Seven excellent films are selected and simply echo the festival programmes !
Coordinator：
Sub-culture Series
Farewell to the mainstream! Speaking to the festival theme “Heterotopia” this year, we resolve to explore the American and Japanese subculture landscapes and unveil the hidden side of urban life through motion pictures.
I Am Not Your Negro （2016, USA）
Director: Raoul Peck
Date: 29/4（Saturday）
Time: 14:30
Venue: Cinematheque．Passion
Duration: 95 minutes
Language: English
Subtitle: Chinese and English
Through deceased American author James Baldwin’s text creation and interview clips recording the African Americans’ fight for civil rights, this film tells the past and present of African Americans' resistance movement over the years. The narrative of the film is adapted from James Baldwin’s unfinished book before his death, in which he recounts the three assassinated famous African American anti-racism warriors Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Medgar Evers, analyzing the deep-seated racial tension and conflicts in America history.
I Am Not Your Negro is narrated by famous African-American actor Samuel Jackson. It was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 89th Oscars and won the People's Choice Award in the Documentary Category at the 41st Toronto International Film Festival.
Speaker
Francisco Lo
Francisco Lo is a Macau citizen and worked as an English editor at the Hong Kong Film Archive. He has studied abroad and lived in United States for years. Lo is co-founder of Film Monitor, an independent film review journal in Houston, US. He also worked as a counsellor at the Houston Area Women's Centre for 8 years. His favourite directors are Yasujirō Ozu and Jean Eustache. In recent years, he has been active in working at film festivals in Hong Kong and Macau.
Moonlight （2016, USA）
Director: Barry Jenkins
Date：29/4（Saturday）
Time: 16:30
Venue: Cinematheque．Passion
Duration: 111 minutes
Language: English
Subtitles: Chinese and English
Ever since he was a child, Chiron was deprived of parental care and suffered from bullying by his peers, thus he already learnt to face it with silence long ago. After reaching adulthood, Chiron realises that being unable to be honest about his love for his same-sex friend is indeed far more painful than the grievances brought by life. The three stages of life of African-American boy Chiron – childhood, adolescence and adulthood - are respectively played by three exceptional black actors. “Moonlight” is one of the very few American films engaging the issues of African homosexuals in recent years.
Meanwhile, it won the National Society of Film Critics’s top honour, “Best Picture”, in 2016, and has already swept over 100 film awards worldwide.
Speaker
Francisco Lo
Francisco Lo is a Macau citizen and worked as an English editor at the Hong Kong Film Archive. He has studied abroad and lived in United States for years. Lo is co-founder of Film Monitor, an independent film review journal in Houston, US. He also worked as a counsellor at the Houston Area Women's Centre for 8 years. His favourite directors are Yasujirō Ozu and Jean Eustache. In recent years, he has been active in working at film festivals in Hong Kong and Macau.
Helter Skelter （2012, Japan）
Director: Mika Ninagawa
Date: 20/5 (Saturday)
Time: 4:30pm
Venue: Old Court Building
Duration: 127 minutes
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: Chinese and English
The overweighed, ugly-looking Ririko underwent multiple cosmetic surgeries to her entire body and has eventually transformed into a beauty icon. As later her surgeries show side effects, Ririko makes the lives of those around her miserable as she tries to deal with career and personal problems.
Directed by the acclaimed photographer Mika Ninagawa (daughter of the celebrated theatre director Yukio Ninagawa), Helter Skelter is an adaptation of an awarded manga by Kyoko Okazaki. Erika Sawajiri, who plays the heroine of the film, was nominated for Best Leading Actress for 36th Japan Academy Prize.
Speaker:
Tse Ka Ho
Born in Hong Kong and now resides in Macau, Tse obtained an advanced diploma from the Department of Philosophy at the University of Saint Joseph and works in journalism and media for many years. Currently Tse is an independent curator, writer and theatre worker. His creative works span across the field of image, text, theatre and dance. In 2010, Tse established “Theatre Aether”, the first art association in Macau with focus on Japanese Butoh, and serves as its artistic director.
Community Series
It’s more enjoyable to have fun with others than doing it alone! The Macao Arts Festival invades Macao's outdoor spaces and screens four films of different styles, inviting you to the world of movies in the early summer breeze.
My Way （2012, Hong Kong）
Director: Cheuk Cheung
Date: 5/5 (Friday)
Time: 19:30
Venue: Tap Siac Square
Duration: 72 minutes
Language: Cantonese
Subtitles: English
Accessible Captions and sign language interpretation are available.
In Hong Kong, two young men, TAM Wing-lun, and WONG Hau-wai, have chosen Cantonese Opera as their profession. They want to be the male Dan (male performer playing female lead) which is rare in the industry. Without the support of family, the industry or the society, the only thing to keep the two men going is their passion. When the road ahead is unclear, how does one continue?
A production spanning seven years, ‘My Way’ is the documentary debut by the Hong Kong director Cheuk Cheung about a marginalized art form. The film was selected in numerous festival includes ‘Hong Kong Asian Film Festival’. Director Cheuk Cheung was awarded as the Young Artist (Film) in Hong Kong Arts Development Awards 2013.
Speakers:
Leong I On
Leong is a member of Audio-Visual Association – CUT and a film critic.
Cheuk Cheung
Director of My Way. Cheuk graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts as a film and television production student, majoring in directing. He has started his filmmaking career from 2006. ‘My Way’ is Cheuk's first feature-length documentary. His latest documentary ‘My Next Step’ features Kunqu Opera, one of the oldest existing performing art forms in China.
Rams （2015, Iceland）
Director: Grímur Hákonarson
Date: 12/5 (Friday)
Time: 19:30
Venue: Anim'Arte NAM VAN
Duration: 93 minute
Language: Icelandic
Subtitle: Chinese and English
In a secluded valley in Iceland, Gummi and Kiddi live side by side, tending to their sheep. Their ancestral sheep-stock is considered one of the country's best and the two brothers are repeatedly awarded for their prized rams who carry an ancient lineage. Although they share the land and a way of life, Gummi and Kiddi have not spoken to each other in four decades. When a lethal disease suddenly infects Kiddi's sheep, the entire valley comes under threat. The authorities decide to cull all the animals in the area to contain the outbreak. As the authorities close in the brothers will need to come together to save the special breed passed down for generations, and themselves, from extinction.
Rams is a 2015 Icelandic drama film written and directed by Grímur Hákonarson. It won the ‘Prix Un Certain Regard’ at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. It was selected as the Icelandic entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards.
Leong I On
Leong is a member of Audio-Visual Association – CUT and a film critic.
The Little Prince （2015, France）
Director: Mark Osborne
Date: 19/5 (Friday)
Time: 19:30
Venue: Camões Garden
Duration: 108 minutes
Language: Cantonese
Subtitles: English
Audio description (Cantonese), accessible captions and sign language interpretation. Should you request these services, please contact one of the staff members on screening venue.
The film is about a Little Girl, who’s being prepared by her mother for the very grown-up world in which they live only to be interrupted by her eccentric, kind-hearted neighbor, the Aviator. The Aviator introduces his new friend to an extraordinary world where anything is possible. A world that he himself was initiated into long ago by The Little Prince. It’s here that The Little Girl’s magical and emotional journey into the universe of The Little Prince begins. And it’s where The Little Girl rediscovers her childhood and learns that ultimately, it’s human connections that matter most, and that it is only with heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
Rediscover one of the most famous children literatures of all time. From Mark Osborne, Academy Award nominated director of ‘Kung Fu Panda’, comes the first-ever animated feature film adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s iconic masterpiece, ‘The Little Prince’.
Speaker:
Lin Daxiang
Lin Daxiang, a writer emigrated from Taiwan to Macau, is known by the pseudonym “Kawai Shinichi”. Her proses and poems are often found in various local newspapers. She is also one of the founders of “Júbilo 31 Books”, a local bookstore selling children’s books and picture books.
The Danish Girl （2015, USA）
The Danish Girl© 2015 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved
Director: Tom Hopper
Date: 26/5 (Friday)
Time: 19:30
Venue: Wong Ieng Kuan Library in Taipa
Duration: 119 minutes
Language: English
Subtitles: Chinese
In 1920 Copenhagen, painters Einar and Gerda are a sweet couple. One day, Gerda convinces her husband to cross-dress in women’s clothes to sit in for the absent model for portrait painting. Surprisingly, the result is exceptional which made Gerda famous for painting female portraits, while the outsiders still have no idea that her female model is actually her husband.
Very soon, Einar realises the cross-dressed "Lili" is his true self and ever since, he presents as a woman in his daily life and Gerda also finds ceaseless painting inspirations from Lili. They left their hometown for the open-minded Paris and Gerda’s painting career booms, yet their marriage also begins to change…
Chan Ka Keong
Chan works as an artist in creative areas such as videos and movies, graphic design and visual art.