Editor

• View
• Edit

Second project market to take place December 9 to 11 with

14 new projects seeking finance and partners

The second annual IFFAM Project Market (IPM), which takes place December 9-11 during the second International Film Festival & Awards • Macao, has announced the 14 projects selected to take part in this year’s event.

The market, curated by genre expert and producer Todd Brown and designed to showcase international projects with Asian elements and principally with a genre theme, will offer cash prizes in the amount of $30,000 provided by sponsors Ivanhoe Pictures, Huace Pictures and Hairun Media.

The 14 projects consist of 11 genre films - eight selected by IPM and one each from international market partners Blood Window (Argentina), Frontieres (Canada) and Sitges Film Festival (Spain) - and three auteur titles.

Among the world-class filmmakers with new projects at the market are South Korean master Im Sang-soo (The President’s Last Bang, A Good Lawyer’s Wife, The Housemaid) with his chilling thriller Dead In The Lake; Belgian duo Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani (Let The Corpses Tan, Amer) with their New York-set sexual revenge thriller Darling; Brimstone director Martin Koolhoven with his lavish period noir The Emerald Butterfly set in Dutch colony Indonesia in 1946; and Australia’s Ivan Sen (Toomelah, Mystery Road, Goldstone), who presents his next film Loveland, a sci-fi romantic thriller set in a Chinese mega-city of the future.

Canada’s Richie Mehta (Siddharth, Amal, India In A Day) brings his new project The Price Of Tea about an American man who spends a day with a Chinese woman on a tour of Beijing; and Macao-based Ivo M. Ferreira (Letters From War) brings his newest project Projecto Global about a wave of political bombings, robberies and executions that swept through Portugal in the early eighties.

All the selected projects will take part in an extensive industry program designed to match the filmmakers with a broad cross section of high level industry professionals and drive projects forward. The IPM takes place within the framework of the Industry Hub at IFFAM.

Todd Brown said: “We were thrilled at the level of success at the inaugural IFFAM Project Market – with two selected projects closing financial deals at the market and others doing so shortly thereafter building on relationships forged at the IFFAM – and we look to build on that success with the second edition. With a blend of established, top level talent and bright rising stars from around the globe we believe we have assembled a collection of projects here sure to thrill audiences, critics and industry alike and are proud to be a part of bringing these amazing projects to life.”

THE PROJECTS

30K Kicks (Spain/Korea)

Director: Santiago Alvarado Ilarri

Producers: Joaquim Vivas, Wonsun Shin 

 Soju is a young man living secluded in a psychiatric center. He seems inoffensive, but at night the warders take him out for clandestine fights. Felix is a man who owes a lot of money to the Boss of the center. As he can’t pay him back, he is kidnapped and tortured in the center, but Soju defends him and they escape together. They manager to get passage on a merchant ship bound for Europe on which a secret fighting tournament takes place, but even there they can’t escape the boss.

Daedalus (Portugal)

Director: Jerónimo Rocha

Producer: Frederico Serra

A dystopian future. Siena - an impetuous young woman from the lowest echelons of society - works on a shipbreaker’s crew set to haul back to Earth a long-forgotten decrepit spacecraft.

In the labyrinthine belly of the beast, they uncover the centuries-old secret of humankind’s deadly first contact with an alien species. When Siena comes unexpectedly into contact with an alien artifact, she awakes an overwhelming force that wants to take the object back to its origin, by any means necessary. Siena will have to find a way to communicate with the artifact in order to survive.

Darling (Belgium/Canada)

Directors: Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani

Producer: Michael Solomon

New York, early 1960s. Gloria is a young woman living in the Big Apple. Still a virgin, she is made weary by the insistent sexual predilections of her boyfriend. One night she is raped by a mysterious figure with white eyes. It ignites a current inside her that cannot be controlled, driving Gloria downward, spiraling in to extreme physical experiences. Looking to calm the cataclysm that pushes her towards self-destruction and haunted by the white eyes of her rapist, she is determined to find him, kill him, and end her chaos. But is this mysterious figure real, or in her imagination?

Days Of Being Trapped (Macao)

Director: Vincent Hoi

Producer: Jackie Virginia Tse

Before the election of City Council, Derek the journalist, his girlfriend Tracy, his pregnant assistant Kiki, Wong the policeman, Mak the councillor candidate, teachers, students, illegal workers and gangsters are trapped inside a half-abandoned industrial building which has been secretly blockaded due to a suspected deadly virus spreading inside. Inside the isolated building whoever can get Wong’s police pistol will become the “King” and make the decisions. On the tenth day trapped inside - which is also the election day for City Council – the last of the food is eaten up and Mak suggests a vote to select one of them to be slaughtered for food.

Dead In The Lake (South Korea/USA)

Director: Im Sang-soo

Producer: Lee Namhee

Angela witnesses her husband hit a deer, and his car is overturned right before her eyes. However, his doctor finds some unidentified drugs he took caused a heart attack, leading to the accident. A simple car accident turns into an attempted murder case, and Angela becomes a prime suspect. Meanwhile Angela's father discovers that another man – Michael - has invaded his territory and had sex with Angela at his boathouse. He thinks the man is an intruder, a threat to his daughter. He strikes Michael's head with a wood stick. Woken up by the roll of thunder, Angela looks out the window. She finds Michael's car and sees her father just entering the house. Bolting out, she finds Michael dead. She rushes into the house again and finds a wet raincoat and rubber boots in her father's room. She has no choice but to sink Michael with his car into the lake.  Soon Michael's dead body rises to the surface of the lake, and the police suspect Angela since she is the last person to see him. Angela has to find a way out not only for herself, but for her father. 

Dreaming Girl (Macao)

Director: Oliver Fa

Producer: Adam Tam Chi Wai

School-girl Miss Mei has a passion for rock music and aspires to become a singer in a rock band and when a new school teacher sets out to form a girl band for the school, she immediately signs up. But when she shows up for practice, she sees that the three other band members play Classical Chinese instruments and that the band is a government incentive to promote Classical Chinese music. Ever the rock fan, Mei works with the band and teacher to create a unique rock sound by using classical instruments to join the annual school music competition.

The Emerald Butterfly (Netherlands/Indonesia/Germany/France/UK/Belgium/Malaysia)

Director: Martin Koolhoven

Producer: Els Vandevorst

1946. The Indonesian Republic has declared Independence but Holland refuses to acknowledge the newly independent state. Most of the Japanese have just pulled out; the British are charged with restoring order and the Dutch are slowly sending soldiers back in. In this charged environment The Emerald Butterfly delivers a noir crime story from three different points of view. First is the Dutchman, trying to take back what he thinks is his. Second is an Indonesian woman searching for a new life. Third is the American consul general caught up in conspiracy. The three stories will intertwine.

A Girl Without a Head (Malaysia)

Directors/producers: Liew Seng Tat and Pete Teo

Production company: A Little Picture House (Malaysia)

Mei, a murdered girl is resurrected from the dead. Although she has lost her memory, she finds and gains friendship in the blind community of Kuala Lumpur. Meanwhile, a civil servant tries to adopt a child in order to save his failing marriage. His journey takes us to Mei and the darkness of her past in a tale of underworld honour and love.

The Last Savage (USA/France/Indonesia)

Director: Liam O’Donnell

Producer: Matthew Chausse

In the near future, the rise of ocean levels give way to a global cataclysm leaving nothing but scattered radioactive islands. A small boy is washed ashore on a deserted jungle island. Alone and desperate, he fights to survive. After a near fatal attack, the boy bonds with a streak of tigers, learns their ways and grows into a formidable hunter. Years later, a band of armored hunters arrive on the island and kill the boy’s family of tigers. They capture him and fly him to a sprawling island of steel known as the Rig, where they train the boy to take part in savage public fights. 

Loveland (Australia/China)

Director: Ivan Sen

Producers: David Jowsey, Greer Simpkin and Ivan Sen

A Chinese future city raised from the east China sea. A loveless world on the cusp of immortality and extinction. Two hardened souls search for what it once was to be human, until it confronts them and reveals the mystery of their existence. Would you want to live forever if you had to live without love?

Mihara (USA/Japan)

Director: Jacqueline Castel

Mihara is a tense, surreal psychological thriller set in the present day with the core of a coming of age film. The story follows Kate, an introverted American teenager relocated to a remote Japanese island by her businessman father. Plagued by unresolved trauma from her mother’s recent death, Kate is drawn to the haunting power and cryptic past of the island’s volcano, Mount Mihara.

Projecto Global (Portugal)

Director Ivo M. Ferreira

Production companies: O Som E A Furia (Portugal), Komplizen Film (Germany)

Portugal: 1980 to 1986. A wave of bombings, robberies, executions and threats is rattling the nation. Rosa, a PJ agent undercover in an FP-25 cell, falls in love with one of its operatives while she is gathering information about the organization. On the other side, Adriano, a PJ inspector who is working clandestinely, is oblivious of his partner’s infidelity. Betrayal, violence and disappointment drive the trio into an inevitable clash.

The Price Of Tea (Canada/UK)

Director: Richie Mehta

Producers: Cassandra Sigsgaard and David Miller

Chris, an American in his 30s, has just landed in Beijing to sell his successful smart-phone app to a Chinese company. Though he is impressed by his surroundings and the hospitality afforded him, something in him hesitates to go through with this lucrative deal. Arriving at his hotel, he decides to unplug and go for a walk to the nearby Tiananmen Square. On the way, he encounters Zhao Na, a beautiful Chinese woman who strikes up a conversation with him. They walk and talk through the grand square and nearby market, talking for hours, and end up in a session of tea and karaoke. But all is not as it seems.

The Song of The Day (Brazil)

Director: M.M. Izidoro

Producer: Guilherme Pinheiro

The Song of the Day follows two lovers who are reunited after years separated on what could be the last day of the Earth. They have just one day to go through their story and finally come to terms with it. Through a frank conversation full of flashbacks to different periods of their relationship we see how this couple deals with their dreams, loves and conflicts in this groundbreaking musical narrative. An apocalyptic musical referencing classics such as Rent, The Last Five Years, Ópera do Malandro, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Once, La La Land and Sing Street.

For more information, please visit the official website: http://www.iffamacao.com

International press: PREMIER

+44 20 7292 8330 MacaoForeignPress@premiercomms.com

Notes to editors:

ORGANISING COMMITTEE

The 2^nd IFFAM Organizing Committee comprises governmental representatives and film professionals. MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes takes up the role of President, while President of Cultural Affairs Bureau Leung Hio Ming, President of Management Committee of Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau José Tavares and President of Macau Films & Television Productions and Culture Association Alvin Chau are the Executive Vice Presidents of the IFFAM Organizing Committee.  

INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL TEAM
The International Professional Team for IFFAM includes Festival Director, Head of Festival Management, Ambassadors, an International Advisory Board as well as International Consultants. Mike Goodridge and Lorna Tee are Artistic Director and Head of Festival Management respectively.

The International Advisory Board consists of five film experts from the East and the West, including Chinese film director and producer Huang Jianxin, veteran Asia-Pacific based producer Michael J. Werner; Korean producer Oh Jungwan; Hong Kong producer and distribution expert Nansun Shi, and renowned producer Luís Urbano.

Ambassadors for the 2^nd IFFAM include renowned Hong Kong director John Woo, last year’s jury president Shekhar Kapur, Hong Kong writer/director Pang Ho-cheung, Italian producer Gianni Nunnari, and South Korean director Choi Dong-hoon.  

The team of International Consultants in charge of film selection includes Giovanna Fulvi for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan; Aseem Chhabra for India; Violeta Bava for Latin America; Fionnuala Halligan for the United Kingdom and Europe; and Hiromi Aihara for Japan. June Wu will also be returning as the Head of Industry for the 2nd IFFAM.

The Team of Honorary Advisors includes Maggie Ma, Chief Officer, Corporate Communications and Corporate Affairs, Melco Resorts & Entertainment; Jorge Neto Valente, Group Advisor, Galaxy Entertainment Group; Linda Chen, President and Executive Director, Wynn Resorts (Macau) S.A.