The International Film Festival & Awards Macao on Sunday signed twin agreements with institutions in Shanghai.
The IFFAM, which is building towards its fourth edition in December, struck a collaboration agreement with the Shanghai International Film Festival. Separately, it is solidifying an existing informal arrangement with the Shanghai Film Art Academy concerning an exchange of students — Macau film makers Tracy Choi and Harriet Wong are already participating in this year’s Shanghai’s SIFF NEXT activities. Signatures were put to both pacts on stage in Shanghai.
At the same event, Peter Chan Ho-sun, a leading director from Hong Kong, who has increasingly made his career in mainland China, was named as president of IFFAM’s 2019 jury. The judges will decide the winners of the festival’s competition for first and second films.
“The high quality of (Chan’s) Pan-Asian films has stimulated the development of the Asian film industry in general. He will bring his great experience and wisdom to the jury and the filmmakers this December,” said the IFFAM’s artistic director Mike Goodridge.
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Goodridge also announced the expansion of the festival’s separate New Chinese Cinema sidebar. Where in previous years it contained six features, the total will increase to eight. They will compete for prizes in five categories: best film, best director, best actor, best actress and best screenplay.
Chinese-language short films by first time directors will be hosted in a new section. It will contain ten narrative short films sourced from film schools and institutions in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.
Hong Kong star actress Carina Lau was announced as the festival’s 2019 talent ambassador. India’s
Karan Johar (“KANK”), China’s Wang Xiaoshuai (“So Long, My Son”), and South Korea’s Kim Yong-hwa (“Along With The Gods”) will be festival ambassadors.
The Macau Films & Television Productions and Culture Association (MFTPA) announced that it has partnered with the Torino Film Lab to launch a joint “Script & Creative Production Workshop and Training Program”.
The 4th edition of the festival will run December 5-10, 2019 in the Macao Cultural Centre. It is organized by the Macao Government Tourism Office and MFTPA.