A Busan competition win has already become a sales conversation. Arvin Belarmino’s debut feature Ria has been boarded by international sales company Lights On following its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival, where it won the Heart of Eurasia Award.
The film follows a young woman from the folk-punk scene who teams up with her foster mother and fellow punks to stop a property developer from demolishing the last building left standing in a neighborhood already reduced to rubble. It is a co-production between the Philippines, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Norway.
What the deal actually does
For an independent film, a sales agent is the commercial layer between a festival premiere and a distribution deal. Lights On will now shop Ria to distributors territory by territory, across theatrical, streaming and broadcast windows. The Busan prize gives the company a concrete hook: the film arrives in the market with festival validation, which is easier to sell than a cold premiere.
Lights On co-founder and managing director Flavio Armone framed the film as “an ode to rebellion and a fierce cry against injustice,” a film that should “travel far and connect with audiences across borders.” The pickup also extends an existing relationship: Armone previously worked with Belarmino on Agapito, a Cannes-debuting short co-directed with Kyla Romero.
Belarmino said the company had “witnessed my growth from my short film to now bringing my feature film to life,” while producer Kristine De Leon said trusted partners make a difficult production “a little lighter.”
Why buyers should track this package
The film now has three marketing assets before a single territory is sold: a festival award, an experienced sales company, and a cross-border co-production structure. For acquisition teams, those are early signals that a title can travel.
- Festival award first, sales deal second: the Heart of Eurasia Award becomes a promotional credential for distributors in each territory.
- Co-production lowers financing risk: five producing countries can open soft money, local distribution relationships and audience entry points.
- Existing relationships close deals: Lights On already knew the filmmaker from a Cannes short, so the sales process starts with context rather than cold outreach.
Lights On’s slate adds another Southeast Asian festival title: Polen Ly’s Becoming Human, a 2025 Venice title and Cambodia’s current Oscar submission, alongside Hair, Paper, Water… from Nicolas Graux and Trương Minh Quý, which played Locarno in 2025. That positioning tells buyers the company is assembling festival-proven auteur cinema from the region, not chasing pre-sold commercial packages.
The next number to watch
The award is public, but the commercial test is quieter: which territories close first, and whether a streaming platform or regional theatrical distributor steps in. Early sales agreements are the first real indicator of whether a festival prize converts into revenue. For planners and programming teams, the practical step is to track festival winners that leave with a sales agent attached, before a distributor announces in their market.
That is the window where attention is highest and license fees are still being tested.
Source: Variety
