching, and take their projects to new heights.
Pitching Sessions
The Pitching Forum features two sessions open for application:
Session A: International Pitches
Open to producers from anywhere in the world with a project that has a clear intention to collaborate with Singapore or Southeast Asia — whether through financing, creative talent, shooting locations, or other resources. Selected projects are eligible for production support prizes awarded by the jury.
Session B: Singapore & Indonesia
Open to Singaporean producers, or Southeast Asian producers with a Singaporean coproducer attached, who are seeking international coproduction opportunities. Selected projects are eligible for travel grants and placements at an international market.
For enquiries, please write in to industry.2@sgiff.com
2026 Pitching Forum Manager
Séverine Tibi
Séverine Tibi works as the Creative Analyst for Sons of Rigor Films in Los Angeles. She scouts and assesses projects, ensuring alignment with the company’s goals and values. Séverine is also a Producer and co-founded the Cannes-based production company Sevana Films, with which she has produced films in several countries. She is a Sundance Producers Summit, Rotterdam Lab and Zurich Film Festival Academy alumna, and has served as a mentor for SXSW and a consultant for the Red Sea Labs. She previously worked in Sponsorship at the BFI in London.
Programmes
30 OCT 2026, FRI
Time: 10:00 to 19:00
10:00 – 11:00
60 min
Visionary Encounters
In-Depth Understanding: Asian Audience Behaviour
Visionary Encounters
It has never been more complicated for filmmakers and distributors to bring Southeast Asia audiences into cinemas. Hollywood tropes and stars are seen as tired. While local production has scaled up, other Asian content (Japanese anime, Korean blockbusters) can do well, competition for eyeballs and consumer time is fierce, meaning that the theatrical experience is only one of many options open to consumers. With one of the most experienced film distribution and exhibition executives in our region, this session will examine the fast-evolving behaviour of consumers in SE Asia, why a giant studio like Warner Bros Discovery is getting into local production, and provide some tips on ‘audience design’.
Why: Rare opportunity to understand what makes Southeast Asian audiences put aside their phones and spend two hours in a cinema.
SPEAKERS
Kurt Rieder
(Speaker)
For 35 years, Kurt Rieder has built an extensive career across the global film industry, …
Kurt Rieder
(Speaker)
For 35 years, Kurt Rieder has built an extensive career across the global film industry, spanning theatrical distribution, exhibition, and local-language production. At Warner Bros., Kurt heads up international local-language film greenlighting. As the entertainment industry experiences generational change, local films deliver bespoke, authentic stories audiences demand. Working with in-country production teams, consultants, and finance staff in Burbank, Kurt is overseeing a 17-film slate in 2026, with another 44 films in development or production for release in 2027-2028. The company’s annual investment in these slates is ~$50 million, with projects produced in as many as 8 languages each year. A frequent speaker on regional distribution, exhibition, and local content strategy, Kurt has presented at major industry platforms, including APOS, CineAsia, FILMART, the Beijing International Film Festival, the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, the World IP Day Summit, and the Association of Indonesian Film Producers (APROFI).
Patrick Frater
(Moderator)
Based in Hong Kong and Bangkok, Patrick Frater has over 20 years of experience writing …
Patrick Frater
(Moderator)
Based in Hong Kong and Bangkok, Patrick Frater has over 20 years of experience writing about and analysing the international entertainment industry from Asia. He has worked with publications including Screen International, The Hollywood Reporter and Film Business Asia. He was Asia editor of Variety between 2005 and 2009 and between 2013 and November 2024. He is currently the film contributor for ContentAsia. Frater is also a member of the European Film Academy and a 2026 voting member of the Golden Globes.
11:00 – 13:00
120 min
Pitching Forum
Session C: Asian Producers Network
Pitching Forum
The APN+ Pitching Forum is a high-level, curated platform for 8 members of the 2026 APN cohort to pitch their projects in the financing stage. Designed with a producer-centric philosophy, the forum offers participants the opportunity to pitch to a carefully handpicked industry-led panel, alongside targeted feedback and participation in structured meetings and strategic networking to achieve concrete outcomes such as project financing, co-production agreements and distribution pre-sales. Selected projects are eligible for production support prizes awarded by the jury.
Moderator
Fran Borgia
Moderator
Fran Borgia is the founder of Akanga Film Asia. He has produced numerous critically acclaimed …
Fran Borgia
Moderator
Fran Borgia is the founder of Akanga Film Asia. He has produced numerous critically acclaimed films, including A Land Imagined (2018), which won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival. His producing credits include Yuni (Toronto Platform Prize 2021), Tiger Stripes (Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prize 2023), Stranger Eyes (Venice Main Competition 2024), Village Rockstars 2 (Busan Jiseok Award 2024), Renoir (Cannes Main Competition 2025), Amoeba (Toronto Discovery 2025 / APSA Best Youth Feature Film), and Not a Hero (Berlinale Generation 2026). He is currently pursuing a PhD focused on Poetic Cinema at Auckland University of Technology (AUT).
Participants
Ali Raheem
Ali Raheem
Fadhila Ristianty
Fadhila Ristianty
Lai Junjie
Lai Junjie
Lệ Diễm Hà
Lệ Diễm Hà
Nikhil Chaudhary
Nikhil Chaudhary
Qiuping Han
Qiuping Han
Li Huanwen
Li Huanwen
Zarina Kissikova
Zarina Kissikova
13:00 – 14:00
60 min
Lunch
14:00 – 15:30
90 min
Pitching Forum
Session B: Singapore & Indonesia
Pitching Forum
Pitching Forum Session B is a platform dedicated to 6 Singaporean and Indonesian projects that are seeking international coproduction partners. With a meticulously curated panel of industry professionals from across the world, the forum offers participants a chance to seek industry feedback and deal facilitation opportunities. Selected projects are eligible for travel grants and placements at an international market.
Moderator
Séverine Tibi
Séverine Tibi works as the Creative Analyst for Sons of Rigor Films in Los Angeles. …
Séverine Tibi
Séverine Tibi works as the Creative Analyst for Sons of Rigor Films in Los Angeles. She scouts and assesses projects, ensuring alignment with the company’s goals and values. Séverine is also a Producer and co-founded the Cannes-based production company Sevana Films, with which she has produced films in several countries. She is a Sundance Producers Summit, Rotterdam Lab and Zurich Film Festival Academy alumna, and has served as a mentor for SXSW and a consultant for the Red Sea Labs. She previously worked in Sponsorship at the BFI in London.
Participants
Sam Chua Weishi
Sam Chua Weishi
Kexin Zhou
Kexin Zhou
Alexandra Borza
Alexandra Borza
Jeremy Kieran Ng Rui Wei
Jeremy Kieran Ng Rui Wei
Eliza Cheisa
Eliza Cheisa
Hannan Cinthya
Hannan Cinthya
15:30 – 17:30
120 min
Pitching Forum
Session A: International
Pitching Forum
8 producers from across the globe take center stage at Pitching Forum Session A, where they will pitch their film projects and its intentions of integrating resources from Singapore or Southeast Asia. Converging distances and bridging borders, the slate of projects presented in Session A will be reviewed by a diverse panel of Singaporeans and international decision-makers, who bring a wealth of industry expertise and perspectives to the table. Selected projects are eligible for production support prizes awarded by the jury.
Moderator
Séverine Tibi
Séverine Tibi works as the Creative Analyst for Sons of Rigor Films in Los Angeles. …
Séverine Tibi
Séverine Tibi works as the Creative Analyst for Sons of Rigor Films in Los Angeles. She scouts and assesses projects, ensuring alignment with the company’s goals and values. Séverine is also a Producer and co-founded the Cannes-based production company Sevana Films, with which she has produced films in several countries. She is a Sundance Producers Summit, Rotterdam Lab and Zurich Film Festival Academy alumna, and has served as a mentor for SXSW and a consultant for the Red Sea Labs. She previously worked in Sponsorship at the BFI in London.
Participants
Muqri Danish Mokhtar
Muqri Danish Mokhtar
Shin Yamaguchi
Shin Yamaguchi
Liza Diño
Liza Diño
Cyriac Sébastien Auriol
Cyriac Sébastien Auriol
Zarrar Kahn
Zarrar Kahn
Marc Goyens
Marc Goyens
Brendan Donoghue
Brendan Donoghue
Angela Cudd
Angela Cudd
17:30 – 19:00
Festival Lounge
Networking and Tea Break