Macau New Wave
Have you ever thought of watching a film produced by local Macau people? Recently, a few local groups or organizations are producing their new films in Macau. It seems Macau's cinema is at a new stage.
Film production has become a new fad recently in Macau. Lately, Hong Kong films like "b420"and "Isabella" were shot in Macau. Meanwhile, some local young professionals like designers, photographers, filmmakers, musicians, performers, writers, etc. formed several groups or organizations to make independent films of their own.
"There are several possibilities," said Johnny Wong, president of a video organization, Espaco Video, in regard to the recent boom of film making. "First, people studying in this field have finished their studies and come back to Macau. Second, families are wealthier and children can afford to develop in the field they are interested in. Lastly, young people are more demanding and they are willing to strive for their dream."
But regarding the future development of filmmaking in Macau, Wong thinks that the development will be limited, because there is no such kind of commercial market in Macau.
Sio Ng, director of an independent short film "macau.xmas.2005", summed up the motive for shooting their film, "The purpose of the film is to group all creative talents together and work on one project to make our industry boom, because only by pooling many talents of different areas together, can we have the best work. And easily in film as it includes all sorts of creativities."
On the future development of local film production, Ng had a more optimistic view, "...it's a beginning and I believe it will take time before everyone can reach an industry standard in order to create a film industry here." She also reveals that she and the organization "macau.creatives" (MC) she belongs to will continue making films, most likely one film each year.
Another independent movie "The Posthumous Papers" is still in the shooting stage and planned for screening in July this year. Its director, Kenny Chong explained his reason for starting this film. "Actually my original idea was to produce something like a TV soap opera. I like the feeling of continuity in each story. However, there were difficulties and a period of time was spent on finding funds. At that time, I got to know about MC and their plan of shooting a short film. From them I found that it wasn't less interesting to shoot a short film. That's why we changed our plans and decided to start this film we are shooting now. "
Chong also commented on the future development of filmmaking in Macau, "...Macau has its unique style and culture and attracts investors like those from Hong Kong. There will be more and more investments of this kind. The only thing that falls short is that technicians and equipment of this kind are not quite sufficient in Macau."
Not only local organizations are making films, a group of Year 4 English Communication students of University of Macau (UM) are producing a 45-minute film and planning a public screening.
The instructor of UM Gateway, a video project in a workshop course, Sobel Chan Ka Lok, said he came up with the idea of gathering the power of the whole class of 19 students to produce one 45-minute film, when he took over this course this semester.
Chan said that he got this concept from the French New Wave cinema, a new era in the development of filmmaking. He thinks that this act will become a "Macau New Wave". "We wanted to do it because it is difficult, because it's never been done before. Only in this way, can students really learn," Chan added.
A public screening of UM Gateway in the S.T.D.M. Auditorium in the UM International Library is a big event. This semester's screening is on May 22.
In previous years, UM Gateway consisted of a series of short videos. Around four to five students were grouped together to produce one short video. The videos were then linked together to become a one-hour program. It is a project-oriented course and students are graded for their work.
Sabina Cheong, one of the students who are participating in the Gateway said, "It's a good thing. By making one film together we are building up our team spirit and communicating more with each other."