“Lost Paradise” from Macao wins Best Project Award  

3^rd International Film Festival & Awards‧Macao aims to foster film industry development

The 3rd International Film Festival & Awards‧Macao (IFFAM) Industry Hub culminated today with the IFFAM Project Market Awards Ceremony.

This year, the IFFAM Project Market brought together 14 promising film projects. At the Project Meetings, the production teams met with industry figures to discuss partnership opportunities. The projects were: “Ajoomma” (Singapore/Korea), “Amazing Elisa” (Spain), “Black Lotus” (New Zealand/Mainland China), “Dogman” (Argentina), “Game of Identity” (Mainland China), “Hong Kong Sister” (Netherlands/Hong Kong/Mainland China), “Klepto” (United Kingdom/Hong Kong), “Lost Paradise” (Hong Kong/Macao), “Love Song” (Korea/New Zealand), “Nine Lives” (United Kingdom), “Temple” (Canada), “The RIP” (United States), “Top Talent” (Mainland China/Canada) and “Wonderland” (Mainland China/Macao). Seven of the fourteen projects were from female directors.

The 3rd IFFAM Organizing Committee invited three distinguished industry figures to form a jury for the Project Market Awards: renowned film director and screenwriter Evan Louis Katz, veteran film producer and investor Philip Lee and film industry training expert Jane Williams.

The four awards include the Best Project Award (the project with the most profound qualities in all aspects), Creative Excellence Award (the project with the most creative originality and ingenuity), Best Co-production Award (the project with the most promising co-production element between two countries/regions or above) and Macao Spirit Award (the project that best integrates disparate cultures for the purpose of celebrating the inclusive and glamorous nature of Macao). The awards were presented to the winners in the IFFAM Project Market Awards Ceremony today in tandem with a total cash prize of 40,000 US dollars across the four awards.

The winners were:

• Best Project Award: “Lost Paradise” by Tracy Choi, whose film “Sisterhood” screened at the first IFFAM in 2016
• Creative Excellence Award: “Dogman” by Tamae Garateguy
• Best Co-production Award: “Ajooma” by He Shuming
• Macao Spirit Award: “Wonderland” by Chao Koi Wang

“Amazing Elisa” by Sadrac González-Perellón was recognized by the jury as an outstanding film project and was complimented through an Honourable Mention in the Awards Ceremony.

Alongside the Project Market, the three-day IFFAM Industry Hub saw activities including the Macao Forum and Forum Presentation and the newly-launched programme of Work-in-Progress (WIP) Presentations.

In the Macao Forum, film industry professionals met for a series of roundtable sessions.  The table moderators presented a summary of discussions in an open forum on Monday afternoon chaired by Variety’s Naman Ramachandran.  Topics covered this year were:

• The SVOD Wars:  How Will Our Films Benefit ?  - presented by Bobby Allen of Mubi
• The Crazy Rich Asians Effect – presented by Samuel Jamier of the New York Asian Film Festival
• Independent Distribution:  A Reality Check – presented by Fred Hsui of Media Asia

Tailored for projects at the post-production stage, the newly-launched programme of Work-in-Progress (WIP) Presentations assists these projects to secure sufficient funds for completion of filming and post-production, meet with distribution agents, and explore cooperation opportunities such as screening in film festivals. The three film projects selected for the Work-in-Progress Presentations were “The Long Walk” directed by Mattie Do, “Gundala” directed by Joko Anwar and “Detention” directed by John Hsu. “The Long Walk” was one of the film projects presented at the IFFAM Project Market in 2016.

Director of Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) and President of the 3rd IFFAM Organizing Committee, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, commented that the IFFAM Industry Hub had gathered over 240 film industry professionals from 31 countries and regions this year, facilitating industry exchange and unlocking a myriad of business opportunities. Excited to see film projects securing partnerships via the IFFAM Project Market, she hopes that the newly-launched Work-in-Progress Presentations can help potential projects to keep progressing forwards.

For more information about the 3rd International Film Festival & Awards‧Macao: http://www.iffamacao.com/