HBO Lined Up Asian Original Productions; Four series to make debut

Television network, HBO has Asian original productions lined up. Four series will be making its debut alongside Food Lore that explores the human narrative through the perspective of Asian cuisines.

Directed by a number of Asian directors including award-wining Singaporean filmmaker Eric Khoo and Indonesia's Billy Christian, Food Lore features across Asia in eight countries. Billy said his film, Mereka Yang Tak Terlihat (They Who Are Not Seen) was screened at the Scream Asia Film Festival, which was created by Khoo. He said Khoo's offer for Food Lore came when they were discussing movies.

Billy explained he wanted to create something based on popular Indonesian dishes like rendang and nasi goreng but changed his mind to use a simple dish familiar to many Indonesians. He said there were challenges in creating the series. "In horror, its how to give the viewers a good scare during and after the movie. The challenge here is to get the audience to experience the dish's flavors like spiciness, saltiness and sweetness. Its a challenge for me to create the visuals in such a way that they can taste what's on the screen. Its also a challenge to get the audio to bring some suggestion to our plate."

The filmmaker said he wants Indonesians to be able to relate to the story. "Particularly because every region has this specific vegetable that is central to the plot."