Receives over 5,000 submissions this year
Interviews by Rui Pastorin
The free-admission Macau International Short Film Festival kicked off its 15th edition yesterday at Teatro Capitol on Rua de Pedro Nolasco da Silva (伯多祿局長街), screening a total of 121 films and music videos throughout its week-long run.
Organised by CREATIVE MACAU – Centre for Creative Industries and the Institute of European Studies of Macau (IEEM), this year’s festival saw more submissions than last year, this time having 5,836 submissions from over 130 countries and regions for its SHORTS and VOLUME categories, according to yesterday’s press conference at the cinema, where over 30 screening sessions will be held.
With an increase of over a thousand from last year’s 4,051 submissions, Festival Director Margarida Cheung Vieira told the Post after the press conference that the number of entries surprised them, while also highlighting the quality of the films they received.
Cheung, who is also Creative Macau’s coordinator, also pointed out that filmmakers of the current generation find having a platform important and is something they tend to look for. And with the festival being, to a certain extent, open to many interesting topics, it is important to many, she said.
Moreover, in the era of technology and streaming platforms, these help or act as a “stimulant for many people to really want to showcase their talent”, Cheung said, adding that “coincidentally, we have a platform for them to present their artwork”.
IEEM President Paulo Canelas de Castro also remarked on this year’s “outstanding” number of submissions, telling the Post: “I think it is very telling that this represents a recognition of the festival as a good meeting place of all the professionals in the industry and that they look forward to participating.”
Canelas de Castro added that the submissions also “speaks volumes” of the local film industry’s growing motivation to participate in Macau’s “cultural panorama” and its relations with similar industries in different parts of the world.
Canelas de Castro said he hoped that the festival can get more submissions moving forward, adding he thought that this was “also a recognition and a translation of the fact that Macau is more and more integrated into the Greater Bay Area [GBA], and entertains, as it always has, fruitful cooperation with other parts of the world”.
The festival runs until December 10, with more details, along with the list of short films and music videos to be screened, available on www.MacauInternationalShortFilmFestival.com.
Aside from the screenings, three masterclasses will also be held by Grand Jury member and former festival director Lúcia Lemos, along with jury members Antonin Chalon, who is an actor and filmmaker from France, and director Soumitra Ranade from India.
Festival Director Margarida Cheung Vieira (from right to left), IEEM President Paulo Canelas de Castro, Grand Jury member Lúcia Lemos and jury member Antonin Chalon, an actor and filmmaker from France, address yesterday’s Macau International Short Film Festival press conference at Teatro Capitol. – Photo: Rui Pastorin
