Film jurists: IFFAM jury members (left to right) Stanley Kwan, Makiko Watanabe, Giovanna Fulvi and Shekhar Kapur.

People have generally always associated China’s special administrative region of Macau with gambling and nightlife entertainment centers and forget about its rich cultural heritage.

Most people have not recognized Macau for its cultural side even though one of Macau’s historic sites, the Ruins of Saint Paul’s, has been included in the world’s heritage list of the UNESCO (UNESCO) since 2005.

In an effort to support and promote Macau’s cultural and creative industries, the local government has just recently held its first international film festival called the International Film Festival and Awards Macau (IFFAM).

“It [IFFAM] is a very important project for us,” Macau government tourism office director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said during an interview on the sidelines of the festival.

“The government has a policy, since a couple of years [ago], to try and support the local cultural creative industries but it is easier said than done because the cultural creative industry has a very wide spectrum,” said Fernandes, who was also the president of IFFAM.

“One of the areas identified is, of course, film. As of now, there are some production companies in Macau but there is no platform to have an international exchange and in order for the industry to actually grow and get more recognition, there has to be events in Macau for that as well […] So, after some discussion, we thought why don’t we create an international film festival for Macau,” she added.

The festival, which lasted from Dec. 8 to 12, showcased more than 50 films, including 12 finalists and a Hollywood special presentation film along with three gala films.

Masterclass: Oscar-winning filmmaker Tom McCarthy shares his experiences in storytelling through the masterclass called “The Art of Storytelling using the Personal to Elevate the Political”.

A panel of international judges comprising jury president Indian film director Shekhar Kapur and jury members South Korean actor Jung Woo-sung, Hong Kong film director and producer Stanley Kwan, Japanese actress Makiko Watanabe and film festival programmer Giovanna Fulvi was responsible in deciding the winners and awards for the competing films.

“This is one of the best juries I’ve worked with; we took our responsibility very seriously, because we understand how important these awards are to the filmmakers. I do not like to use the word ‘judge’, because judgment could imply personal prejudice, but rather use the word ‘respond’,” Kapur said.

“Respond emotionally to the films, to the artists, in context of our understanding of their intentions. We’ve had some intense arguments amongst ourselves, which only goes to show the great quality of films that we’ve seen, and how passionately each one of us felt about them. I assure you, ladies and gentlemen, the choices were hard fought and difficult to make,” he added.

During the IFFAM’s closing ceremony and awards presentation at the Macao Cultural Centre, an Argentinian drama film, The Winter, managed to win the best film award, which was presented by Kapur and Academy Award winning director Tom McCarthy.

Meanwhile, Portuguese director Marco Martins won the best director award for his film Saint George, which tells the struggle of an unemployed boxer trying to survive and support his family during economic crisis in Portugal.

The leading actor of Saint George, Nuno Lopes, also won the best actor award while Lyndsey Marshal won the best actress award for her role in Trespass Against Us, a British/American crime drama.

Other than film screenings, the festival also featured two master classes, one of them was on storytelling and was hosted by McCarthy, who previously won an Academy Award for the critically acclaimed Spotlight.

There were also events on the film industry hub, Audience Choice Award, a creative T-shirt contest, as well as a screenwriting and short film competition.

The numerous film genre selections from outside of Macau and China was due to the fact that the goal of the festival was to educate local audiences about what film and cinema were like outside their commercial side, Fernandes said.

“There is not a lot of opportunity for them [Macau locals] to see a wider spectrum of cinema. So, I think this is also an opportunity for us to open their eyes to international cinema, not just commercial productions,” she said.

“What we want to do differently is really to put together a broader spectrum of different kinds of films from around the world and to introduce it to the local public,”

The success of the first IFFAM, from its opening day to its award presentation ceremony, however, did not come without some setbacks.

The first setback was that the film screenings took place in different locations that sometimes were far away from each other. Then, there was also the lack of English proficiency from most of the volunteers who worked at the IFFAM information centers. Regardless of the fact that the IFFAM was supposedly an international film festival, the volunteers often had a lot of difficulties in taking care of its international audience and journalists who needed information.

Fernandes said she realized that the first edition of IFFAM would serve as a learning experience for the organizer and the Macau administration to improve in the future.

“I guess we still have to learn from experiences and also try to put it together on how the locals can take part and learn from the international experience and then eventually make it grow bigger,” she said.

— Photos courtesy of International Film Festival and Awards Macau 2016

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