+ subscribe
Subscribe now
Subscribe our newsletter now!

Press

2013-02-20

18th ifva Festival incubator for film and visual media in asia Experimental Spirit:Be Brave to Embrace

Organised by the Hong Kong Arts Centre and sponsored by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the 18th ifva Festival will take place between 8 and 17 March 2013. The focus of 18th ifva Festival is on experimental spirits. 

Since last year ifva has been renamed to icubator for film and visual media in asia (formerly the Hong Kong Short Film and Video Awards) to strengthen its identity and shift the focus not only in short film and video but all sorts of visual media in Asia region. It will continue its mission to nurture local and Asian independent media talents and promote media creation.

Embrace the Experimental Spirit
Experiment is not necessarily something abstract but can be approachable to everybody. The opening films are legendary Hungarian computer animation pioneer Tamas Waliczky’s 45-min animation work Adventures of Tom Tomiczky and world-renowned Japanese director Naomi Kawase’s CHIRI/Trace. Apart from films and videos, ifva will showcase Tamas Waliczky’s important works from 1986 to 2013 in the Goethe Gallery, including world premiere of two new interactive installations and a series of his early award-winning computer animations and graphics. 

Innovation is the core element of being experimental. The Japanese creative team Open Reel Ensemble will perform an open air show at the entrance of Hong Kong Arts Centre that combines vintage open reel recorders with modern computer wizardry to create music that pushes the envelope of musical technologies. The Japanese new media artist Daito Manabe has long been a favourite among media art aficionados, and ifva will exhibit his interactive installations at the Pao Galleries, which will surely cause a sensation. 

Locally, media artist Ip Yuk-yiu has curated a programme entitled Lost Moments, which gathers some of the most important experimental films and videos from ifva over the period 1995 - 2005, and allows these almost forgotten works a chance to be appreciated anew. Director Susie Au is going to share with the audience the experience of making the documentary short film Faye Reborn and depict the very essence of her long time collaborating artist, Faye Wong, through her scrutinising eyes.

Creation without Borders
Not to be missed is the main attraction of ifva, the 18th ifva Awards. ifva has invited the jury members, including computer animation pioneer Tamas Waliczky, film director and screenwriter Felix Chong, independent musician Adrian Chow, creative writer Cheuk Wan Chi, the 31st Hong Kong Film Awardee Tsang Tsui Shan, film  Director Clement Cheng from the Open, Youth, Animation, Interactive Media Categories and the Asia New Force respectively. They will present certificates to the filmmakers of finalist works in each category as a token of encouragement. 

This year ifva keeps on serving as a platform to encourage the interactions among Asian creative filmmakers. The works in the Asian New Force Category of the 18th ifva include directors from Taiwan, China, Turkey, Israel and Russia. They will be invited to attend the 18th ifva Festival in Hong Kong and be inspired by interacting with finalists from other cities.

Apart from the cash prizes of total HK$370,000 which will be taken by the award winners from five categories, there are also some great opportunities and prizes to encourage the winners. Sponsored by Pure Art Foundation, the Gold award winner of Interactive Media Category will be offered a chance to attend the ARS Electronica in Austria, while the Gold award winner of Animation Category will be supported by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department to attend the Annecy International Animation Festival in France. The Silver Awards and Special Mention winners of the Interactive Media and Animation Category will receive a set of Adobe CS software as prizes.

Creativity Goes Onward and Outward/ Endless Succession of Creativity
As an incubator for film and visual media in Asia, ifva unceasingly serves as a platform that actively encourages creative talents. Taken the examples from the last year Gold award winners, Ng Ho-yin and Lai Yan-chi, Mo (Open Category), Szeto Wing-yin (Youth Category) and Sharon Liu (Animation Category), ifva links up award winners with different parties in order to offer them practical experience. ifva collaborates with various organisations and units as creative partners to produce commission works in the ifva greenlab project. This year ifva has Google as its creative partner. With Google’s search function as the starting point of the stories, three past ifva award-winners of the Open Category, Tsang Tsui-shan, Leung Ming-kai and Ng Ho-yin, tell three life-altering and heartwarming tales. These 3 works will be premiered at the ifva Award Presentation Ceremony on 16 March 2013. 
    
ifva also encourages the award winners to stride outside Hong Kong. ifva supported Szeto Wing-yin to join the 1st Xian Asian Film Festival and  South Taiwan Film Festival 2012. Also, ifva helped to distribute works of Sharon Liu to Spain, Australia, Germany and so on. 

To support the endless succession of creativity, ifva is a big family for its alumni. The award winners Lai Yan-chi, Mo was invited to join the camps and workshops of “All About Us 2012/13” as a teaching artist to share her experience and teachin filmmaking to the South Asian youths. The films produced by the students will also be screened during the festival.

Competition is not the end all of creative endeavors. Encourage participants to continually develop new ideas and create new works, open up more opportunities and space for creativeness have always been ifva’s goals.

Ticket is now available at URBTIX.
Date:8 - 17 March 2013
Enquiry:ifva@hkac.org.hk, 2824 5329
Website:www.ifva.com/festival
For further details – please visit www.ifva.com

Organised by Hong Kong Arts Centre, ifva is an Incubator for Film and Visual media in Asia (formerly the Hong Kong Independent Short Film and Video Awards).
Founded in 1995, ifva serves as a platform that actively promotes and encourages creative talents in Asia, making short films, videos, animation and interactive media. With a cutting-edge vision and highlight independent spirit, ifva has evolved to promote different visual cultures while exploring the boundless potential of creative media. In addition to the annual competition and festival, ifva curates a host of programmes under two initiatives, “Cultivation” and “Engagement”.  By connecting creative communities all over the world, ifva aims to engage everyone in the art of creation. ifva is also a core event of Entertainment Expo Hong Kong.




Ms Annie Ho (Marketing and Development Director)     
Tel: 2824 5306 / 9481 8706     
E-mail:aho@hkac.org.hk