thThe 17 ifva Asian New Force Category Jury Meeting Transcript

Jurors in Attendance: Lee Ping-bin (LEE), Roystan Tan (TAN), Raymond PHATHANAVIRANGOON(P.)
Organizer Representatives: Teresa Kwong (KWONG), Kattie Fan (FAN)KWONG:

Today we are going to discuss the award recipients of the Asian New Force
Category. The Asian New Force Category, which was founded in 2002, accepts
works from residents of all Asian countries/regions outside of Hong Kong. This year
we received more than 500 works; since we place no specific restriction on thegenre of the work, the works received include animations, experimental films anddrama films. The only constraint that we have is that the entry must be a film of nolonger than 30 minutes. The review process began last year when 3 members of ourpre-selection panel watched all the entry works and selected more than 70 works forthe second round. Then in October, Lam Kee-to, Jacqueline Liu and myself went
through all those works and picked the 10 finalists that you watched in the past
couple days. Today our goal is to select the 3 prize recipients from those 10 finalists.
The Gold Prize winner will receive cash prize of $30,000 and a trophy; the Silver
Prize winner will receive a Sony HD recorder while the Special Mention winner will
receive a certificate. The objective of this category is to encourage Asian filmmakers
to produce films and to encourage their interactions with local filmmakers from HongKong. The two main criteria that we value the most for award consideration areindependent spirit and creativity. We will now proceed to round table discussion ofeach finalist and we will begin with Bleach from South Korea.

LEE:

Actually I find this animation interesting. My interpretation of the film seems to differ
from that of the director and that means there could be more than one interpretation
to his image. My impression of this film is that one needs to be adventurous, creativeand courageous in the face of danger; one needs to seek breakthrough and pursues
something meaningful in life. The film is inspiring, interesting and I was moved.

TAN:

My impression is that this film would be better off without the subtitles. It is a work ofanimation and the audience should be able to understand the director’s message
through the motion of its characters. With the subtitles, the viewers have to digest anextra layer of content. I find the director overused music in his storytelling; it isdoubtful whether the film can move its audience without the useofmusic.

It

could have been a better film with less music.

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P.:

I agree with Royston’s view. The biggest issue of this film is its subtitle. A film should
give its audience some room for imagination and the subtitle completely removes
that room. Saying too much has a negative impact on the narrative. I, too, havereservation about the use of music but overall the animation work is well done.

LEE:

I find it a pity as well. Without the subtitle, this piece of work could have given us
more room for imagination and we could all have different interpretations of the story.
Some might think this film comes from a country of totalitarian regime and its citizens
are trying to break some barriers. When a film tries to say too much, it actuallycreates a constraint on the story and that is a bit of a shame.

P.:

I feel that we would have had a very different reaction to this film if the postproduction is done in a slightly different way.

KWONG:

We will proceed to discuss The Serenity Prayer from Japan.

P.:

I have seen this type of story many times before; the shooting style is rather simple
and lacks originality. The child actor did a great job but overall the film lacks
originality.

LEE:

My take is that once the child actor shows up, the entire film just falls apart, for thechild actor looks too much of a performer, rather than a story’s character. The childactor is too perfect to the point of making his father-son relationship awkward. Hedoes not seem to belong to that family. If the story ends when the child sees hisfather dead, it would have been more powerful. The joyful scenes in the end seemrather redundant and make this work less convincing.

TAN:

This work comes across as “half film, half TV drama” to me and there are somestrange TV language signals. The film could have done much better without thesecond half, for it was rather melodramatic. The child actor was perhaps too perfectto the role.

LEE:

In the beginning of the story, I could not believe that the child actor was a homelessboy and found it difficult to integrate him into the story and his role.

KWONG:

We will proceed to discuss All the Lines Flow Out from Singapore.

TAN:

When I saw this film, I did not notice that it was shot in Singapore and that gave mesomething fresh. I was touched by it in a peculiar way, so strange yet so familiar.
When the characters catch fish in the river, I felt the director could have ended the2film there. I had trouble following the latter part of the film; perhaps the director
himself did not understand either.

P.:

I really enjoyed the part with dry ice; at that point I thought the film had something towith pollution. Like Royston, I had trouble understanding the director’s message. Yet,this film gave me a reaction and I was able to immerse myself into it.

TAN:

There was a strange chemical reaction; but I did not know how to explain it.

LEE:

The director is very strong technically and his camera shot is very powerful eventhough it can be too long at times. I find this film a bit special but the story
sometimes lacks clarity. Overall this is a decent film but as other jury members said,
for a film, it can not be just technically superior.

P.:

I can say this is a work of a true director; I can sense something strong in his camera
shot.

LEE:

Yes, I can sense something powerful from this work.

KWONG:

We will proceed to discuss Broken Night from South Korea.

LEE:

This type of story is rather popular these days. The shooting style is very much like ashort film but the other elements remind me of commercial films. Overall its image isinteresting.

P.:

I find this film a bit too commercial and a bit too similar to other Korean films. The
biggest issue is that the entire story took place in a confined environment; the story
seems a bit unconvincing.

TAN:

From a technical point of view, this film’s shooting style is a bit too commercial.
Overall it does not leave a strong impression on me.

KWONG:

We will proceed to discuss 6x8 ft: her space from South Korea.

TAN:

I had a strong reaction to this film as it comes across as a diary shot for the director
herself. It can be a bit self-indulgent at times and that made me a bit uneasy. The
main issue comes from the voice-over; it seems a bit too direct and is full ofrepetition of personal feelings.

P.:

I find this film a bit twee.
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LEE:

I appreciate the message of this film; most of the time young people just talk the talkbut never walk the walk. One should seize the moment seems to be the message,
but the rest of the film seems a bit sentimental.

KWONG:

We will proceed to discuss An Original Photocopy of Happiness from Bhutan.

P.:This work seems like a project for film school. Normally I am a bit allergic to voiceover but I find this film’s voice-over substantial.

LEE:

My impression of this film is that it is a bit raw and messy. The camera shot follows
the girl in search of her father but from the very beginning it lacks purpose andseems scattered. But if possible, I would like offer her some form of encouragement.
It is rare to see a film from Bhutan and it is fine to be raw or inexperienced. I would
like to encourage her to continue her artistic work.

TAN:

I agree with the part about offering encouragement. This film actually shed light on asocial issue in Bhutan that I did not know of before. Yet somehow it gave me theimpression that it is a promotional film for Bhutan; there appears to have a double
motive behind the interview with those well-known figures.

LEE:

I think this could have been a better film and the main issue is inexperience.

TAN:

The technique is a bit unclear; it seems to fall somewhere between a documentary
and a drama film. Some actor’s acting seems a bit uneasy, especially the journalist
from the last scene. Even though the male actors are not professional actors, I feltthat their dialogue was planned.

KWONG:

We will proceed to discuss Turtle and Tears from Taiwan.

LEE:

I find this film too Taiwanese and a bit old-fashioned. It is a decent work with goodtechnique but it is not really in line with the independent spirit and creativity that wetry to advocate with this festival.

P.:

I have reservation about the shooting technique, especially the use of shallow focus.

TAN:

I feel that the development of the girl’s friendship could have given the story a niceending; unfortunately the film never went towards that direction.

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KWONG:We will proceed to discuss Gehennah from Lebanon.

P.:

I do not have a strong impression of this film.

TAN:

Me neither.

LEE:

I was particularly impressed by two common shots from this film: the scene when thefemale protagonist saw the bus arriving and that shows her desire to leave in searchof freedom.

KWONG:

We will proceed to discuss Innocence from Philippines.

TAN:

This film does not leave a strong impression on me, for I have seen this type of film
quite a few times and this film does fall into that same mold.

P.:

I was really impressed with one particular shot: the students’ shadow on the wall. I
agree with Royston that I have seen many similar films from Philippines before thatdeal with social issues such as poverty and corruption.

KWONG:

We will proceed to discuss Land of the Heroes from Iraq.

TAN:

This has to be the most outstanding work among the 10 finalists. First I think it isvery difficult to direct children but in this film the children actors all give naturalperformance. The subject of this film is very gloomy but the director is able to inject
humor into his story. This film is filled with humor; it is simple yet beautiful.

P.:This film is actually rather dark; even his humor is dark humor.

LEE:

This film is very open-minded with a simple setting. The director is able to tackle thesubject matter with ease using the imposing war as the backdrop.

KWONG:

Please nominate two to three films for award consideration.

P.:

My picks are as follows: the Gold Award goes to Land of the Heroes from Iraq, theSilver Award goes to All the Lines Flow Out from Singapore and the Special
Mention goes to An Original Photocopy of Happiness from Bhutan.

LEE:

My picks are the same: the Gold Award goes to Land of the Heroes from Iraq
because it is simple yet forceful and it is a complete work in terms of drama andcreativity. The Silver Award goes to An Original Photocopy of Happiness fromSingapore and the Special Mention goes to An Original Photocopy of Happinessfrom Bhutan. I feel that if it would be a meaningful act if we could encourage artists
from a country like Bhutan to continue their artistic work.
5TAN:

My picks are almost identical: the Gold Award goes to Land of the Heroes from Iraq,
the Silver Award goes to All the Lines Flow Out from Singapore and the Special
Mention goes to Broken Night from South Korea.

KWONG:We have reached a consensus on the Gold Award and the Silver Award. Let’s
discuss the recipient of the Special Mention.

P.:

I think the bigger issue is whether we should issue the Special Mention.

KWONG:

Let me first explain why we have the Special Mention. A few years ago, some jury
members pointed out to me that while the Gold Award and the Silver Award go to thetop 2 works, there could be other works that deserve some form of recognition, fortheir acting, their script or other areas that stand out, even though overall they are
not as complete.

TAN:

I think if we give the Special Mention to the work from Bhutan on the basis of thedirector’s courage, I can see similar courage in other finalists as well. Needless tosay, Bhutan is a rather special country but I do have some reservation aboutawarding the Special Mention to this work from Bhutan.

LEE:

I believe that the quality of all the finalists are above a certain level and the workfrom Bhutan is a bit weak by comparison. All of the finalists are pretty good; forinstance the work from Taiwan is decent but the director has done too muchprofessional calculation in certain areas. In contrast, the work from Bhutan deserves
our encouragement more than others do. I think the Special Mention does not onlyoffer encouragement to this particular director, but it also offers encouragement tothe entire nation. Many people from Bhutan might decide to pursue a career infilmmaking because of her receiving of this award. In doing so, I believe we arepromoting the independent spirit that we try to advocate with this film festival.

P.:I admire the director from Bhutan because she is not an academic; she is anindependent filmmaker that did not attend the film school.

TAN :If we award the Special Mention to the director from Bhutan on the premise that it
can offer encouragement to other artists from their film industry, I can accept thisdecision.

6KWONG:

The jury members have reached their consensus: the Gold Award goes to Land ofthe Heroes with cash prize of $30,000 and a trophy, the Silver Award goes to All
the Lines Flow Out with a Sony HD recorder and the Special Mention goes to An
Original Photocopy of Happiness.

Asian New Force Category
Gold Award
Land of the Heroes
Sahim OMAR KALIFA (Iraq)
Silver Award
All the Lines Flow Out
LIM Yi-yong, Charles (Singapore)

Special Mention
An Original Photocopy of Happiness
Dechen RODER (Bhutan)

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