Last year, the Macau Cultural Affairs Bureau launched the Support Programme for the Production of Feature Films to provide financial support to local filmmakers. Now, it has selected four directors from among sixteen applicants. Each will receive a subsidy of up to MOP1.5 million to produce and promote their new feature films. Talking to CLOSER, these four local talents share their ideas and thoughts on their films, the subsidy programme and the filmmaking landscape in Macau
Fei Ho
"More filmmakers, more sparkle, better quality"
Hot on the heels of his warmly received production On the Way earlier this year, Fei Ho is working on the script for his new film The Island of Heart. Adapted from the award-winning novella Love is Colder than Death by a local writer, this feature film is set in the turbulent late 90s of Macau, when the city was about to be handed back to China. The Island of Heart looks at the social issues of immigration, school gangs, bullying and the high rate of school expulsion during the era in a gritty manner.
Regarding the subsidy programme, Ho comments there is still a distance between local films and quality commercial films due to a lack of resources and funds. Directors do not have opportunities to include things like special effects and celebrity actors in their films in order to attract investors. He hopes the fund will increase so that local films can be promoted to bigger markets further afield. Ideally, local cinemas could be financially supported as well. Despite their strong support for Macau filmmakers and productions, Ho notes that local cinemas find it hard to afford many screenings of local films.
On the other hand, he believes that the issue of limited resources and funds also forces Macau filmmakers to concentrate on showing different aspects of the city, and to look at their own culture. It has become a characteristic of local films and he hopes that more local people will be interested and involved in filmmaking.
“The more people get involved in filmmaking, the more sparkle and quality works are produced,” he says.
Ka Keong Chan
"More opportunities are essential"
No stranger to the Macau film industry, Ka Keong Chan, a multi-talented filmmaker, is preparing the production of his new film Passing Rain. As its name implies, the feature film will explore ideas of fickleness and uncertainty – much-discussed themes of Ka’s previous productions. Passing Rain unravels the stories of six characters who are trying to find something they have lost during the course of a week. These people do not know each other, but somehow there is a connection between them during their process of discovery. The film is narrated realistically with black humour and a surreal touch.
Inspired by literature, design and art, Chan has been writing sketches for a long time, and combines six sketches into this feature film. The subtitle “Things fall down, people look up” implies that life, like the weather, is full of unexpected changes, but at the end of the day, things will pass.
“The theme of fickleness interests me and hovers over some of my previous works, including Uncertain from Macau Stories” he says.
Chan also thinks highly of the subsidy programme. The fund gives filmmakers recognition for their work and an edge when trying to attract other investors. He believes that if the programme runs annually with an increasing amount, it will create more employment opportunities in the Macau film industry.
The fund serves as a “seed”, he says, “There are many people with different talents in Macau. If there are no jobs for them, they will work in different industries for better pay or move to other countries to pursue their passions.”
Ivo M. Ferreira
"Macau is reflecting on itself"
The significant changes Macau has gone through over the past few years is an issue that greatly interests filmmaker Ivo M. Ferreira, whose works have been shown at many film festivals including the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
Cliché, like some of Ivo’s previous films, is set in Macau, and focuses on the conflict between two siblings – a Fado singer sister and a ambitious brother – over the future of their father’s guesthouse. The brother plans to demolish the guesthouse and build a luxury casino hotel, while the sister wants to keep it. The guesthouse is not only a backdrop to the life they share with their parents, but also symbolises the changing nature of Macau.
Apart from being the setting for his films, Macau also plays a compelling and somehow poetic role in some of Ivo’s previous works, including The Foreigner about a man looking for his friend in Macau with the help of postcards he receives from his friend, and On the Dragon’s Flake, which parallels the politics between the East and West by intertwining contemporary Macau with 12th century Portugal.
When talking about the city, Ivo recalls that when he came here in 1994, nobody really talked about politics. But people do now because the city has changed so much.
“Macau is reflecting on itself. If we don’t reflect, our identity doesn’t exist,” he notes.
On the subsidy programme, Ivo thinks the fund acts as “seed money” and will encourage local filmmakers to produce quality works, which will create a demand for the programme to grow. If the programme grows larger, more funds will be granted, allowing local filmmakers to showcase their talents and works in other countries, helping the city’s film industry to shape its own identity.
Tracy Choi
"MacaU needs its own voice"
Known for exploring the issue of gender in her previous critically acclaimed productions, Tracy Choi examines the idea of home in her new film Sweet Home. This feature film follows the homecoming of a middle-aged Macau woman from Taiwan, for her old friend’s funeral. Having worked as a massage girl earlier in her life, the protagonist later got married and settled down in Taiwan. Returning to Macau after many years, she is overwhelmed by memories and changes. Sweet Home intertwines the woman’s earlier days with her colleagues in the massage parlour in the 1990s, with her visit back home.
When asked about her focus on social issues and marginal female characters like in her previous productions I’m Here about a lesbian coming out, and A Friend of Mine about a young girl being bullied at school, Tracy comments she does not mind being labelled a feminist filmmaker, but what she really aspires to achieve is to produce thought-provoking films.
“I want the audience to stop and think about the issues I explore,” she says, “In this film, I also want to capture the strong sense of compassion Macau people used to have. To me, that’s a characteristic of Macau that nowadays seems to be gone.”
Tracy believes the subsidy programme is a great starting point, especially for young filmmakers. She also hopes more funds will be granted in the future in order to solve some common problems Macau filmmakers encounter, such as a shortage of full-time actors and demand for quality technicians. These problems result from low wages and a lack of experience and opportunities. Tracy argues that it is necessary for the local film industry to have its own voice.
“Macau is seldom described through local people in films. Having its own voice is important.” she says.
