Former LevelK and Memento International executive Derek Lui has launched a Sydney-based sales agency, Surprise H, with an initial slate of three films to be introduced to buyers in Cannes.  

Lui says the initial slate reflect the company’s focus on “emotionally driven and distinctive storytelling with strong international potential”.

Leading the slate is I Am Going To Miss You, directed by Brazil’s Daniel Ribeiro and produced by Ribeiro and Diana Almeida, which received its world premiere at BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival in March, and had its Latin American premiere at the Guadalajara International Film Festival earlier this month.

The relationship-driven drama follows a transgender couple navigating love, ambition and change. Ribeiro’s previous feature The Way He Looks (2014) won the Teddy Award and the FIPRESCI Prize at Berlin International Film Festival.

Also on the slate is Levitating, directed by Indonesia’s Wregas Bhanuteja, which premiered in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Set within the world of Indonesian trance parties, the film blends the supernatural and the contemporary in a visually distinctive work exploring community, identity and the pursuit of meaning. 

Produced by Indonesia’s Rekata Studio, the film was set up as an international co-production with Singapore’s Momo Film Co, Taiwan’s Aview Images and Les Contes Modernes in France. Siera Tamihardja, Iman Usman and Amalia Rusdi produced for Rekata Studio. 

Completing Surprise H’s initial line-up is Korean-language ensemble drama Larirang, directed by Sunhee Na and produced by Dong Heon Han, set during Lunar New Year within a Korean immigrant family in Los Angeles. 

“What connects these films is a sense of emotional clarity and perspective,” said Lui. “They each carry something specific in voice or experience, but also something universal. That balance is very much at the heart of what we are building with Surprise H.”

Lui, who has previously worked in sales and consulting roles out of Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Taipei and Paris – and recently participated in Berlinale Talents 2026 – describes Surprise H as a boutique agency  championing films that “connect through feeling, perspective and originality.” 

The company’s name reflects its mission of representing films that both surprise viewers and “hit with the heart”. 

“Surprise H comes from the idea that some of the most powerful films are not always the loudest, but the ones that stay with you,” said Lui. “In a market that is becoming increasingly challenging and fast moving, we are interested in helping those films cut through, whether they move you, challenge you or catch you off guard in an unexpected way. It is about finding the right connection between the film, the audience and the moment.”

The company will be making its market debut in Cannes and expects to add more titles to its roster in coming months.