• The 3rd International Film Festival & Awards．Macao concluded successfully (Photo courtesy of the IFFAM)
  • Best Film went to Clean Up (Photo courtesy of IFFAM)
  • Chen Kaige was awarded the ‘Spirit of Cinema’ Achievement Award (Photo courtesy of IFFAM)

3rd International Film Festival & Awards．Macao Concludes Successfully

LISTEN STOP Your browser does not support this feature

The 3rd International Film Festival & Awards．Macao (IFFAM) - held from 8th to 14th December, 2018, and themed ‘A New Avenue to the World of Films’ - showcased 54 spectacular films from around the world, in addition to screening 14 local shorts. The nine awards of the Competition section, as well as new competition section ‘New Chinese Cinema’ and its award - ‘Best New Chinese-language Film of the Year’ - were unveiled at the Awards Ceremony on 14th December, attended by some 800 red carpet invitees, including world famous directors, actors, members of the movie industry, and other guests.

Competition winners unveiled

The IFFAM 2018 Competition section continued to spotlight first and second-time feature film directors this year - pitting 11 selected films against each other for nine accolades, as well as the Macao Audience Choice Award, the winner of which was voted for by local audiences. Best Film went to Clean Up, with the Jury Prize going to White Blood, and Best Director going to Gustav Möller, director of The Guilty.

Best Actor went to Jakob Cedergren in The Guilty, Best Actress went to Aenne Schwarz in All Good, Best Technical Contribution went to Kaloyan Bozhilov, the cinematographer of Ága, Best Screenplay went to Barnaby Southcombe, screenwriter of Scarborough, Best New Young Actor went to Abhimanyu Dassani in The Man Who Feels No Pain, and Special Mention went to Jesus, while the Macao Audience Choice Award went to The Good Girls.

In addition, new competition section ‘New Chinese Cinema’ pitted six films against each other, with Up the Mountain taking home Best New Chinese Language Film of the Year.

In praise of outstanding filmmakers

As well as the foregoing, an array of accolades was presented at the Awards Ceremony commending prominent films and filmmakers for their achievements. Internationally acclaimed film director and Jury President of the 3rd IFFAM Chen Kaige was awarded the ‘Spirit of Cinema’ Achievement Award, while the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Award went to Suburban Birds.

Asian Blockbuster Film 2018 went to Crazy Rich Asians, while the Variety Asian Star: Up Next Award went to Anne Curtis, Iqbaal Ramadhan, Zaira Wasim, Xana Tang and Ryan Zheng Kai. This year, of the 14 film entries of Local View Power, The Melancholy of Gods by Lei Cheok Mei was presented the Jury Prize for Best Film, while Halfway by Ng Ka Lon received the Special Mention.

Attended by many internationally famous artists, the star-studded line-up included IFFAM Ambassador Kim Yong Hwa, IFFAM Talent Ambassadors Nicolas Cage and Lim Yoon A plus stars and elites from the film industry attending the red-carpet presentations as well as the Opening Ceremony. IFFAM Ambassador Shekhar Kapur, Xue Xiaolu, Talent Ambassdor Aaron Kwok and Jury President of the 3rd IFFAM Chen Kaige attended the Awards Ceremony.

For more information about IFFAM, please visit: www.iffamacao.com.


Local film Lost Paradise scoops IFFAM Project Market’s Best Project Award

The 3rd IFFAM Industry Hub once again featured IFFAM Project Market and Macao Forum, attracting 14 film projects to the Project Market this year. Local film projects Wonderland by Chao Koi Wang and Lost Paradise by Tracy Choi received the Macao Spirit Award and Best Project Award, respectively, while Dogman by Tamae Garateguy was awarded the Creative Excellence Award, with Ajoomma by He Shuming awarded Best Co-production Award, in tandem with a total cash prize of US$40,000.

This year, the IFFAM Industry Hub also offered a new programme of Work-in-Progress (WIP) Presentations. The programme helps align film projects with partnership opportunities - from securing funds for completion of filming and post-production to film distribution to screening at film festivals. The three film projects selected for the WIP Presentations were The Long Walk (one of the film projects lined up by the IFFAM Project Market in 2016) directed by Mattie Do, Gundala directed by Joko Anwar, and Detentiondirected by John Hsu.