Hong Kong’s Fresh Wave Short Film Competition reached its 10th anniversary in 2015 and celebrated its achievements as a key showcase of emerging film talent.
The programme, run by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, brings together aspiring filmmakers aged 18 to 35 to make short films with the help of industry mentors, and the results are screened in the Fresh Wave International Short Film Festival.
Last year’s line-up comprised 34 films, with an even split between Student and Open Divisions.
Works could be no longer than 25 minutes, each filmmaking team was given a budget of HK$70,000 (€7,900), and the volunteer mentors included established filmmakers Herman Yau, Yau Nai-hoi, Chan Hing-kai and Mabel Cheung.
Over the past decade, many Fresh Wave filmmakers have successfully stepped into Hong Kong cinema, taking roles across the production spectrum.
Most high-profile among them today are the trio who directed Trivisa, a crime film released this April and co-produced by Johnnie To, a long-time and prominent supporter of Fresh Wave’s efforts.
As in previous years, the 2015 Fresh Wave series offered a great diversity of themes and approaches. With this programme, Udine Far East Film offers a selection of highlights.
CONDITIONED
若男
t.l. Condizionamento
Dir: Chan Kam-hei / 2015 / 24’
Student Division
The winner of the Fresh Wave Award grand prize as well as Best Film and Best Script in the Student Division, Conditioned follows a high-school student who, to meet the expectations of her mum and grandfather, has been brought up as a boy. Life is hard for the village girl, who secretly changes into female clothes whenever she goes out, and eventually she’ll need to confront her troubled mother. Chan Kam-hei’s work relies on stripped-down dialogue and quality performances, not least from the young actress who’s the centre of attention, as it delves into unusual domestic drama.
Chan Kam-hei made Conditioned as a second-year student of the School of Film and Television at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
AND AFTERWARDS
後來怎麼了
t.l. E dopo
Dir: Law Sin-yan / 2015 / 25’
Open Division
Socially conscious filmmaking rises to the fore in Law Sin-yan’s school and workplace drama And Afterwards. Set across several years, the film shows a young man getting an office job and working with an autistic colleague, and while doing so he recalls school days when a student with autism was bullied. Law handles complex material with a deft hand, allowing her film to jump between past and present smoothly and never resorting to hammering home messages, and her work was rewarded with the Fresh Wave Best Film Award in the Open Division.
Law Sin-yan graduated from the School of Creative Media at the City University of Hong Kong. She has been learning filmmaking in different positions since graduation.
WHERE’S THE HEAD?
陳太人頭失竊案
t.l. Dov’è la testa?
Dir: Lui Mei-fung / 2015 / 24’
Student Division
A petty hoodlum makes a bizarre break into the film industry in this fast-paced piece of pop cinema. Living with his comically reprobate mum, the young man winds up with what seem to be the remains of a murdered neighbour and gets involved in an absurd blackmail scheme. Lui Mei-fung’s film goes for outrageous styling and draws on Hong Kong’s nonsense-comedy tradition as it seeks to entertain, and the nutty concoction won Best Creativity and Best Cinematography in the Student Division.
Tim Youngs