The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) said in a statement on Friday that applications for its “Scripts in Focus – Film Scriptwriting Advanced Programme” are open until July 19.
The statement noted that local filmmakers can participate in the programme, with shortlisted projects receiving guidance from professional directors and scriptwriters, as well as winning a prize of up to 90,000 patacas.
Directors Chan Wing-Sun and Wong Yee-Lam are the invited instructors for local projects. Chan is the director and scriptwriter of Table for Six, which won Best Supporting Actress and 10 other nominations at the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards, according to the statement.
Wong, meanwhile, was awarded the Best New Director at the 39th Hong Kong Film Awards and is the director and scriptwriter of My Prince Edward, which was recognised as the “Film of Merit” at the 26th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards, the statement said.
The statement added that programme applicants must be aged 18 or above and hold a permanent Macau ID card. Moreover, they must also be the application project’s “original conceiver”, with a maximum of four film projects chosen by the instructors for the course based on three criteria.
The criteria are theme and creativity, connotation and narration of the story and the filmmaker’s experience.
After completing a 40-hour instruction course in four months, the statement noted that applicants of shortlisted projects must submit their final scripts, with the bureau choosing two out of four projects to represent Macau in the joint project review of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. Each selected project will be granted 10,000 patacas as an incentive.
Two winning projects out of six from the three regions will be chosen and will win 80,000 patacas each.
Programme details can be found at www.icm.gov.mo or www.macaucci.gov.mo, where application rules and forms are available for download.
Applicants can also email the required documents to sif@icm.gov.mo or to the bureau’s headquarters in Praça do Tap Seac within the submission period. For enquiries, one can call IC representatives Mr Kuan or Mr Chong on 8399 6295 or 8399 6256 during office hours.
This poster provided by the Cultural Affairs Bureau on Friday promotes “Scripts in Focus – Film Scriptwriting Advanced Programme”
