The International Film Festival & Awards • Macao (IFFAM) announced its programme recently at a press conference, officiated by Carina Lau, the Hong Kong star who will attend as Talent Ambassador for the 4th edition of the festival. This year’s festival will open with the gala premiere of Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit on Thursday 5 December.
“I am very happy with how our programme has come together this year, and I can’t wait for the audiences of Macau to sample the many cinematic pleasures on offer,” says Mike Goodridge, Artistic Director of the IFFAM. “From our delightful opening film JoJo Rabbit to our wonderful international competition and our newly expanded New Chinese Cinema competition, we have a treasure trove of films to offer.
“Our programming team has been working non-stop all year round to select these titles and about 50 films we are showing will bring a host of film-makers and special guests to present them. I am especially pleased that there are five new Macau features in the programme in this special anniversary year,” he adds.
Ms. Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director of Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), and Director and President of Organizing Committee of IFFAM emphasized that the Organizing Committee will continue to push forward the development of Macau’s film, cultural and creative industries, enhance exchange opportunities with international movies, as well as unveil a wider landscape for development of cultural and artistic platforms, tourism and other fields through this edition of IFFAM.
Continuing to showcase the best of Asian and international cinema, the 2019 IFFAM programme includes 10 films in International Competition including Bombay Rose, which opened Critics Week at the 2019 Venice Film Festival, and Buoyancy which won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury during Berlinale.
Highlights from the New Chinese Cinema competition strand, which features outstanding films from Chinese speaking territories, include Xiaogang Gu’s Dwelling In The Fuchun Mountains selected for Cannes Critic’s Week and Johnny Ma’s To Live To Sing selected for Cannes Director’s Fortnight.
The World Panorama strand presents films by celebrated directors including The Invisible Life Of Eurídice Gusmão winner of Un Certain Regard, Little Joe for which Emily Beecham won Best Actress in Cannes, and Proxima for which director Alice Winocour won Special Prize of the Jury at San Sebastián.
The programme will also include Special Presentations in the presence of their stars or directors including Carina Lau, Kim Jun-myeon (Suho) and Wang Xiaoshuai, and five films as 20th Anniversary Macau Special Presentations to mark the MSAR anniversary celebrations.
Galas include two films from the UK, the latest animation from Aardman Animations Shaun The Sheep 2: Farmageddon, and Judy about showbiz legend Judy Garland, and Dance With Me in Japan Gala.
International Competition – An international competition comprising 10 feature films, which is a showcase for first- and second-time filmmakers.
Bellbird , by Hamish Bennett (New Zealand)
Bombay Rose, by Gitanjali Rao (India/France/UK/Qatar)
Buoyancy, by Rodd Rathjen (Australia)
Family Members, by Mateo Bendesky (Argentina)
Give Me Liberty, by Kirill Mikhanovsky (US)
Goldie, by Sam de Jong (US)
Homecoming, by Adriyanto Dewo (Indonesia)
Lynn + Lucy, by Fyzal Boulifa (UK/France)
Two Of Us, by Filippo Meneghetti (France/Belgium/Netherland/Luxembourg)
Two/One, by Juan Cabral (UK/Mainland China/Canada)
Galas – A selection of mainstream crowd-pleasing films
will be screened in a series of red-carpet presentations.
UK Galas
Shaun The Sheep 2: Farmageddon, by Will Becher
and Richard Phelan (UK)
Judy, by Rupert Goold (UK)
Japan Gala
Dance With Me, by Shinobu Yaguchi (Japan)
Flying Daggers – A selection of films representing the latest style of genre cinema, including TIFF People’s Choice Award winner The Platform.
First Love, by Takashi Miike (Japan)
The Platform, by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia (Spain)
The Lighthouse, by Robert Eggers (USA)
World Panorama – Celebrated directors and award-winning films from major international film festivals.
Dirty God, by Sacha Polak (Netherlands/UK/Belgium/Ireland)
The Invisible Life Of Eurídice Gusmão, by Karim Aïnouz (Brazil/Germany)
The Long Walk, by Mattie Do (Laos/Spain/Singapore)
Proxima, by Alice Winocour (France/Germany)
Little Joe, by Jessica Hausner (Austria/UK/Germany)
My Zoe, by Julie Delpy (France/Germany)
Saturday Fiction, by Ye Lou (Mainland China)
The Wild Goose Lake, by Yi’nan Diao (Mainland China)
Balloon, by Pema Tseden (Mainland China)
New Chinese Cinema – A competitive section of outstanding films from Chinese speaking territories.
Better Days, by Derek Tsang (Mainland China)
Dwelling In The Fuchun Mountains, by Xiaogang Gu (Mainland China)
Lucky Grandma, by Sasie Sealy (USA)
To Live To Sing, by Johnny Ma (Mainland China/France)
Wet Season, by Anthony Chen (Singapore)
Wisdom Tooth, by Liang Ming (Mainland China)
Directors’ Choices – Classic films selected by Asian filmmakers – Anthony Chen (Singapore) and non-Asian filmmaker – Cristian Mungiu (Romania)
The 400 Blows (1959, François Truffaut, selected by Anthony Chen)
Tokyo Story (1953, Yasujirô Ozu, selected by Cristian Mungiu)
Special Presentations
20th Anniversary Macao Special Presentations
Years of Macao, by Tou Kim Hong; Penny Lam; Albert Chu; Emily Chan; Peeko Wong; Chao Koi Wang; Maxim Bessmertny; Ao Ieong Weng Fong; António Caetano de Faria
Ina and the Blue Tiger Sauna, by António Caetano de Faria; Bernardo Rao
Let’s Sing, by Keo Lou
Patio of Illusion, by Shangshi Chen
String Of Sorrow, by Oliver Fa
Special Presentations
A City Called Macau, by Shaohong Li (Mainland China)
Red Amnesia (2014, China), by Wang Xiaoshuai (Mainland China)
The Truth, by Hirokazu Koreeda (Japan/France)
The Present, by Hur Jin-ho (Korea)
Masterclass
Kim Yong-Hwa Masterclass
