Derek Lui Launches Surprise H, Unveils Three-Film Slate
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- Derek Lui, previously in sales and consulting roles in Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Taipei and Paris, has launched Surprise H, a Sydney-based boutique sales agency making its market debut at Cannes.
- The initial slate comprises three films the company says are united by "emotional clarity and perspective" and "strong international potential."
- Topping the slate is "I Am Going To Miss You" by Brazil's Daniel Ribeiro, a relationship drama about a transgender couple that world-premiered at BFI Flare in March and had its Latin American premiere at Guadalajara earlier this month.
- Indonesia's Wregas Bhanuteja directs "Levitating", a supernatural-tinged drama set in the world of Indonesian trance parties that premiered in Sundance's World Cinema Dramatic Competition and is an international co-production between Rekata Studio (Indonesia), Momo Film Co (Singapore), Aview Images (Taiwan) and Les Contes Modernes (France).
- Rounding out the lineup is "Larirang", a Korean-language ensemble drama by Sunhee Na set during Lunar New Year inside a Korean immigrant family in Los Angeles.
- Lui says the Surprise H name reflects films that "surprise viewers and 'hit with the heart'" — a positioning aimed at what he calls a market that is "increasingly challenging and fast moving."
Why it matters: Surprise H enters the international sales market at a moment Lui himself calls "increasingly challenging and fast moving," positioning itself as a boutique alternative championing emotional, cross-border titles rather than volume. The debut slate's geographic spread — Brazil, Indonesia, Korea — and the four-country co-production behind "Levitating" make clear the agency is built for arthouse buyers looking across regions, not single-territory pickups.
