28th ifva Animation Category Jury Meeting Transcript
Jury Members ：Lo Che Ying（Lo）, Max Hattler (Max), Haze Tsui (Tsui), Koji
Yamamura (Koji), Joycelyn Choi (Choi)
Organizer representative： Kattie Fan (Fan), Sandy Lai, Anson Yip, Vanessa Ying

Fan:

Today's mission is to choose the prizes. We have three prizes. The first one
is the Gold and the second one is Silver, the third one is a Special Mention.
You can see on the screen the cash prizes and awards for the various awards.
For your information, we have a total five categories and we received almost
1000 submissions ranging from short films, animations and also media arts.
For the Animation category, we received submissions from both Hong Kongand other Asian cities. So altogether we have 116 eligible applications forthis year and we have the first-round jury panel who selected ten finalists andtoday we have nine. Max is also one of the jurors for the finalist panel. In
case you have any questions about why we have chosen these finalist, Max
can give some remarks on that. First of all, I would suggest we can go throughall the finalists works one by one as warm up, and also to give somecomments and on each film. The second part will be to nominate whichworks to receive awards.

Max:

A question about the MacBook Prize. Is that a separate prize or will it go towhoever gets the gold award or silver award?

Fan:

It depends, because the MacBook Pro, we will only be given to the local
award winner. We will give it to the top local winner. So for example, if theHong Kong animator gets the Silver Award, then she or he will also beentitled to have this.

Lo:

So only for local works.

Fan:

Yes, for some shipping and a lot of logistic reasons, and also an additional
support to locals.

Max:

For example, if the gold and silver award would go to a non-Hong Kongfilmmaker…

Fan:

Then that would be the Special Mention. Or, for example, but we haven't
tried that before, in case Gold and Silver and Special Mention all go to Asian1

entries and no Hong Kong entries get awards, then we have to choose one.
But we haven’t yet experienced something like that before, so let's see. Anyother questions? If that's okay, we can go through the works one by one. The
first film will be The Square City.
Koji:

The graphic style is good. But I think the Mahjong and the city metaphor
doesn't work very well. It's just not fresh and is not an easy metaphor.

Tsui:

I can say I understand the script and I understand the voiceover, but it is notdoing the best voice acting, and it doesn't help the work about its message.
Actually, I can’t follow the storyline, it’s just the kid wandering around andlooking at something and maybe dreaming. And I don't think it's successful
in delivering a clear message.

Max:

I liked it. For me, it worked well. But then I don't speak Cantonese, so I havea different angle to it. I was in the pre-selection, and this was one of thestrongest films, and that's why it's in here. It worked very well for me in thein the cinema, better than watching it on the small screen.

Lo:

I think the theme is well delivered, actually. It talks about the pressure frommost adults to their children, what they expect the children to be when theygrow up. Especially in Hong Kong, many small children are under this kindof pressures, and this film is interesting because it mixes in gambling, which
is very popular in Hong Kong. People like horse racing, lucky draw, mahjong,everything. Adults love this. These kinds of things have some influence on
younger children because they don't know what gambling is, they watch theparents or adults play this kind of thing. There should be some influence onthem. This work uses a lot of dialogue and make it into some kind of
melodrama. But actually, it really doesn't work much on the whole. The
illustration is interesting. I appreciate that this film is very Hong Kong, mostelements are Hong Kong, and that's the point.

Choi:

It's very Hong Kong because the square city or Mahjong is not just a game,
but it is also very competitive. So it is some kind of a reflection of Hong
Kong, the city and the children who are facing a very competitiveenvironment. The square city is a metaphor because they are trapped inside
the square city. I actually I quite like it. But I do understand that the metaphor
may not be completely well played out. It could be better, I suppose. But
personally, I find it very local, very Hong Kong. I like the idea. I find it quite
interesting.

Fan:

Anything to add? If not, we can move on to the next one, MUI.
2

Koji:

I like this unique graphic style, it is using a different of form and mix one
frame. I like the experimental development, it is very interesting and thesound is not dialogue. It's a kind of poem. It sounds like a lovely style. I
couldn't get the story and what they want to say, but I like the film style.

Lo:This year we have some very personal films. I think this film is one of them,very personal because it talks about the relationship between grandson andgrandmother. My dear son is very personal. Lost in Waltz is also personal.
MUI is quite interesting because the just like Koji said it is a different kindof mixture of images in one scene. It looks complicated, but it is welldesigned. The use of sketch-like drawings and computer-generated models,
which is very full of textures and very interesting. For the soundtrack,
because it should be recorded from real conversation, from the director andhis grandmother, so it's very lively and real. But for people who don't
understand Cantonese like Koji or Max, it will lose something. You can only
read the captions, and the presentation will be lost a little bit. I love this piece
too because it's quite annoying, but annoying is the point that the director
wants us to feel because he is facing an old person who can't calculate andeverything. The communication is very difficult but still because they linger
together because they're family, so the contrast between them is wellpresented in this work. I love this one.

Max:

This was one of my favorites in the pre-selection. I think it really stood out.
It's in a very experimental style, but at the same time, using Cantonese andhas a local feel and this very “annoying” aesthetics. I found it quite anarchic,in a good way, quite punk. Watching it now in the cinema, it worked a little
bit less well for me than when I was watching it on the small screen at homeon the TV. I think the sound isn't mixed too well, like it doesn't quite carry.

Choi:

I like this work a lot as well. I think it's quite artistic. I find the grandmotherquite endearing, not to the point of annoying for me. She keeps messing up
with the numbers and the animators have the number written on the screen. I
quite like that approach. As Max said, it’s quite punk and interesting, it's notboring. I would much prefer this one than the Waltz. I think it's more dynamic
and has more energy in it.

Tsui:

I didn't focus on the dialogue because it's just repeatedly messing up with thesums. The thing moving forward is the relationship between the grandson
and the grandmother, because I can understand the patience from teaching a
nonsense grandparent about how to count numbers. It's just like a journey,
and I enjoyed it a lot.
3

Fan:

Let’s get back to Uncle Babysitter 2.

Koji:

I enjoy it because it's very comical. I don't know why, but it’s only a man’sworld, and the baby. I don't know why, but there’s no women. Every characteris a man. That's the point. I am very interested in this film and I laughed a lot.
But it's not sophisticated. It only has gags.

Choi:

I think it's very enjoyable to watch, but compared to others, it doesn't havethe depth. It's a crazy, carefree joy ride, and that's it for me. I enjoy it, but it
won't be my first choice for the award, to be honest.

Tsui:

I quite agree with Joycelyn (Choi), but it's already the sixth time I havewatched this one. I still laughed.

Lo:

It's really entertaining and technical wise, it's a very good demonstration ofJapanese comic style. The limited animation use in the film works a lot. Of
course, it's crazy and nonsensical. But still, you laugh.

Tsui:

It's more a commercial rather than artistic piece.

Lo:

I think that's the purpose of the film because it just wants to make you laugh.

Tsui:

And as a background, this is Uncle Babysister 2 because this is the second
episode.

Lo:

The first one is also interesting but two is more crazy.

Max:

In the pre-selection we decided to include it for a variety of reasons andbecause it gives laughs. It's funny and I agree it's a bit commercial and it's a
bit on the nose. But it's very well crafted. That's not easy at all. I think it's avery well-made film.

Lo:Yeah, especially for that kind of animation., the timing and the rhythm of theaction has to be really nice, otherwise you won't laugh. We move to the fourthone, My Dear Son.

Koji:

I like the collage techniques, the characters are interesting, and it's very
complete and well done. It depicts the social appearance and the realisationof one’s true nature through the conflict between parents and children. The
subject is very interesting. The story works with the collage style. It's like amask and they move their faces that they found each other in the nature. I
4like this one.
Lo:

The use of collage is really nice for this one although collage is an old styleof animation technique. The topic says that human beings are all collage offragments from our memories, from our family, personal culture and society,so we are all collage of other things, so I think the use of collage is really
nice. When we talk about the raising of young children, adults usually wantto mold their children just like them. But actually, this is not a good way ofeducation or raising children. This topic is quite universal, so it's good to talkabout it. There are many symbolic elements in the whole film and the sounddesign and transition are good. It opens like some kind of suspense animation,
but it turns out to be about the relationship between the mother and thechildren. The ending is really nice because finally the mother finds out you
have to adapt and do something for the children, not like other people in thecity. It's a very complicated work. I really love this one.

Max: I like it. I don't have many comments. I like this film. It's maybe not my favorite.
It's a good film.
Lo:

It's very well executed.

Choi:

I think it's well made. The collage is nice and the story itself is solid, but it's
not very fresh for me.

Tsui:

Maybe it’s too personal. It got my emotion, but it's maybe too personal. I still
like the twist at the end because the mother is also a cat, but I already knewthat before.

Fan:Let’s move on to the next one, Lost in a Waltz.

Koji:

A record of the memory of her mother. I like drawing style. But I could not
find any more beyond the theme of comparing memories. The story does notwork a lot. I just like the drawing style.

Lo:

I think it's beautiful. The music is good. Everything is beautiful, and that's it.
After watching the film, I really don't know what her mother looks like ormore about her mother. I can't get the character or some personal particularcharacteristics of her mother, only she said this and that. But anyway, it's
beautiful.

Tsui:

Maybe it's not about storytelling. To me it's just a good music video. The
abstract expression is impressive to me.
5Choi:

I think that the melody helps because it's a very familiar tone, so it's very easy
to get into the mood. I think it's very smooth. Everything is nice and it is abeautiful film. But my problem is it doesn't move me somehow. And I feelfor a subject like that, I should be moved. As Haze (Tsui) said, it may notwork as well as I hoped. It's beautiful, but it just doesn't move me.

Max:

I agree. To me, this worked much better on the big screen than on a small
screen. It's very melancholic, about remembering things, and it’s nicely put
together. But once it ends, I don't remember it. It doesn't leave a big
impression.

Fan:

Next one is Patient’s Mind.

Koji:

I like this art form, the very artistic way and frames. The style of subject
matter and technique are very interesting. I saw this film several times. The
first impression was very strong. But there's no point of arrival. What finallyhappens with the doctor? Maybe they are the same person, doctor and patient?
I couldn't get the subject matter of this director, what he’s trying to say.
Technically, it is a very experimental way of narrative, which is interesting.
Also what makes it interesting is the changing viewpoint. The animation
technique is very good.

Max:

This is my favorite. I still don't quite understand it. I’ve watched it manytimes because I had to write the juror’s comment. So I kept watching it andwatching it. You could argue it doesn’t work because it's too complicated.
But for me, it doesn’t matter because it just means I want to watch it again
and again. For me personally, that’s not a negative. I think it just makes it
more mysterious. I really like the style, the painting style, the colors, thedifferent perspectives, the split screen, the soundtrack as well. The wholemystery of it, is this himself? This is my favorite among all the selections.

Lo:

I really love the structure of the film. It can be an installation of five screensof five patterns running at the same time. You can watch it and reconstruct
the whole thing in in your mind. It does have this way of viewing. Fivescreens structure, the artistic way and experimental, everything is wellcombined together. The use of color, the green and the red is really nice,especially the green. The green is from China, that kind of China green, you
can't find it everywhere. The combination of color and the texture of thepainting is really unique and it helps the whole thing. This is a very goodwork.
6

Choi:

I like the visual style. I think it is very strong and very bold. I probably don't
get the story as well, but it doesn't bother me. I think it's very stylish and it
feels contemporary.

Tsui:

The technical score is high for me, and I agree with what Lo Sir said, maybe
it's better for this to be an installation because the audience can pick up what
they want to see. The organization and sequence is not a linear story, and I
can pick more than five options of the ending, maybe there's a lot more. I was
impressed with the thumbnail after the end credits. Before that, I think it's anormal work. It would be better work if it's outside the theatre.

Fan:

The next work is Well Wishes My Love, Your Love.

Koji:

The visual style is very unique, but for me it's a little bit too digital. The
storyline is simple and very quiet film. The story is about sharing the senseof others. Its subject is very interesting for me.

Max:

This also was one of my favorites. Watching it in the cinema didn't quite work
as well as on the small screen. Again, I think it's the sound mix. That didn't
bother me on the small screen. I really like the sound. He composed his own
soundtrack for this, so for me, that’s another strong point. It's very digital,
but then the sound is also very digital, so it works. In the cinema, it’s notquite as strong as on a smaller screen, but I still like it a lot. I like the visual
style, that's what drew me in at first. I also like the storytelling, it’s very
poetic and sensitive and cute and a bit weird, but also quite clear storytellingwith a nice ending. It’s touching, very abstract. Sometimes you almost can't
see what's happening, but at the same time it still touches you. I liked thelittle moments of the solar eclipse and the three-legged horse.

Lo:

I like the style for particular frames, but the whole film is too digital for me.
Sometimes I can’t get into something because it's too digital.

Tsui:

It’s easy to get distracted from the over-detail on the screen. Maybe it's okay
for me to watch 3 minutes, but 9 minutes was too much.

Choi:

I agree with Lo Sir. The visual style is very attractive, but it also makes it
harder to get into the story somehow. The visual style is attractive, but maybe
I got lost in the digital world.

Lo:

Actually, the story is not that hard to understand.

Max:

I've seen it a couple of times, and the first time I was just like, wow, the style.
7And then the second time I picked up more of the story. So, if you see it for
the first time, there's a danger that you it alienates you so much that you sortof just give up.
Lo:

Yeah, I think so, because I only watched it once.

Max:

For me, it really jumped out because of the style, it's something that I hadn't
seen done in this way. Sometimes I wish he had pushed it even further, likein some of the scenes, he's doing less of that pattern stuff, and I wish he would
have kept it really abstract. But I really enjoyed, that mix of using 3D
animation, but then having this flat pattern that almost makes it 2D again. I
think that's quite fresh.

Lo:Technical-wise, I don't know how he made it, but sometimes I’m quite
hesitant about this kind of CG, because the action is real. Sometimes I thinkmaybe it’s better to just find some real actors. This is just using some kind of
software to transform the images, and I lost interest in the animation. Because
it's real, the movements are realistic.

Tsui:

Maybe the linkage between the style and the story is not strong enough.

Fan:

The next one is Everywhere.

Koji:

I couldn't get this story. There is something behind there, but I didn't
understand the death of the yellow cat in middle of story. It’s about selfsacrificing or something, I don't know. But I don't get this. And the style isnot so unique. It's a very ordinary cartoon style. For me, I'm not muchinterested in this film.

Max:

For me, it's not independent enough. It’s too commercial. It's really well done,
and pushes all the right buttons. It’s well-animated and the soundtrack carries
the story. It's a very strong film.

Lo:

It's a promotional commission from the Cancer Society. You see it in the end
credit. But it works.

Tsui:

Now you know the yellow cat dies of cancer.

Lo:

It's a fun film because the purpose for this is for general audience to relieve
from some loved one who's died of cancer or something. I think it works. Butof course it's using very traditional way of animation style and good music,
very dramatic music because it doesn't have a dialogue, so everything is put
8together and easy to understand and feel. Of course, it’s not anything
experimental.
Choi:

It's very well made, but it's a little bit commercial, there's no surprise. The
character design is not unique enough. I like all the movement and things like
that, but it's not independent enough. The character design is a little bit too
common.

Tsui:

It is my favorite, actually, itgot the highest score, technical-wise. It has thebest mise-en-scene, cinematography, all that got the highest score. It’s reallylike a commercial because it's a commissioned work for the organization. But
it did actually deliver the message and got the emotion of the audience. I'm
not sure if it’s independent enough or not. Maybe we can discuss afterwards.
To me, is the best film of this selection.

Fan:

The last one is A Guitar in the Bucket.

Koji:

The characters and the storytelling is a very unique, and setting and the story
are straight forward and the narrative is interesting. The episodes are a bit
scattered for me. It's a little bit long. Maybe the story should be more compact.
The storytelling is very unique. I like it.

Lo:

The style is interesting. It's a little bit long because it doesn't get to the point,It’s got some ideas, but not so exact because even though we follow the main
characters, we can't see the changes from her. I just can't get into what she
thinks. She always exaggerates and says that she wants to go to the musician
city to play guitar. I can feel that, but it's not strong enough for me. There's
no particular scene that I can get the impact from. It just shows a world likethis. Maybe I should watch it again. Anyway, it's interesting.

Choi:

I like this a lot. I think that’s the point. The filmmaker is trying to make asocial commentary. You think you can go places and make changes, but at
the end you're stuck. The character doesn’t go through a big change. She
throws the two strings of her guitar in exchange of the company the dog. I
think it's actually a very sad film. I quite like it. I find the style quite uniqueand I like this kind of social commentary. It’s so dark but you won't see it on
the surface. It looks like something light, but actually it's not. If you watch it
again, you might be suicidal is when you think about it. Everything you have,in the morning everything is back to zero. It’s almost like Squid Game andwhen you want to talk to someone, that person says, I only accompany you
to work. If you want to have a conversation with me, you have to pay extra.
It's actually it's a very sad story. I quite like it because the contrast of the9simplicity of the character design and the actual message. Today, people may
want to change the world, but in the end, nothing can be done.

Max:

Yeah, very Korean. There are so many animations coming out of Korea that
if you've never been there, you will think this is hell. It’s so restrictive andpeople are so trapped. I like this one.

Tsui:

It's interesting to me. And I could laugh when she driving the taxi. I like thetaxi scene. The couple goes in the back seat, and the slap and the kiss arefunny.

Fan:

We can proceed to the nominations. If you like some of them, maybe you areready to nominate the Gold Award first.

Choi:

Is it one film for one award?

Fan:

Basically, yes.

Lo:This is a frequently asked question. Every year some people ask it. We haveto choose sometimes. Shall we nominate the Gold first or we list out the best
three?

Choi:

It might be easier if we choose our top three.

Fan:

It’s okay to choose three or four. At least we can eliminate a little bit, andnarrow down the selection.

Tsui:

Everywhere, A Guitar in the Bucket, Lost in Waltz and MUI.

Lo:

MUI, My Dear Son, and Patient’s Mind.

Choi:

A Guitar in the Bucket, MUI and Patient’s Mind.

Max:

Patient’s Mind, MUI, Well Wishes My Love, Your Love and A Guitar in the
Bucket.

Koji:

I choose MUI, My Dear Son, and Patient’s Mind.

Fan:

MUI has the most votes, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best. Maybe it's justthe most average. Maybe we can begin with MUI.
10

Koji:MUI is not the best one for me. For me, it's Special Mention. It’s a very
experimental and interesting film. Maybe I give one more vote, A Guitar in
the Bucket. Patient’s Mind and A Guitar in the Bucket are best or second bestfor me.

Max:

My favorite is Patients Mind. MUI is also not my favorite.

Tsui:

I would also nominate MUI as special mention.

Choi:

I go for A Guitar in the Bucket for Gold, and Special Mention for MUI.

Lo:

I really like My Dear Son because it is good in many ways. It's easy to watch
and you got the message and the whole film is well executed. But it's not thatexperimental because collage is a very old technique, and the visual is notthat impressive compared with MUI or Patients Mind, and they talk about
different things. I really love the storytelling of My Dear Son because it
doesn’t have any dialogue, but it tells us everything in a good way. Afterwatching MUI, I really feel the connection between the grandson andgrandmother. The soundtrack is really attractive for me. The voice is cute,and old people sometimes talk like this, so it's very warm in a way, especiallyin Cantonese. But for international audience, I think that something is lost
because of the dialogue. It doesn't work well for non-Cantonese speaking
audience. But anyway, the whole thing is good because the visuals are very
complete. There are different kinds of art forms put together and wellcombined. Patient’s Mind has a very good structure, very complicated wayof telling a story. I love it too. For Silver, I vote for MUI because it's morefamiliar to me as an audience. And Patient’s Mind is a good work, and I
would have it as Special Mention.

Koji:

For me, Gold is My Dear Son. This film is very complete. The subject andmaterial are solid. It is an experimental film, but it targets people at large, notjust animations. Patient’s Mind is Silver for me, the graphic style is the mostunique in this competition. The structure is interesting, but not so new. The
graphic style is very strong, but I couldn't find any deeper subject in thestorytelling. I watched the film several times but I couldn't find any, so it’s
just experimental. It’s Silver and not the highest prize for me.

Lo:

For me A Guitar in the Bucket is too Korean. I've seen several animations
from Korea that talk about the same thing but presented in different ways.
This is one of them, that's it.

Tsui:

For me Everywhere is Gold, and A Guitar in the Bucket is Silver.
11

Lo:

My Dear Son got the big award in Digicon 6 TBS last year. Most juries love
this, not just from Japan, also from other countries. They liked the
combination of the technique and the topic. The director chose to put theirown experience of raising children into the film. There are also some social
incidents, like things that happened in Hong Kong in the last few years. Butof course, it's very subtle. It's not a simple film, there are many symbolic
things inside the whole thing. Everything is symbolic but not easy to get,maybe because she doesn't want to talk about those topics.

Fan:

Joycelyn (Choi) Haze (Tsui) and Max, you must fight for your Gold choice.

Choi:

I think A Guitar in the Bucket deserves something. I am willing to put myvote into Patient’s Mind if you can have two Gold winners.

Lo:

What’s your two Golds?

Choi:

Although my personal favourite is A Guitar in the Bucket , after listening to
Lo's deliberation, I am inclined to accept "My Dear Sons" and "Patient'sMind" - if there are two Golds.

Lo:

That means you agree that My Dear Sons should get Gold.

Choi:

Only if there are two winners. I like My Dear Son too, but as this is ifva, weshould celebrate something more unique and different.In any case, I want toinsist that there should be something for A Guitar in the Bucket.

Tsui:

What's your choice? Gold for A Guitar in the Bucket?

Choi:

Originally. But after hearing such persuasive discussion, I would put my votein Patient's Mind.

Lo:

So your first Gold nomination is Patient's Mind. And if there is a second Gold,it would be My Dear Son?

Fan:

If we are going to present two Gold awards, I think you have to tell me why.

Choi:

It is the balance. They represent diverse animation techniques.

Lo:

If we really have two Golds and then we will lose one silver.

Fan:

Usually this is this will be the case. If we have two Gold then we won't be
12able to have Silver. We will divide the cash prize. It makes a statement too.
It means that we have two equally outstanding works. And I must say that it
is not too frequent to have two Gold awards because it means that the quality
is really high, and the five of you could not come up with one Gold Award.
This is the statement we are sending out, so you must be clear about that.
Sometimes there will be two Silver awards and the Gold Award will bewithheld. That means there's no finalist that deserves to get Gold.
Lo:

I think My Dear Son deserves Gold.

Max:My Dear Son is a cute, sweet film. It works well. Visually, I don't think it's
all that interesting. It feels like a lot of this kind of digital After Effects, stuff
that I've seen for the last 25 years. I know that there's layers and little social
commentary and so on. And that's great, but I don't know if it deserves a Gold.
I still would say Patients Mind is the Gold because it's just it’s really fresh. I
can keep watching it. Guitar in the Bucket is nice, but I wouldn't defend it
strongly. Well Wishes My Love, I'm not even going to try because I'm on my
own there. MUI for me would be a Silver, and A Guitar in the bucket is aSpecial Mention.

Choi:

I'm going to change my vote. I will vote for Patient’s Mind for Gold, Silver
for Guitar in the Bucket.

Lo:

How about Gold for Patient’s Mind, Silver for My Dear Son, MUI for Special
Mention?

Fan:

Let's wait for Haze (Tsui) to say something first. You can fight for
Everywhere.

Tsui:

Maybe the discussion is about commercial work, or commission work versus
artistic work, because I believe that the directors have put their best effort togive their artistic sense and art sense for this work and it is really well. It got
the highest score in terms of technical aspect and it actually is touching forsome audience with the same experience. I'm not sure if it's meaninglessbecause it's commercial. I do think is representative of Hong Kong of lastyear. It's quite good for them to do the experiments with the camera
movements and of no edit point in between.

Choi:

I think it's very well made technically. I was asking Kattie (Fan) about the
judging criteria. In the instruction to jurors it says that independent spirit is
the most important assessment criteria in our competition. That's why I didn't
vote for it. I think it's very well made.
13

Tsui:

I tried my best to fight for it.

Choi:

Of course, it is a good discussion. Can a commission work be independent?

Tsui:

Next time, if there is another commission work, do they have a right to apply,or should they just be rejected?

Fan:

Basically, we accept commission work. We don't accept commercials, likeTV commercials. With music video, it depends. Nowadays some of these arequite independent and even experimental as well. What we won’t accept are
TV commercials. For commissioning, there are always some commissioning
not only with animations, but it also happens a lot in other categories, likefor example the Fresh Wave. You can't say it is commissioning, but they also
fight to get commission fees or production fees provided by otherorganizations. If we eliminate all these works, a large number of films will
not be eligible for this competition. Also, even in some relatively commercial
production, there's still some independent spirit. When considering
independent production, maybe you will refer a lot to the budget or
production costs, but independent spirit can mean something inside the work
itself.

Choi:

I didn't say it should be ineligible for awards, but because independent spirit
is the most important assessment criteria, I just thought other works carry
more independent spirit. I'm not saying that this work is not eligible forcompeting, it's just that it seems other works are more independent, that's all.
I think it's a very well made, but if this is the most important assessment
criteria, then…That's why I am rooting for Patient’s Mind.

Lo:In ifva, “i” stands for independent always in my mind. Everywhere is a very
well-done animation work in different ways and of course it's unique in its
storytelling because you can say is some new way of telling stories. It is notvery cliché or traditional. There is something new, something interesting theywant to try. The whole thing does have a purpose, which is to promote
something, to send a very strong message to the audience. I think this is somekind of barrier for the whole thing, because their main goal is to deliver thestory in a very easy watching way. It is quite a success, but I think that wehave other choices much better suited to ifva. Even My Dear Son, you cansay the storytelling is not too special. But still, there is something there,
compared with Everywhere.

Tsui:

To make things easier, should we lock down MUI as the Special Mention
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first?
Choi:

It might depend on which one gets the Silver award.

Fan:

Haze (Tsui), do you have something to say about Patient’s Mind?

Tsui:

Let me pick two works to speak for, My Dear Son and Patient’s Mind.
Between these two works, I prefer Patient’s Mind. It has higher score thanMy Dear Son.

Fan:

So we agree that Patient’s Mind will get the Gold award.

(The jurors agreed.)
Fan:

Then, we can talk about Silver. We have three nominations for the Silver,
MUI, My Dear Son and A Guitar in the Bucket.

Choi:

Can we have two Special Mentions since there's no cash money involved.
They only get a certificate anyway.

Lo:

That would be easy, I think.

Max:

Can I make a suggestion? I think A Guitar in the Bucket is going to win prizes
everywhere. MUI, on the other hand, I don't know.

Lo:

MUI is from Macau. But they deserve something.

Max:

I know it's not a Hong Kong film, but it's in the neighborhood.

Choi:

I strongly feel that A Guitar in the Bucket should have something. It's kind of
unique. As Max said A Guitar in the Bucket is going to get other awards. Thatmeans it has a certain kind of quality. If we totally ignore it, people might
think, what happened to this jury? I just feel that it should at least get aSpecial Mention, it's very unique.

Max:

I agree.

Fan:First of all, do we agree that A Guitar in the Bucket is not Silver because there
are two votes from Haze (Tsui) and Joycelyn (Choi). If we are going to decide
between A Guitar in the bucket and My Dear Son, then this is the topic that
we have to discuss, not double Special Mention.
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Lo:

Yamamura-san, what do you think if My Dear Son gets Silver?

Koji:

It's okay for me, and A Guitar in the Bucket for Special Mention.

Choi:

I can live with MUI taking Silver, if A Guitar in the bucket can have Special
Mention. If My Dear Son gets special mention, it should get the MacBook
because it's the highest scoring Hong Kong animator.

Tsui:

If you really think My Dear Son is better than MUI you can fight for it.

Lo:

Sometimes it’s hard to compare. For my personal interests, I like My Dear
Son the best, and I’d like to defend Hong Kong.

Choi:

Are we all happy MUI getting the Silver, My Dear Son getting Special
Mention?

Lo:

That's fine for me.

Fan:

Is it MUI getting Silver or A Guitar in the Bucket?

Choi:

I guess the jurors agree that MUI gets the Silver.

Fan:

But there are two Silver votes for A Guitar in the Bucket, and only one Silver
vote for MUI.

Lo:My Silver is MUI, and My Dear Son is Special Mention.

Choi:

A Guitar in the Bucket is well-made and is my personal favourite. However,I am ready to respect Lo and others’ opinion that it is not as unique as theother work.

Fan:

I would like to know, is there anyone who oppose My Dear Son getting any
awards? Because there are three jurors who never chose My Dear Son in your
list.

Max:

It's a compromise I can live with.

Choi:

I agree. I will go for MUI for Silver, and My Dear Son and A Guitar in the
Bucket for Special Mention.

Fan:

Haze (Tsui), what do you think? Because you chose A Guitar in the Bucket
for Silver.
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Tsui:

I give up. I tried.

Choi:

This is the point of elaboration. We communicate and then we come to aconsensus.

Fan:

I should ask Lo Sir whether you like A Guitar in the Bucket because you
didn’t pick it.

Lo:

It's not my cup of tea. It was never in my list.

Koji:

I'm happy to go with MUI getting Silver.

Fan:

That means MUI will get the Silver award. We go to Special Mention. The
first Special Mention nominate will be A Guitar in the Bucket, the second
nomination is My Dear Son. Are you all good with this result?

(The jurors agreed)
Choi:

The point of discussion is what do we want to encourage? Now, you have avery diverse winning list. Patient’s Mind is very fresh, MUI is very local with
Cantonese slang and things like that. And then you have My Dear Son which
is well-made but more traditional. And A Guitar in the Bucket is also a more
traditional animation, but with a message. So you have all the themes we like.

28th ifva Animation Category Award Winners
Gold Award
Patient’s Mind
Wang Zhiheng (China)
Silver Award
MUI
Wong Weng-chon (Macao)
Special Mention
My Dear Son
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Lilian Fu (Hong Kong)
A Guitar in the Bucket
Kim Bo-young (South Korea)

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