The 13th ifva Open Category Jury Meeting Transcript

Jurors in Attendance: Herman Yau (YAU), anothermountainman (Stanley Wong)(WONG),Anson Mak (MAK), Elaine Chow (CHOW), Dr. Philip Lee(LEE)
Organizer Representatives: Bobo Lee (BOBO), Mickey Choi (CHOI)YAU:Some of the films are well made. What makes it difficult to make a choice is thatsome of those films with have good content were made with poor techniques, andvice versa, so it is difficult to make a decision. I like Merry X’mas, because itshows concern for the underprivileged, and among the trend of showy techniques
employed by young filmmakers nowadays, it is a drama made with thedown-to-earth style of a documentary. Many scenes of the film hit the nail right on
the head, I like it.

The script of “Siu Ming” is pretty ordinary, although with professional actors, the film
is made in a very ordinary manner.

Acting in “Game Boyis very imbalanced. On the one hand we have Lee Ting Fung,an actor we often see in commercial films, who shows traditional professionalism,on the other hand the rest of the actors demonstrate

traditional amateurism. Thesame editing method applied to three separate plots actually weakens the tension
in the drama. It uses flashbacks inter-cut to express a scene that is not represented
in the main narrative, this should be better saved for the final scene. The choice ofadopting the style of a genre film to an otherwise humanistic film doesn’t seem towork.

Variable is experimental in its content, but the form is traditional, which doesn’tmatch. Artistically, the masks used in the film look very unprofessional in today’sstandard and in comparison with other finalists.

“Hearse Driver” is very ordinary, a typical film about life, death and love that young
people would make. It seems everybody would have made such a film in theirtwenties.

Wong Tsz Ching in Search for Wong Tsz Ching is fun to watch and playful, frommy perspective as a film-maker. I think making a movie isn’t always that serious. Hetalks about identity with playfulness in today’s cyber context.

Salmon has an extraordinary script, but the whole film isn’t well managed, theacting and the directing are awkward, with lighting and cinematography not in tune
with the script.

“Lover Psychosis” is also one of those typical films made by twenty-somethings. Itseems that the text on screen is important to the filmmaker, but the font size is too
small and speed too fast to read, but anyway those text are not so crucial forunderstanding the film. The narrative technique is good, demonstrating the tensionof reality.

The Young Dream. Although I haven’t totally grasped what the director wants tosay, but the directing and narrative skill and acting, especially the girl, are very good,
And the script as well, though I don’t know what exactly is the message, but I canfollow the story. I like this film, the cinematography is especially outstanding.

Goodbye, Kim Hyun-hee is pretty ordinary in its subject matter, but using Kim
Hyun-hee is quite special though. It is made professionally, is one of my choices.

WONG:

It is always not easy to make a choice. Wong Tsz Ching in Search for Wong Tsz
Ching said it’s a documentary, but there are some works that are quite realistic,
such as Merry X’mas. Variable is more abstract, more conceptual, kind of like astage performance. It is difficult to compare, so I start with creativity. I agree withyou that some works are in the confines of convention pre-determined by the script,
so I dropped those works.

If I am to choose among the 10 films, I’ll pick one that is rounded in all respects
including techniques, acting and plot, and it will be Merry X’masIt gets the point, it
is a drama but at the same time reflects reality. The acting is natural and real,
makes me feel something after the screening. I like it very much.

For Variable, I got your point, but I still put it among the top three or four in my list,
because I appreciate that the director uses an alternative angle to shoot a film,
despite its flaws. Just as other drama films may have flaws in acting or technicalaspects, but this one I appreciate its alternative angle, and the implication of the
suppressed lives of Hong Kong people. Other points about its failure I agree withyou.

Wong Tsz Ching in Search for Wong Tsz Ching is interesting, but he fails todeeply explore this subject matter to make the film more refined. I don’t mean heshould give a grand message or get it across in a serious way, but as he has a goodsubject matter, and today we have internet, the way this story begins and how it’s
told are very good. But the ending … I wish to see more. It should have been better.

MAK:I have similar feelings about Wong Tsz Ching in Search for Wong Tsz Ching. It
started in a good direction, but I think a self-reflexive documentary can be better if--actually an individual is socially and culturally positioned in society-- he could go
deeper about his formative years. Actually he did, for example the part about how
he goes to the little Wong Tsz Ching’s home in a village, but he could go deeper. I
want to see more about his childhood in the village, but there isn’t much. It is very
playful. Although it is a documentary, it has many creative tricks, I like that too, but I
would like to see him talks about himself more, like he said he has hepatitis, but hejust told us the fact. I can’t see more about his relationship with his family, about hisfamily in Canada etc, I want to see more documentary elements.
Among these films I also like Merry X’mas most. I don’t know how much thedirector agrees with or is aware of Dogma, but he has already used it a lot, whether
he wants to or not. Dogma’s original intention was to find an alternative way apartfrom the Hollywood formula. I think this film comes from the tradition of Dogma andrealism, especially the shots about the girl doing some apparently boring things,
such as repetitive acts of daily life, which would be banned from mainstream
cinema because they consider them boring, just like she repeatedly looks at hercoloured pencils in a very narrow room. I think it’s great.

I agree with Herman about Variable. It has a good story, it was made in the form ofa drama film, but it would be more appropriate if it moves closer to avant-garde
cinema, to have more abstract images, or to employ the method of conceptual
video art. Actually it is a sad thing to note that all the films were made in the drama
mode, nothing comes from the tradition of video art. Actually such subject matters
may be best represented by means of conceptual video art. Anyway it is a variationon the story film, which is worth some merit.

For Salmon, I focus on its overall production design rather than just on directing oracting. It was shot in an empty house fitted with tables and chairs and plastic
partitions, and because it was in a village, the croaking of the frogs made theenvironment very eerie. Its intention is good and the story is good too, it created ahalf real setting, as its production design gives a somewhat surreal feeling. Thedeaf, blind and mute are all metaphorical, but I don’t like it when the director
exposed the truth behind the story. It is too direct, it shows that they are just picking
on each other instead of helping out, but I think it is better left unsaid, should be
more subtle.

If I have to choose my favourites, they are Merry X’mas, Variable, Wong Tsz
Ching in Search for Wong Tsz Ching and Salmon.

CHOW:

It is very difficult to choose among the ten, so I just remove what I don’t like, andwhat remain are: Merry X’mas, Variable, Wong Tsz Ching in Search for WongTsz Ching and Salmon. Really the same as yours!

What you said I also noted and have thought about it, but at this moment I am notvery sure, because as a documentary, I don’t like Merry X’mas, whether it is in
Dogma method or not. Its use of handheld camera achieves what is needed in
independent cinema, but the way it talks about poverty, if I am to find creativity, I
can’t find much in it. I agree with anothermountainman that this is the most wellfinished work. I can’t find any flaws in it, but neither can I find any creativity.

Variableis more experimental, but it fails to hit the main point. He has made muchobservation about the world, and the concept is OK, just when put it into practice itturned sour. This is the one to be removed among the four I have chosen.

The following two films are hard to choose. After I saw Wong Tsz Ching in Searchfor Wong Tsz Ching for the first time it was my favourite. Its theme ofsoul-searching is very interesting, and actually the fundamentals of philosophy is tosearch for your own identity. It is interestingly playful. But I don’t like it when it
digresses and gets lost. It seems to be going personal, and I agree that it doesn’t
dig deep enough, just as you want more he goes away. But I do think it got
something like a male version of “The Double Life of Veronica”. I give it relatively
good credits for its creativity and concept, and there’s no problem about itsrealization, just that the supporting shots aren’t so well made. But speaking ofconcept, I like this one most.

Whereas Salmon is a different matter, it is a parody on human nature. The overallplot is good, I don’t mind its flaws because that give it the feel of indie films, and I
won’t expect it to be refined and perfect. It reminds me of “Shallow Grave”, thatsurreal situation of people being trapped in one place, and this enhances theessence of the film. Although this is kind of raw, I like it.

LEE:I didn’t think so much when I watched those works, I only looked at them from theperspective of storytelling. To me, Merry X’mas is obviously outstanding, if you
say it is not creative, I’d say nowadays it is difficult even to tell a story that touches
people, and I like this story. Actually I think some of the works are good in creativity,concept and idea, just that I’m more traditional and I tend to focus on the narrative.
The problem with today’s young people is that, everybody is creative, but the mostbasic thing is storytelling, and they can’t do it properly. I focus on more basic
narrative techniques.

I think Goodbye, Kim Hyun-hee, “Game Boy and The Young Dream are also
good, I like them better personally. Those works such as Salmon, I agree that theyare good. For me Merry X’mas is the best, while I’m totally open about otherworks. To some extent it is difficult to make the decision. Apart from the best one, allof them are possible.

WONG:

During the first viewing I like the alienation in Salmon, as surreal as a stage
performance. Actually the art direction is good and it has a good sense of space.
Although the subject matter of disabled people is in itself difficult, I just can’t accept
the details in the acting of the “blind” guy. Starting from the first shot, how come hehas to be supporting himself when he walks? This flaw cannot be compensated byother things I like about it.

YAU:

It shows that the director actually doesn’t know much about the underprivileged.

CHOW:

Acting is the weakest part in the film. All three of them are problematic. We have totake into account acting as well.

WONG:

Otherwise it is quite good on the whole.

YAU:

I have chosen top three, in which Merry X’mas and The Young Dream, I don’t
mind which of them comes first, but I hope the three award-winning films will featurethese two.

LEE:

I don’t quite understand The Young Dream, but I like it.

YAU:

Actually I got something from it, just don’t want to say what it is brashly. It reallyfeels like Terayama Shuji’s film (ed: The Chinese title of The Young Dream makes
reference to Terayama’s Pastoral Hide and Seek).

WONG:

The girl acts really well.

YAU:

Very good indeed.

CHOW:

Feels like a Japanese film.

MAK:

If only on cinematography I agree that this is good.

YAU:

It really is poetic. The third one I chose is Goodbye, Kim Hyun-hee. My choices
are Merry X’mas, The Young Dream and Goodbye, Kim Hyun-hee.

WONG:

I think Goodbye, Kim Hyun-heeis acceptable, it is not just drama, but there is
special effort to piece up the two incidents, and makes a point. Though the ending
is too sentimental.

YAU:

Its techniques save the day. Very old fashioned.

WONG:

Defeats its playfulness at the beginning.

CHOW:

This is why I cannot choose it. The ending and the beginning totally don’t match.

YAU:

Although both of them are about the self, Merry X ’ mas should be given
recognition, as we should give merit to films on social issue. If the jurors have tobring out a message, it should be this one.

MAK:

Yes, Merry X’mas is the only film that has touched me, I was on the verge of tears
at the ending of the film.

CHOW:

Let’s put it like this: many of the films have endings that are actually anti-climaxes, agood ending should be like the graceful landing of a gymnast, but most of thesefilms are just like landing on the wrong foot.

YAU:

Wong Tsz Ching in Search for Wong Tsz Ching is unable to sustain, though thebeginning is interesting.

WONG:

There isn’t enough time to bring it to perfection, now it’s just a mix of everything. It’s
fun, and if they could spend more time on it I believe it will be even better.

CHOW: isn’t as aggressive, and the director can get hold of the situation.

YAU:

It makes the most of the filming technique using a handy camera, whereas The
Young Dream doesn’t have this. Merry X’mas has demonstrated that we canmake films even with our mobile phones.

CHOW:

The music in The Young Dreamis also very good.

WONG:

Except Salmon, my views are in line with yours. My choices are Merry X’mas
and Variable, which I don’t mind them getting the awards. Variable is in a similar
situation as Wong Tsz Ching in Search for Wong Tsz Ching, we appreciate its
departure from the mainstream drama films, but each has their own strengths andweaknesses. Goodbye, Kim Hyun-hee and The Young Dream I wouldn’t mind
either, but I would like to highlight Merry X’mas.

MAK:Wong Tsz Ching in Search for Wong Tsz Ching is a big pity, because it just fails
to develop. For example the grandfather actually knows the father, but suddenly thefilm gets lost. There are many things to be revealed in a dinner or an interview, I
want to see more, but the director didn’t put them in.

CHOW:

Actually this is a typical problem among these works. They show us whenever they
made anything and whatever they have something to say, even in a very immature
stage.

Voting on:
Merry X’mas, Variable, Wong Tsz Ching in Search for Wong Tsz Ching, Salmon, The
Young Dream, Goodbye, Kim Hyun-hee.

BOBO:

According to the number of votes, the Gold Award goes to Merry X’mas, theSilver goes to The Young Dream.

MAK:

Do we all agree on the result? Or should there be two Silver Awards?

CHOW:

Still I prefer Variable and Wong Tsz Ching in Search for Wong Tsz Ching,whereas the two films we have voted for the Gold and Silver are superior to thosebecause there isn’t major faults in them, while Variable and Wong Tsz Ching havenoticeable flaws, but if we compare them to The Young Dream, they are lesscomplete… I am thinking, what is the purpose of this competition that we have been
doing for the last thirteen years? The Gold and Silver they deserve it, but for therest of the works which we see potential in them, can we give them some more
recognition? We see they have achieved something, but now they got nothing. Ithink we should give one more.

LEE:

If according to the votes, the next one should be Goodbye, Kim Hyun-hee.

YAU:

Goodbye, Kim Hyun-heeis too highly crafted. This is called “Independent Film &Video” competition, but this is not a bit independent. This work could be a
stepping-stone for him to get in the commercial mainstream industry.

MAK:

I won’t choose these films, because they are too formulaic, albeit more complete.

LEE:

What is our definition of independence here?

YAU:

It depends on the scale, and is a kind of spirit that is beyond words.

BOBO:

It means those films which were free from commercial consideration, and also thesubject matter and area of concern all demonstrate the spirit of independence.

LEE:

If based on this spirit, then I think Wong Tsz Ching in Search for Wong Tsz Chingis closer than Variable.

MAK:

Among these ten I can’t see any of them dare to do something extraordinary.

LEE:

Just according to the spirit of independence I think Wong Tsz Ching in Search for
Wong Tsz Ching is better, but if you say Variable is better I am Ok with it.
[Wong Tsz Ching in Search for Wong Tsz Ching is given Silver Award]

BOBO:

There’s also Special Mention.

YAU:

If this “Special Mention” actually means the fourth best one in the list, I give up. … If
there’s a “Special Mention” in Oscar, we’ll all expect it to be something very special.

LEE:

Even in Cannes, the Special Mention is an extraordinary prize.

BOBO:

But we are actually giving it credit because of its uniqueness.

LEE:

Goodbye, Kim Hyun-hee is too commercial… then it seems to be Variable.

CHOW:

If we use independence as the criteria, then Salmon is also possible.

YAU:

But it is too flawed.

CHOW:Yes.

[Special Mention: Variable]

BOBO:

The Gold Award goes to Merry X’mas, Silver Awards go to Wong Tsz Ching inSearch for Wong Tsz Ching and The Young Dream. Special Mention goes toVariable.

Open Category
Gold Award
Merry X’mas
Jevons Man-kit AU

Silver AwardWong Tsz Ching in Search for Wong Tsz Ching
Tsz-ching WONG

Silver Award
The Young DreamTze-chun CHOW, On-ching LAISpecial Mention
Variable
Wai-kit WONG