Interview by Yuki Lei
During an interview with The Macau Post Daily recently about a Macau-Guangzhou movie titled “Dancing in Sea Breeze”, which will be released next year, the film’s producer Andy Loi Man Keong, who is also the president of the Macau Internet Creative and Development Association (MICDA), raised his concern about the insufficient support from the local government for the cultural industry.
Loi made the remarks at his office in Chong Fok Commercial Centre on Avenida de Marciano Baptista.
Loi said he hoped that the government could provide more support for the cultural industry and launch more motivational initiatives to support the local film industry, adding that the procedures for filming a movie were “relatively simple” in the mainland, compared to Macau.
Unlike the local government, according to Loi, the mainland authorities grant financial support to the cultural industry to promote movies. Loi added that the process of making a movie and releasing and promoting it costs “a lot of money”, which was hindering the development of the movie industry in Macau.
Loi said he believed that financial support from the government could be helpful in boosting the local film industry.
Loi said that there was much room for improving Macau’s cultural industry, adding he hoped that the government could “somewhat encourage our film companies to really develop our industry”, so as to produce more films about Macau, which was a kind of promoting the city, enabling more people to know about it.
If a film is produced only by locals, “I can boldly say that it will not be able to reach the mainland’s level of production, nor will it be able to reach this stage”, Loi said, adding that local people should always learn from the mainland how to progress, not only from the cultural industry perspective but also the business side.
Loi also produced another Guangdong-Macau film called “Patio of Illusion” (“何以飛翔”), which was directed by Chen Shangshi (陳尚實), a film director from Guangzhou. The film, which was released in Macau in 2019 and the mainland in 2021, obtained a film release licence from the mainland authorities in 2020, apart from winning international awards in 2021.
The film resulted in a “big leap forward” for the local film production level, Loi said, adding that the technical strength of the camera and film production teams “has really played a positive role in Macau”.
“Dancing in Sea Breeze” and “Patio of Illusion” Macau-Guangzhou film producer Andy Loi Man Keong (right) and director Chen Shangshi pose after an interview with The Macau Post Daily recently at Loi’s office in Chong Fok Commercial Centre on Avenida de Marciano Baptista. Loi is also the president of the Macau Internet Creative and Development Association (MICDA). – Photo: Yuki Lei
