The 5th International Film Festival & Awards Macao (IFFAM), which runs from today to 8 December, will be available to residents of Macao and Hong Kong via a dedicated streaming platform.
Tickets can be bought directly from the IFFAM festival website, and they give viewers a 48-hour window to watch films after their scheduled screening time.
This year’s line-up is a scaled-down selection compared with previous editions, but nevertheless features a host of new works from some of the world’s most exciting filmmakers, both established and up-and-coming.
Festival patrons will also be able to watch a series of virtual masterclasses from celebrated filmmakers such as Hirokazu Koreeda (Shoplifters), Hur Jin-ho (One Fine Spring Day) and Ning Hao (Crazy Racer), as well as actors Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings) and Nina Hoss (Phoenix).
Below are some of 10 films that are not to be missed at this year’s festival programme:
Limbo
Ben Sharrock’s brilliantly deadpan dissection of cultural divides settles somewhere between the weirdness of Greek film director Yorgos Lanthimos and the absurdist films of Sweden’s Roy Andersson.
Falling
Academy Award nominee Viggo Mortensen writes, directs and stars in this semi-autobiographical drama about the strained relationship between a happily married gay man and his cantankerous father.
Back to the Wharf
Chinese director Li Xiaofeng follows up 2017’s Ash with another visually arresting neo-noir mystery that intertwines a long-forgotten crime with the country’s own chequered past.
A Dream of a Lifetime
Before becoming a singer and actor, Alex Fong Lik-sun represented Hong Kong in swimming at the Sydney Olympics in Australia in 2000. Twenty years later, Fong sets out to swim around Hong Kong Island, to raise money and awareness for sustainable water charity A Drop of Life.
Relic
One of the favourite films of 2020, Natalie Erika James’ feature debut is a beautifully observed family drama that also stands as one of the most effective horror films in recent memory.
A Balance
Winner of the New Currents Award at this year’s Busan International Film Festival in South Korea, A Balance is a profound morality play from rising star filmmaker Yujiro Harumoto.
Another Round
Mads Mikkelsen and The Hunt director Thomas Vinterberg raise a glass to the absurdities of masculinity in this wonderfully observed comedy.
First Cow
A pair of unlikely loners heading west across 1820s America embark on an opportunistic business venture that nurtures a lasting friendship in Kelly Reichardt’s latest film.
For full programme details, visit the festival website at iffamacao.com.
(IFFAM/Macao News)
Photo by IFFAM
