The Tokyo New Directors Film Festival (NDFF) will take place from November 28 to 30. Japan-based Singaporean director and actor Thomas Lim, will be one of the judges and is also pushing for Macau films to be represented there, including a film he made here, Roulette City.
“The Macau Cultural Centre gave me a huge selection of Macau films to recommend to the Festival and so far, my Macau film Roulette City and popular Macau film Love in the City have been confirmed as official selections”, says Thomas. “I am also fighting to bring six other Macau films to screen there and the chances are high if they meet the criteria.”
Lim believes that it is very important for Macau films to gain exposure at international festivals if the industry is going to grow and develop.
“Roulette City got its first commercial cinema release at major cinemas in Japan in 2012. That experience tells me that Japanese audiences are craving to see more Macau-made films, as many audiences asked me about Macau films during the Q&A sessions. They haven’t seen many Macau films and are really curious to see more,” notes the director.
“Macau doesn’t submit many films to these festivals and since I was in the position to recommend them, I felt that I had to do my part to help present Macau films to the world.”
And he is not stopping with Japan. Lim has ambitious plans to push Macau films even further out into the world.
“I’m recommending Macau films to several other festivals that I’m judging for, such as the Los Angeles Asians On Film Festival, and Taiwan’s Future Day Film Festival. I’m also encouraging these festivals to work with the Macau Cultural Center to collaborate on a 'Film Exchange' where these international festivals show a bunch of Macau films, and in exchange, Macau screens a bunch of films from these festivals.”
Thomas is convinced there is a demand for Macau films and stories.
“In the past years, Macau’s popularity as a tourist destination has been growing, so many international audiences yearn to find out more about Macau through films, hoping to learn a side of the city outside of what they might have already seen or heard about the casinos here.”
His own experiences in Macau were very positive, which perhaps explains why he has become a sort of unofficial ambassador for the city’s movie industry.
“I lived in Macau for two years with the sole purpose of making my feature film. One of the biggest advantages of making a film in Macau is that the streets of Macau are naturally beautiful and full of “texture”.All in all, I had a wonderful experience making films in Macau, and wouldn’t hesitate to do it again there.”
But he has some advice for aspiring local directors.
“Finding an audience for the film you make is the hardest part of filmmaking, so I encourage Macau filmmakers to just send their films out to as many festivals as possible.”
