The world-renowned "Cannes Film Festival" of France invited the International Film Festival & Awards‧Macao (referred to as "IFFAM" or the "Film Festival") and six famous film festivals from different regions of the world to become the co-operation film festivals of Fantastic 7 this year. During the 72nd "Cannes Film Festival", IFFAM took the opportunity to present a Macao start-up film project "Wonderland" to film industry professionals from around the world. On the other hand, the Macau Films & Television Productions and Culture Association (MFTPA), in cooperation with TorinoFilmLab, launched the Macao-TorinoFilmLab training program this year, as an initiative to cultivate young film talents in Macao.
IFFAM made its mark at "Cannes Film Festival" as Fantastic 7
Fantastic 7 is a newly launched project of "Festival de Cannes", jointly participated by seven famous film festivals from different regions of the world. During the Festival, each participating entityshowcased a start-up project to film industry professionals from around the globe. Representing IFFAM, a local film project “Wonderland” which has received the Macao Spirit Award at IFFAM last year was presented at the pitching session. Director of the Macao film project, Chao Koi Wang, producer Tingting Huang, together with IFFAM Head of Industry Office, June Wu and member of the International Advisory Board, Michael J. Werner participated in the related activities during "Cannes Film Festival".
The other six film festivals invited for Fantastic 7 this year were namely, Sitges-International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, Cairo International Film Festival, Festival Internacional de Cine de Guadalajara, SXSW South by Southwest Film Festival, and the Toronto International Film Festival TIFF.
Since the launch of IFFAM, the Organizing Committee has been striving to promote the event to the international film industry, to forge IFFAM into a prestigious brand in the world and introduce world-class exchange opportunities to local cultural and creative industry professionals. Through these efforts, the Committee also hopes to steer the city’s tourism industry development, and further raise Macao’s international profile. It is a great honor for IFFAM to be invited to be part of Fantastic 7. This opportunity promises to enhance the strengths of IFFAM continuously and fuels its progress on theinternational stage.
Macao-TorinoFilmLab traning programme nurtures film talents
The Macau Films & Television Productions and Culture Association, one of the co-organizers of IFFAM, partners with the world-famous TorinoFilmLab (FL) this year and launched a Macao-TorinoFilmLab training programme, "Script & Creative Production Workshop". Local young film talents who have the potential to create outstanding film projects are invited to join the film programme, which provides opportunities for participants to exchange and interact with international film professionals.
In April, the organizer of the programme openly recruited new film projects in Macao. After a rigorous selection process, three film projects were selected："Falling King of Jai-Alai" (Director/Screenwriter: Oliver Fa /Producer: Fernando Lourenço ), "The Big Circle" (Director/Screenwriter: Maxim Bessemrtnyi /Producer: Jorge Cordeiro dos Santos) and "The Rainbow Sky" (Director/Screenwriter: David Tan /Producer: Chan Pou Sam). The three selected teams are entitled to take the two phases’ programme in Italy from 7th to 11th June, and from 18th to 23rdNovember.
The first phase of the training includes script creation, during the writing process, the teams will be able to discuss their works with film industry experts in order to develop outstanding scripts. The main content of the second phase includes creative development and production, pitching, audience design, sales and distribution, financing and post-production. All participants who successfully completed the programme will have the chance to attend the activities at Torino International Film Festival this year, so the potential Macao film projects will be given the opportunity to exchange with industry professionals from other regions, and to explore partnership opportunities.
MFTPA invited Michael J. Werner, member of the International Advisory Board of IFFAM, as programme advisor, guiding the three Macao film project teams to complete the training programme. The selected participants have met the advisor at the briefing session, during which, Michael Werner introduced the programme detail and prepared them for the upcoming training in Turin in June. In addition, Michael J. Werner provided advice and assistance on each project during the one-on-one meetings.
Michael J. Werner believes the participation of Macao’s multiple filmmakers and projects in this training programme can help build a new and strong foundation for the development of the local film industry. The benefits to Macao filmmakers and producers of this experience in learning from great mentors and interacting with other young Torino attendees from around the globe will be extremely positive and immeasurable.
IFFAM leaps to attain international status
The 4th International Film Festival & Awards‧Macao (referred to as "IFFAM" or the "Film Festival") will be held from 5th to 10th December 2019. Since its launch in 2016, the Organizing Committee has been striving to attain international status for the Film Festival and make it a world-renowned event. At the same time, IFFAM is dedicated to nurturing young filmmakers in Macao so as to foster diversified, long-term and sustainable development of the Macao film industry at multi-level and on various fronts.
