Editor

Twenty-two first films will vie for nine awards across eight categories namely Best Producer, Best Director/Best Film, Best Cinematographer, Best Actor and Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Writer (Script/Screenplay), Best Documentary and Best Director of Documentary at the Asian Festival of 1 st Films (AFFF).

The AFFF is the world’s first annual film and documentary festival to celebrate the best of first-time films as well as producers, directors, writers, cinematographers, actors and documentary-makers of Asian descent.

AFFF 2005 received a total of 233 submissions from Armenia , Bangladesh , Canada , Hong Kong , India , Israel , Indonesia , Japan , Malaysia , Norway , Singapore , Thailand , UK and USA . The 22 first films were selected and nominated by eminent veterans of the film industry including Bryan Smith, Executive Vice President of Production, National Geographic Channels International, French feature film and documentary-maker, Pan Nalin , American award-winning documentary-maker, Peter Friedman, internationally-acclaimed Indian director, producer and writer, Sudhir Mishra, as well as, Hong Kong director, producer and actor, Teddy Chen Tak Sum.

Mr Sanjoy Roy, Festival Director and Managing Director of Teamwork Films, said: “Not only are the number of submissions to the Festival extremely encouraging, the quality of the content too has surpassed our expectations. This clearly shows that Asians boast a robust film culture and a fresh crop of new talents and this is where the AFFF comes in as a much-needed and appropriate platform for new blood to showcase their creativity and receive world-wide recognition. This outpouring of film talents will ultimately contribute to Asia ’s viability as a film-making and producing powerhouse.”

“We are honoured by the presence of eminent and multi-talented film industry veterans who have contributed their time and effort to the nomination process. By coming together, they not only signalled their recognition of AFFF as a noteworthy festival and market platform but also a strategic avenue for the Asian film fraternity to band together to garner a more prominent presence in the international film industry and market place,” continued Mr Roy.

The nominated first films will premiere at public ticketed screenings at Golden Village cineplexes island-wide during the week-long AFFF 2005 which is scheduled to open in Singapore on 23 November, culminating in a grand award ceremony to announce the results of the film competition on 30 November.

The award winners will be honoured with Swarovski trophies, designed and developed specially by Mr Sanjay Sharma, the Country Manager for Swarovski Crystal Components Business, India , at the glittering award presentation that will be telecast across the region.

“The trophy is inspired by that definitive moment of a film-maker’s career when he’s honoured at the end of a red-carpet walk. The trophy, which highlights the film reel - the basic component of film-making - with stunning Swarovski crystals, symbolises the long and arduous journey of film-making before success is reached. The brilliant facets of the crystals symbolically epitomise film-making as a multi-disciplinary art form and the trophy is essentially an ode to such works of art,” said Mr Sanjay Sharma.

The AFFF is open to film and documentary makers of Asian origin spanning 152 countries. The films can be in English or in any Asian language with English subtitles. Held as a part of the Asia Media Festival - Asia ’s leading media fiesta - the AFFF is set to be a platform for film distributors and investors to meet and mingle with practitioners from Asia ’s film industry. The Asia Media Festival, which will take place in Singapore from 14 November to 2 December 2005 , will boast an impressive line-up of trade and public events including the Asia Television Forum, Asia Film Market & Conference, the Asian Television Awards, Asia Animation as well as workshops and exhibitions.

Mr Seto Lok Yin, Director of Industry Development at the Media Development Authority Singapore , which is a partner of AFFF, said: “We are very heartened by the quantity as well as the quality of the submissions which underscore the growing force and potential of Asia 's talents in the media industry. Singapore is proud to be the host country for the debut of these 22 nominated first films. Given the festival’s Asian-focused strategy, these films are set to create a buzz in the film market component of the Asia Media Festival. We are eager to see the reactions of buyers at the Asia Film Market & Conference to these premieres as we believe they possess great acquisition potential for commercial release internationally.”

For more information on AFFF, please log on to www.afff2005.com.