The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) will join hands with integrated resort operator Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) to hold the 1st Macao International Shorts Film Festival from March 23-30, offering about 1,700 tickets to film buffs which will go on sale on March 10.
The statement did not say how much the tickets will cost.
The festival will feature opening screenings, screening activities, themed workshops and lectures. The screening section consists of four units, namely, “Macao Shorts”, “New Voices from Horizon”, “Director In Focus” and “Special Screenings”. A string of short films from different genres will be screened from March 23 at Cinematheque•Passion near the Ruins of St Paul’s and Galaxy Cinemas in Cotai.
Delivering a speech during a press conference yesterday at Banyan Tree Macau in Cotai, IC President Leong Wai Man said that the festival, budgeted at 9.48 million patacas, aims to create an international platform for short film exchanges and screenings to promote local film and TV works to the outside world and, at the same time, to entertain the audience with a wide range of international films, with a special emphasis on Asian films, showcasing the diversity and vitality of short films.
Leong highlighted the significance of the development of Macau’s cultural industry in the government’s plan for appropriately diversifying the city’s economy based on its “1+4” development strategy, which focuses on developing Macau’s film and television industry, enhancing Macau’s cultural communication power, and thus fostering the development of the local film and television industry as well as related industries.
She also said that Macau’s film and television industry has continuously developed over the years and has gained a number of productions and professionals, with the number of feature films, short films and documentaries growing steadily every year, pointing out that as a project encouraging Macau’s independent filmmakers to make more short features, animations and documentaries, “Local View Power” has transformed over 140 proposals into actual films since its launch in 2007, with some of them nominated in major film festivals and won awards.
Addressing yesterday’s press conference, GEG Director Philip Cheng Yee Sing said he believed that through the festival, local film and TV talents will be further nurtured, helping to promote the development of Macau as the “city of spectacles”.
According to the press conference, an organising committee chaired by Gaia Furrer, the artistic director of the “Giornate degli Autori* (Venice Days)” – an independent section of the Venice Film Festival, has been set up. The closing and award ceremonies will be held on March 29 at the Galaxy International Convention Centre Auditorium, unveiling the “Macao Unit Award” for the section “Macao Shorts”, along with the “Best Short Film”, the “Best Technical Contribution Award”, the “Best Director Award” and the “Innovative Storytelling Award” in the “New Voices from Horizon” section.
* Italian for “Authors’ Days”
The organisers of the 1st Macao International Shorts Film Festival, comprising Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) President Leong Wai Man (second from right) and IC Vice President Cheang Kai Meng (right), as well as Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) Director Philip Cheng Yee Sing (second from left) and GEG Corporate Office Executive Vice President Buddy Lam Chi Seng, hold a press conference yesterday at Banyan Tree Macau in Cotai about the upcoming film-fest. – Photo: Yuki Lei
