The adjudicating panel of the “2021 Scripts in Focus — Film Scriptwriting Advanced Programme”, jointly organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym) of the Macao SAR Government, the Film Administration of Guangdong Province and Create Hong Kong, has recently completed the review process of the six film projects from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao and selected two winning projects for the “Excellent Script Award”, namely My Driver Father and Me by Niko Ho (from Macao) and Silent Few by Li Jing (from Guangdong), each of which received a prize of MOP60,000.
Macao’s winning project My Driver Father and Me by Niko Ho depicts the ups and downs of a family of three running a fruit stall and their lives in the aftermath of Typhoon Hato. The project was successfully shortlisted as one of the top 20 in the Young Director Support Programme “Young Shoots” sponsored by the China Film Director’s Guild. The other winning project, Silent Few, by Li Jing from Guangdong, adapted from a real-life story, tells the story of a legal aid lawyer promoting the establishment of a legal system in minority regions. IC, in collaboration with the Film Administration of Guangdong Province and Create Hong Kong, will actively encourage the participation of the two winners and their projects in different film activities, in the hope of seeking investment from the market for the film production and screening.
As one of the cultural cooperation programmes in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the “2021 Scripts in Focus” programme aims to cultivate filmmaking talent by giving guidance on scripts, thereby promoting the development of the film industry and spawning more creative films. The applicants of the programme from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have recently completed the instruction sessions and selection in the respective regions. A total of four applicants from Macao were selected to participate in the instruction sessions from June to September 2021 under the guidance of instructors You Xiaoying and Huang Ji, who are both senior filmmakers from Mainland China. Two of the shortlisted applicants were eventually selected to represent Macao in the joint review for projects from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.
Two winning projects out of a total of six from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, in which two projects represented each region, were selected by the adjudicating panel of the Film Scriptwriting Advanced Programme, based on four criteria, namely the theme and originality of the script, the connotation, storytelling, structure and rhythm of the script, the character design and dialogue of the script, and the completeness of the script. Each winner will be awarded a prize of MOP60,000. The adjudicating panel includes the former Assistant Head of Create Hong Kong Wellington Fung, veteran producer John Chong from Hong Kong, and screenwriter Yuan Yuan from Mainland China.
For enquiries about the programme, please contact the IC staff members , Mr Kuan through tel. no. 8399 6295 or Mr Chong through tel. no. 8399 6256 during office hours.