Greenlights and Ground Truths – ContentAsia's Conversations with Asia’s Creators

In this episode of "Greenlights & Ground Truths", ContentAsia’s Janine Stein speaks with Ding Zhong, director of the animated feature Into the Mortal World.The film, produced by Winsing Animation, reimagines Chinese mythology through a story that moves between the celestial and mortal worlds, exploring questions of fate, identity and family bonds. As the film continues its international festival run, Ding Zhong talks about the challenge of bringing culturally rooted stories to global audiences and why emotional storytelling travels across cultures.The conversation also looks at the broader landscape of Chinese animation, the growing international visibility of Chinese animated films, and how emerging AI tools may change the way animation is produced.Ding Zhong, who teaches at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, also shares little-known facts about origins of Into the Mortal World, which began as a student graduation project before becoming a full-length feature."Greenlights & Ground Truths" is ContentAsia’s series of conversations with Asia’s creators.

In this episode of ContentAsia’s Greenlights & Ground Truths, producer Lina Tan discusses her new film, Khadam, and how Red Communications fuses Malay folklore with its signature women-centred storytelling — using horror to ask a universal question: who are women really slaves to?Set in the 1950s, against the backdrop of Malaysia’s independence and the rising optimism sweeping the country, Khadam follows a woman who inherits her family’s saka — a dark spiritual legacy — after her mother’s death. As its grip tightens, she races to protect her young daughter.The horror drama stars Indonesia’s leading scream queen Aghniny Haque alongside Malaysian A-lister Remy Ishak, and is directed by Shamyl Othman. The film is produced by Red Communications and Komet Productions, with partners China’s Sil-Metropole and India’s Applause Entertainment. Indonesia’s MAGMA Entertainment also serves as executive producer.Khadam was one of four films showcased at JAFF in Jogjakarta at the end of 2025, spearheading what organisers described as a “Nusantara” wave — highlighting the growing creative synergy between Indonesia and Malaysia. The other titles were Munafik (the Indonesian remake of the Malaysian horror franchise from Skop Productions and Syamsul Yusof), Khurafat Indonesia, and Badut Gendong.

ContentAsia's Janine Stein talks to Nizam Razak, writer/director of "Papa Zola The Movie" and head of Malaysian production house Monsta about the animated blockbuster, now heading into a 13-country international rollout including Indonesia, Turkey, India and Saudi Arabia.With RM55 million (US$13.5 million) at the Malaysian box office in just 27 days and counting, the film marks a deliberate creative shift for Monsta — away from shonen-style superheroes towards a more emotionally grounded, adult protagonist: a very ordinary, very human family hero.We’ll talk about the risks behind that decision, the realities of greenlighting something different, and why stories about perseverance, responsibility and fatherhood are resonating far beyond Malaysia.