Wednesday, December 5, 2018

3RD INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL & AWARDS.MACAO POISED TO UNFOLD A NEW AVENUE TO THE WORLD OF FILMS

  


The 3rd International Film Festival & AwardsMacao (“IFFAM” or the “Film Festival”) will be staged from 8th to 14th December 2018, poised to uncover new dimensions and boundless potential of the cinema under the theme “A New Avenue to the World of Films” once again.
The IFFAM Organizing Committee unveiled the dazzling line up of over 50 films from China and the rest of the world alongside 14 local film works, followed by an introduction of the programme and announcement of the Talent Ambassadors, including winner of the Oscar for Best Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, Nicolas Cage, award-winning best actor in Asia, Aaron Kwok, and rising Korean star Lim Yoon A. Aaron Kwok marked his glamorous appearance at the press conference. 
Director of Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) and President of the IFFAM Organizing Committee, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes; Artistic Director of IFFAM, Mike Goodridge; Executive Vice Presidents of the IFFAM Organizing Committee, namely President of Macau Films & Television Productions and Culture Association (MFTPA), Alvin Chau, and President of Cultural Affairs Bureau, Mok Ian Ian, were present at the occasion together with other guests. Senna Fernandes expressed, “We have poured exceedingly scrupulous efforts in the production of IFFAM as a young film festival. Opening our ears to opinions from different circles in the last two editions, we have flexibly adjusted our programme and meticulously selected a range of films, with the unyielding dedication to forge IFFAM into a prestigious brand in the international film industry as well as an East and West cultural exchange platform across borders and generations. This year, we feature ‘New Chinese Cinema’ as a new competition section to bring more Chinese-language films into the festival and enhance the lineup of outstanding films.”
Artistic Director of IFFAM, Mike Goodridge, remarked, “I am very pleased with the IFFAM programme this year. The whole programming team has worked tirelessly to find the right films for our unique audience in Macao and we are confident that we can build on the enthusiastic audiences we attracted last year. We feel that we have mixed a heady cocktail of bold brand new cinema, the best of the year’s festival titles, gorgeous classics and big ticket crowdpleasers, not to mention 11 stunning films in our international competition. I can’t wait for our audiences and juries to see the films."
Heavyweights dazzle IFFAM as Talent Ambassadors
Nicolas Cage delivers Masterclass
The IFFAM Organizing Committee has invited preeminent international film stars and rising stars to dazzle the Film Festival this year, bringing Macao further onto the global stage. Talent Ambassadors of the year include winner of the Oscar for Best Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, Nicolas Cage, award-winning best actor in Asia, Aaron Kwok and rising Korean star Lim Yoon A. Aaron Kwok and Nicolas Cage are celebrated as prestigious film actors in the Chinese and Western worlds of films respectively, while Lim Yoon-A starred in several television dramas in Mainland China before her recent portrayal in films, her stellar performance winning wide recognition. Nicolas Cage will share his inspirational experience and lead an insightful dialogue as the keynote speaker of the Masterclass on 9th December, set to offer a valuable exchange platform for future filmmakers and movie lovers
Jury comprises distinguished figures in the cinematic world
The Jury of IFFAM consists of leading filmmakers including internationally-renowned film director Chen Kaige, who assumes the role of Jury President. Chen Kaige directed his first film “Yellow Earth” in 1984, which garnered a number of awards and ushered in the new era for Chinese cinema. Recognized as one of the Chinese film classics, his acclaimed masterpiece “Farewell My Concubine” (1993) won the Palme d'Or at the 46th Cannes Film Festival in the same year, making Chen the only Chinese director who has received this top accolade to this day. Other Jury members include Hong Kong film director and producer Mabel Cheung with the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director under her belt, Australian film producer and director Paul Currie, Indian film actress Tillotama Shome, and Oscar-winning Bosnian film director Danis Tanović, with among other figures.
Opening Film – “Green Book”
Based on a true story, the Opening Film “Green Book” will lift the curtain on this edition of IFFAM. Directed by Peter Farrelly, the film unfolds the story of an African pianist and his white driver on a concert tour across the United States in the early 1960s. Rising above conflicts sparked by racial prejudice, the two build an unusual friendship beyond their differences in ethnicity and social status.
A visual splendour of East and West cinema
Over 50 Chinese and Western films will be screened through various sections in IFFAM including Competition, Gala, Flying Daggers, Best of Fest Panorama, New Chinese Cinema, Director’s Choice, Special Presentations, Family Gala and so forth. 14 outstanding film entries of Local View Power will also be presented to the audience.
A total of eleven film works have entered the Competition, including “The Guilty” (Denmark), “Ága” (Bulgaria/Germany/France), “All Good” (Germany), “School's Out” (France), “Scarborough” (United Kingdom), “Suburban Birds” (Mainland China), “The Good Girls” (Mexico), “White Blood” (Argentina), “The Man Who Feels No Pain” (India), “Jesus” (Japan) and “Clean up” (Korea).
New competition section – “New Chinese Cinema”
This year, the IFFAM Organizing Committee joins hands with Screen International, one of UK’s prestigious film magazines, to present “New Chinese Cinema” as a new competition section which pits six films against each other including “Dear Ex” (Taiwan Region), “Baby” (Mainland China), “Xiao Mei” (Taiwan Region), “Up The Mountain” (Mainland China), “Fly By Night” (Malaysia) and “The Pluto Moment” (Mainland China) for the Best New Chinese-language Film of the Year. Hong Kong film director Shu Kei, British film critic Nick James as well as Australian film critic and editor Stephanie Bunbury will be jury members for this new Competition section.
Macao in cinema
The 3rd IFFAM will present movies filmed in Macao, including “Nobody Nose” starring Gordon Lam and “Empire Hotel” starring Rhydian Vaughan, Talent Ambassador of the 1st IFFAM. The session “Gala” will feature a gastronomy-themed film named “Aruna & Her Palate” in line with the 2018 Macao Year of Gastronomy.
Actress in Focus – Yao Chen
In active pursuit of partnerships with film industry professionals from different countries and regions, the IFFAM Organizing Committee has brought to Macao “Lost, Found” this year, a Mainland Chinese film nominated for the Golden Goblet Award in the 21st Shanghai International Film Festival. The leading actress in the film “Lost, Found”, Yao Chen, will mark her presence in IFFAM as the Actress in Focus. Two other films starring Yao Chen will be screened as well, namely “Caught in the Web” and “Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back”. The Film Festival will also feature a session titled “In Conversation with Yao Chen” on 10th December. Yao Chen was recognized by US’s renowned magazine Time as one of 100 most influential people in 2014.
Support Local View Power to nurture local filmmakers
With the aspiration to encourage local youth to pursue career paths as independent filmmakers and impel the local film industry to move forward, IFFAM offers full support once again to Local View Power by screening 14 outstanding works supported by this programme. Organized by the Macao Cultural Centre, Local View Power has supported more than 100 local film productions in the last eleven years.
Close to 480 film industry professionals and media in participation
To be held at the Macao Cultural Centre, the IFFAM Industry Hub will be joined by over 200 industry professionals from 21 countries and regions as well as 278 media from 28 countries and regions, facilitating a platform for film industry professionals to connect and tap into business opportunities. As one of the key sessions, the IFFAM Project Market will bring together 14 new film projects for potential investors to learn more about. In the past, over half of the film projects lined up by the Project Market have reached partnerships for actual productions, with film shooting soon to begin for many of them.
Film ticketing
The films featured in the IFFAM programme will be screened at Macao Cultural Centre, Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Centre, and CinemathequePassion. Residents and visitors can purchase film tickets on www.macauticket.com starting from tomorrow (9th November) or at the abovementioned screening venues during the Film Festival. The Masterclass featuring Nicolas Cage as the keynote speaker and the session “In Conversation with Yao Chen” are open for applications starting from tomorrow. The Organizing Committee looks forward to welcoming film industry professionals, media, residents and visitors into the galaxy of films in December.

For more information about the 3rd International Film Festival & AwardsMacao, please Visit:http://www.iffamacao.com/

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