American film Give Me Liberty won Best Film in the International Competition category at the 4th International Film Festival Awards – Macau (IFFAM), topping nine other films. As for the New Chinese Cinema category, Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains was awarded Best Film.
The award ceremony for the 4th International Film Festival & Awards –Macao (IFFAM) was staged at the Macao Cultural Centre on Tuesday night (10 December), which brought guests from around the world.
50 feature films and six short films were screened this year, with 10 of those films competing for five awards in the International Competition category and seven entries for the five New Chinese Cinema awards.
Hong Kong artists and emcees Timmy Hung, King Kong and Astrid Chan hosted the awards ceremony.
President of the 4th IFFAM Organizing Committee and Director of Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes welcomed all guests in joining Macao — now a UNESCO Creative City — to unlock doors for new collaborations, which sees film as being filled with potential.
In her speech she said that “film can make a story freeze for the moment along its timeline, or travel past a century in just a few minutes.”
“Film can narrate stories of real life or set the world of wide imagination alive,” she continues, “Film can touch our lives, make the audience enjoy a feast of laughter or burst into tears. The power of film is beyond description.”
Festival Ambassador Wang Xiaoshuai and Talent Ambassadors Juliette Binoche and Carina Lau were presented tokens of appreciation by the Organizing Committee at the Awards Ceremony.
International Competition
The ten films under the International Competition included Bellbird, Bombay Rose, Buoyancy, Family Members, Give Me Liberty, Goldie, Homecoming, Lynn + Lucy, Two of Us and Two/One. All of these films were contending for five accolades attributed by the Jury, as well as the Macao Audience Choice Award voted by local audience.
- Best Film: Give Me Liberty (directed by Kirill Mikhanovsky, written by Alice Austen and Mikhanovsky)
- Best Director: Fyzal Boulifa, Lynn + Lucy
- Best Actress: Roxanne Scrimshaw, Lynn + Lucy
- Best Actor: Sarm Heng, Buoyancy
- Best Screenplay: Hamish Bennett, screenwriter of Bellbird
- Macao Audience Choice Award: Buoyancy
New Chinese Cinema
For the New Chinese Cinema category, seven films were pitted against each other: Better Days, Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains, Lucky Grandma, To Live to Sing, Wet Season, Wisdom Tooth and Over the Sea. All were competing for five accolades.
- Best Film: Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (directed and written by Gu Xiaogang
- Best Director: Anthony Chen, Wet Season
- Best Actress: Zhou Dongyu, Better Days
- Best Actor: Xiaoliang Wu, Wisdom Tooth
- Best Screenplay: Johnna Ma, screenwriter of To Live to Sing
Other awards
Winners of various awards including the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Award were unveiled at the Awards Ceremony tonight, and Hong Kong film I’m Livin’ It drew the 4th IFFAM to a perfect end.
The NETPAC Award went to To Live to Sing.
The Asian Blockbuster Film 2019 went to the Korean film Parasite.
The Variety Asian Star: Up Next Award went to eight actors and actresses: Lim Yoon A (Korea), Bea Alonzo (the Philippines), Jennis Oprasert (Thailand), Praewa Suthamphon (Thailand), Bhumi Pednekar (India), Lien Binh Phat (Vietnam), Ryota Katayose (Japan) and Asmara Abigail (Indonesia).
For the New Chinese Cinema category, the Cinephilia Critics’ Award went to Wet Season.
In the category titled “20th Anniversary Macao Special Presentations”, the Cinephilia Critics’ Award for Best Macau Film went to Years of Macao.
Shorts Competition
The new competition category “Shorts Competition” pitted four short films against each other: Little Red Riding Hood, Lonely Encounter, Nocturne and Room 13. Lonely Encounter took home the Best Short Film Award. The film was directed by a student from Macao who is studying in Hong Kong. The award had been presented prior to Tuesday night.
