Introduction to IFVA [from the press release]
ifva! Hong Kong
Independent Short Film and Video Awards (ifva for short), the most anticipated
annual media creation event that celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. It
is a festival which alumni includes such up-and-coming names as Edmond Pang
(director of Men Suddenly in Black and You Shoot, I Shoot), Wong
Ching-po (Director of Jiang Hu), Carol Lai (director of
Floating Landscape), and Toe Yuen (director of animations My Life
as McDull and Mcdull, The Pineapple Bun Prince). There are also Vincent Chui,
Adam Wong, William Kwok, and Hung Keung, who too had their first break in ifva.
[Filmmakers who started at ifva]
ifva =innovative fresh vibrant adventurous
The "ifva Festival" is scheduled for 18-28 March 2005, during which time
competing entries are screened to the widest possible audience. Through activities such as
screenings and seminars, Hong Kong becomes an epicenter of interaction between Asian
creative talents.
The excitement begins even before
the competition itself. From September 2004 to Januray 2005, old friends and new, such as
Wong Ching-po, Mak Yuen-yan, Eric Kot, Toe Yuen and Hung Keung, are invited to share their
creative enthusiasm in the new section "ifva +". Wong Chi-chung, Tammy Cheung,
Chan Wai, Lawrence Pun and Longtin are our guest hosts in a series of "get ready
courses". Then there is the "community tour" the aim of which is to
encourage young people to create and express themselves with moving images. (All conducted
in Cantonese)
"It can be said that my
cinema career started with ifva. I dreamt of being a director and saved money to make
"Summer Exercise" by cutting down on other expenses. It opened the door of
making feature films for me." Edmond Pang won the Open Category Distinguished
Award in the 5th ifva in 1999 with "Summer Exercise",
which springboarded him into film industry.
A
chance for young filmmakers
Besides acting as a screening and interactive platform for local creative talents, ifva
also provides concrete support for winners.
This year’s ifva comprises three categories, namely: Open Category (18
and above), Youth Category (below 18) and Animation Category.
With 13 awards, the total prize amounts to a million Hong Kong dollars. With Gold,
Silver and Special Mentions Award for each category, the Gold Award winners, besides a
cash prize of 50,000 Hong Kong dollars, are each entitled to 50 complimentary production
hours in the Digital Media Centre sponsored by the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company.
The experience of creating in a professional media center is a big boost for their career
in short filmmaking.
Jury
members
This year’s jury members are a star cast lineup, with Yu
Lik-wai, Gary Mak, Eric Tsang Chi-wai, May Fung, and Lawrence Pun for the Open Category,
Irene Leung, Bottle Shiu, Chitat Chan, Mak Yuen-yan, Eric Kot for the Youth Category,
and Krates Ng, Henry Ma, Eddy Wong, Craig Au yeung, Lo Chi-ying for the Animation
Category.
ifva is
organized by the Hong Kong Arts Centre and sponsored by the Leisure and Cultural Services
Department (LCSD). The festival is now open for application.
More info at www.ifva.com
Top
Press conference
report by Amy Lee
The HK Independent Short Film and
Video Awards (ifva) recently launched its much anticipated annual competition during a
festive and well-attended press conference at the HK Arts Centre (09-09-2004). The event
was also an opportunity for ifva to celebrate its 10th anniversary with its
many friends, supporters and alumni who attended in full force.
[Press conference]
And indeed, there is much reason
to celebrate! Well-known internationally, the ifva is one of the most important launching
pads for HK’s up- and-coming media talents (many of whom have taken their careers
internationally) including Raman Hui (Supervising Animator of Antz (1998), Shrek
1 and 2 (2001, 2004), Adam Wong (Director of When Beckham Met Owen (2004), Vincent
Chui (Director of Fear of Intimacy (2004), William Kwok (Director of Darkness
Bride (2004), Carol Lai (Director of Floating Landscape (2003), and many
others.
These directors took the
opportunity to speak to us about the importance of ifva and the experience of making
shorts in shaping their later creative endeavors, as well as ifva’s role in advancing
the arts in HK. According to Raman Hui, "ifva plays a vital role in the promoting
of creativity in local film industry. Hong Kong needs such a competition for sharing works
with fellow filmmakers. Hong Kong also needs such a platform to showcase local talents".
Although Hui has since started working in Hollywood, he stresses how important HK is to
him as a locus for creative inspiration. He says, "I am a HK person. Whatever I
make, I must bring it back to HK".
Edmond Pang (director of Men
Suddenly in Black and You Shoot, I Shoot), who was not able to attend the
event, sends these words: "It can be that my cinema career started with ifva. I
dreamt of being a director and saved money to make "Summer Exercise" by cutting
down on other expenses. It opened the door to making feature films for me".
ifva’s mission is a broad
and ambitious one. Teresa Kwong, director of ifva, emphasizes that ifva is not only a
competition; it also aims to develop the talents of artists through workshops, courses and
opportunities to meet with local filmmakers, maintains an independent film and video
database and continually introduces HK independent works to short film and media festivals
abroad. It also creates opportunities for interaction and dialogue with film and video
makers from all over Asia through its "Asian New Force" program.
"Competition is
just the means. The goal is the all-inclusive advancement of media creations through the
workshops, courses, outreach activities provided by the Hong Kong Arts Centre. It also
includes the establishment of an independent film and video database and also the regular
introduction of locally produced independent works to overseas short film and media
festivals, ifva should not be merely understood as a competition" (..) When
glancing through the 2366 works produced over the past 9 years, it is not difficult to see
that they are in fact our collective memory, made up of little stories of Hong Kong told
in mere flesh and blood. Our identity crisis of the pre- and post- 97 period, the enormity
of the rally of 7.1…" Director Teresa Kwong
