22/09/2025

LYFE MONDAY | SEPT 22, 2025

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Jackson Wang partners with Apple for music video o Let Loose shot entirely on iPhone 17 Pro

FOR the first time, a full line-up of movies will compete at Busan’s International Film Festival, as it looks to celebrate “progressive” and “humane” regional cinema, the jury said recently. The 30th edition of Asia’s largest film festival is being revamped this year with a “historic” competition between 14 titles, including four from South Korea. Previous editions have only seen small-scale competitions. A seven-member jury, headed by South Korean filmmaker Na Hong-jin and featuring directors and actors from the region, will select the winners. The entries – six by women filmmakers and five debut features – range from emerging talents to seasoned directors and explore themes including teenage pregnancy, infectious disease, media censorship and domestic violence. The winning film will be screened as the festival’s closer. “The world itself is going through a lot of crisis. “I hope we will choose films that are progressive, that are humane, that bring the world closer,” Indian actress-director and jury member Nandita Das said. Fellow member and Pachinko director Kogonada said he was “hungry for Asian sensibilities”. “There is some flavour of Asian cinema that A RTISTE Jackson Wang has teamed up with Apple for the release of his new single Let Loose , in which the video emphasises the singer’s passion for innovation with a visual, which was directed by Wang himself and shot on iPhone. Filmed entirely on the new iPhone 17 Pro, which was unveiled recently during Apple’s keynote event, the cinematic music video captures the heady rush of a night on the dancefloor when the lights dim and the beat takes over. Co-directed by Wang and Ojun Kwon, Let Loose not only reflects Wang’s boundary-pushing creative vision, but it also showcases the iPhone 17 Pro’s innovations. The video captures Wang’s dynamic performances through the most advanced camera system ever on an iPhone, including the 48MP ultra wide and 48MP telephoto cameras with an 8× optical zoom. “Even during some regular full production shoots, there were times I didn’t get what I expected. So it was really mind-blowing to experience what the iPhone has achieved in this body of work. Any zoom on visuals, whether slow or quick, push in or pull out, always has an intention of emotional delivery. In order to express emotions and narratives in visuals, the dynamics of speed and clearness is very important,” Wang shared. The release follows the success of Wang’s latest album Magicman 2 , which debuted at 13th on the Billboard 200 – the highest debut ever by a Chinese solo artiste – and comes on the heels of his recently announced Magicman 2 World Tour. The tour begins Oct 3 with back-to-back sold-out shows in Thailand, followed by three shows in Macau, with every one of these dates selling out almost immediately when tickets went on sale.

DJO, the musical project of actor, producer and songwriter Joe Keery known for his work in blockbuster projects such as Stranger Things and Fargo , has released his new follow-up album The Crux Deluxe . The project arrives on the heels of his critically beloved third album The Crux , released earlier this year. The Crux found Djo surpassing 2.7 billion streams across his catalogue – earning massive radio airplay with Basic Being Basic and going three times platinum on his viral hit End of Beginning . The era marked major milestones: debut performances at Glastonbury and Coachella, a sold-out international tour, a return to Chicago with a 75,000-person crowd at Lollapalooza and widespread critical acclaim, with The Crux named to Best of 2025 lists by Rolling Stone , Spin , Entertainment Weekly and more. In the lead-up to the release, Djo dropped surprise singles throughout the week – Carry the Name , It’s Over and Awake – before capping it off with a full surprise album drop. Out now, The Crux Deluxe is an expansive, 12-track companion album to The Crux , written, recorded and produced by Keery and his collaborator Adam Thein. Mirroring the same length as The Crux , this deluxe record is full of songs that were written at the same time as The Crux album sessions, earmarked for this follow-up release. The result is a masterful continuation, picking up where the sonics and themes of the songs on the original left off. What begins on The Crux as a meditation on the dissolution of a relationship winds its way back to self-resilience. Keery frames The Crux concept through its art – a collaboration with Neil Krug and Jake Hirshland – as a hotel where all of its guests are transient and at a spiritual or emotional crossroads. Now, it is nighttime at The Crux Hotel, reflected as an inverse from the original album, as Djo prepares to embark on a new day. Unlike Djo’s previous albums with bedroom recordings centred around synths, The Crux and The Crux Deluxe spotlight lush guitars and instrumentation reminiscent of late 1960s and 1970s pop. They are albums full of loss and yearning, but also full of wit and gratitude. The songs were written all over the world in a particularly fertile period for Keery where he was grappling with the transience of his other job, being untethered and away from his friends and family. But to make the albums, he settled into the legendary Electric Lady Studios in his adopted home of New York City. Both The Crux and The Crux Deluxe not only showcase his ambitious scope, but also his skills as a deft multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. Outside of music, Keery will also return to screens in the final season of Netflix’s breakout original series Stranger Things , premiering Nov 26. Djo drops album The Crux Deluxe Known mostly for his acting roles, Keery is an interdisciplinary powerhouse, having begun making music as a teenager.

Wang’s Let Loose music video is filmed entirely with the new iPhone 17 Pro.

The iPhone 17 Pro’s innovations showcase Wang’s dynamic performances.

The cinematic music video captures the heady rush of a night on the dance floor.

Busan film fest displays Asian cinema’s strength

A screen showing South Korean director Park Chan-wook and actors Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min and Yeom Hye-ran on the red carpet during the 30th Busan International Film Festival’s opening ceremony. – AFPPIC

coping with abusive parents. It also has acclaimed Sri Lankan filmmaker Vimukthi Jayasundara’s Spying Stars , which follows a scientist confronting a mysterious pandemic. The four South Korean entries include Yoo Jae-in’s En Route To , about a high school girl who becomes pregnant after secretly dating her teacher. Another contender is Lim Sun-ae’s S even O’Clock Breakfast Club for the Brokenhearted , which follows a support group for those reeling from painful breakups. – AFP

is different and distinct,” he added. It has taken around three decades for the festival to gain the “confidence” to launch a full-fledged competition, organisers said. “For a festival to run a competition section, it needs the ability to attract films truly worthy of competing. “In the early years, we may not have had that confidence, but now I believe we do,” programme director Karen Park said. The line-up features Taiwanese megastar Shu Qi’s directorial debut Girl , a coming-of-age drama about a young girl