Macao, 2018 – The 3rd International Film Festival and Awards ‧ Macao (IFFAM) will be held from December 8-14, injecting new ideas with infinite possibilities into the film industry. The organizer held a press conference in Macau today afternoon and unveiled the full list of the film festival. It also announced that Yao Chen would be this year’s Actress “IN FOCUS” and Korean rising film star Lim Yoon A (a.k.a Yoona) would be one of the Talent Ambassadors.

Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director and President of IFFAM Organizing Committee; Alvin Chau, President of Macau Films & Television Productions and Culture Association and Executive Vice President of IFFAM Organizing Committee; Mike Goodridge, IFFAM Artistic Director; and Lorna Tee, IFFAM Head of Festival Management attended the press conference and announced the details of each programmes. Aaron Kwok, Talent Ambassador and Best Actor of Golden Horse Awards and Hong Kong Film Awards, originally in South Korea for a movie shoot, also took a special leave and came to Macau to join the press conference and promote the film festival.

During the press conference, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said, “We have poured exceedingly scrupulous efforts in the production of IFFAM as a young film festival. Opening our ears to opinions from different circles in the last two editions, we have flexibly adjusted our program and meticulously selected a range of films, with the unyielding dedication to forge IFFAM into a prestigious brand in the international film industry as well as an East and West cultural exchange platform across borders and generations. This year, we feature ‘New Chinese Cinema’ as a new competition section to bring more Chinese-language films into the festival and enhance the lineup of outstanding films.”

Korean rising film star Lim Yoon A announced as Talent Ambassador

During the press conference, IFFAM announced that Korean rising film star Lim Yoon A joined Aaron Kwok and Academy Award and Golden Globe Awards winner Nicolas Cage as an IFFAM Talent Ambassador.

Yao Chen as Actress IN FOCUS

The “IN FOCUS” section is a celebration of one or two specific outstanding talents to be invited in the film industry. The Organizing Committee announced that Yao Chen will be this year’s Actress IN FOCUS during the press conference. The three films starring Yao Chen within the IFFAM programme include “Caught in the Web” (2012, Chen Kaige), “Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back” (2017, Tsui Hark) and “Lost, Found” (2018, Lü Yue). Yao will also attend the on-stage interview with veteran film producer Nansun Shi on December 10 (Monday) to share her career journey and the prospect for Chinese-language film industry.

Nicolas Cage will participate in the Masterclass

One of the major programmes of IFFAM, the Masterclass, provides a platform for interactions between people who are interested in joining the film industry, industry insiders and audiences in order to nurture new blood. Director John Woo and Pang Ho-cheung were last year’s speakers. This year IFFAM has invited Academy Award and Golden Globe Awards winner Nicolas Cage to be the speaker and share his filming experience.

Date: December 9, 2018 (Sunday)
Venue: Wynn Macao Ballroom
Time:   3pm-4pm

Support Local View Power to nurture local filmmakers

With the aspiration to encourage local youth to pursue career paths as independent filmmakers and impel the local film industry to move forward, IFFAM offers full support once again to Local View Power by screening 14 outstanding works supported by this programme. Organized by the Macao Cultural Centre, Local View Power has supported more than 100 local film productions in the last eleven years.

3rd International Film Festival and Awards ‧ Macao

Programmes of the 3rd International Film Festival and Awards ‧ Macao include: opening and closing ceremony, Opening Film, Competition, Gala, Flying Daggers, Best of Fest Panorama, New Chinese Cinema, Director’s Choice (Retrospective), Special Presentations, Industry Hub, Masterclass, etc.

Opening Ceremony
Date: December 8, 2018 (Saturday)
Venue: Macao Cultural Centre
Time: 7pm
Red Carpet: 6pm

Closing and Award Ceremony
Date: December 14, 2018 (Friday)
Venue: Macao Cultural Centre
Time: 8pm
Red Carpet: 5:30pm

Opening Film
“Green Book” (USA)
Date: December 8, 2018 (Saturday)
Time: 8:30pm
Venue: Grand Auditorium, Macao Cultural Centre

Competition – An international competition comprising a maximum of twelve feature films which is a showcase for first and second time film-makers with 60,000 USD as the award winning prize.

• “Ága” (Bulgaria / Germany / France)
• “All Good” (Germany)
• “Clean Up” (Korea)
• “The Guilty” (Denmark)
• “The Good Girls” (Mexico)
• “Jesus” (Japan)
• “The Man Who Feels No Pain” (India)
• “School’s Out” (France)
• “Scarborough” (UK)
• “Suburban Birds” (Mainland China)
• “White Blood” (Argentina)

Gala – mainstream crowd pleasing films will be presented, comprising a maximum of six films.

• Food Gala: “Aruna & Her Palate” (Indonesia)
• UK Gala: “The Favourite” (UK)
• UK Gala: “Old Boys” (UK)
• Macao Gala: “Nobody Nose” (Mainland China)

Flying Daggers – A non-competitive selection of international genre films

• “BuyBust” (The Phillipines)
• “Diamantino” (Portugal)
• “In Fabric” (UK)
• “Mandy” (US)
• “Tumbbad” (India)
• “The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion” (Korea)

Best of Fest Panorama – A non-competitive selection of films from other major international film festivals of the year.

• “Close Enemies” (France) – Showcased in Fantasia International Film Festival, Warsaw Film Festival and Busan International Film Festival 2018, and was selected for the main international competition in Venice International Film Festival 2018
• “Cobain” (Netherlands / Belgium / Germany) – Showcased in Berlin International Film Festival and International Film Festival Rotterdam 2018
• “Happy New Year, Colin Burstead” (UK) – Was selected for the main competition in London Film Festival 2018, showcased in Montreal World Film Festival and Stockholms filmfestival 2018
• “Loro” (Italy / France) – showcased in the International Film Festival in Dortmund and Busan International Film Festival 2018
• “Manta Ray” (Thailand / France / Mainland China) – Won the Horizons Documentary Prize at Venice International Film Festival, showcased in Toronto International Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival and Warsaw Film Festival 2018
• “Papi Chulo” (Ireland) – Showcased in Toronto International Film Festival and London Film Festival 2018
• “Roma” (US / Mexico) – Showcased in over 20 film festivals, won the People’s Choice Award at Toronto International Film Festival and The Golden Lion at Venice International Film Festival
• “The Sisters Brothers” (USA / France) – Showcased in 8 film festivals and won The Silver Lion at Venice International Film Festival
• “U-July 22” (Norway) – Was selected for the main international competition in Berlin International Film Festival and nominated The Golden Bear

New Chinese Cinema – A new competitive section of 6 outstanding films from Chinese speaking territories.

• “Baby” (Mainland China)
• “Dear Ex” (Taiwan Region)
• “Fly By Night” (Malaysia)
• “The Pluto Moment” (Mainland China)
• “Up The Mountain” (Mainland China)
• “Xiao Mei” (Taiwan Region)

Director’s Choice (Retrospective) – A non-competitive selection of 6 classic genre films, selected by 6 well-known directors; 3 films from Asia selected by non-Asian directors and 3 films from the world outside Asia selected by Asian directors.

• “An Autumn Afternoon” (Japan)
• “Bandit Queen” (UK/India)
• “Hard Boiled” (Hong Kong)
• “Lawrence of Arabia” (UK)
• “Once Upon a Time in America” (Italy / US / Canada)
• “The Truman Show”(US)

In Focus (Retrospective) – This year’s Actress IN FOCUS is Yao Chen.

Films starring Yao Chen:

• “Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back”
• “Lost, Found”
• “Caught in the Web”

Special Presentations – Screenings of films at the discretion of the Artistic director and jury president related to special guest attendance.

Hollywood Special Presentations

• “Mary Queen of Scots” (UK)

Shanghai International Film Festival Special Presentations

• “Lost, Found” (Mainland China)

Macau Film Special Presentations

• “Empire Hotel” (Portugal / Macao / Mainland China / Lebanon)

Special Presentations

• “Caught in the Web” (Mainland China)
• “Journey To The West: The Demons Strike Back” (Mainland China)
• “Sink Or Swim” (France)
• “Suspiria” (Italy / US)
• “Default” (Korea)
• “212 Warrior” (Indonesia)

Masterclass – Invited Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage as the speaker and interact with Macau audiences and film industry insiders

Industry Hub – Invited over 200 Industry professionals from 21 countries and cities who are tapped to participate or present in film forums.

Awards

• Jury Prize
• Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress
• Award for Best Screenplay
• Award for Best Technical Contribution
• Best Actress
• Best Actor
• Best Director
• Best Film
• Macao Audience Choice Award
• Best Film in New Chinese Cinema section in association with Screen International
• Asian Blockbuster Film 2018
• NETPAC Award
• Asian Star: Up Next Award

Ticket details – Tickets are available for sale to the public on 9th November, 2018 through: www.macauticket.com