The connection between the cinemas of East and West grows strong with each passing year and the FEFF Campus initiative plays its part each year. In 2023, once again we’ll be hosting 10 aspiring journalists – five from Asia and five from Europe – at this year’s 25th edition of the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy from 21 April to 29 April.
And a look at the nations and territories they will represent reflects just how popular Asian cinema - and FEFF - has become on a truly global scale. FEFF is very proud to announce that this year’s successful Campus candidates are Olivia Popp (Taiwan), Sasha Han (Singapore), Eunyoung Kwak (South Korea), Jody Chan (Hong Kong), Federica Giampaolo (Italy), Dora Leu (Romania), Hannah Martinez (Spain), Will Rowan (UK), Viktor Toth (Hungary), and Mladen Pechevski (Bulgaria).
They will now officially join the FEFF family across the course of this year’s festival, travelling to Udine from around the world ready to engage in a programme that will help them chart a course into their future careers.
“The FEFF Campus has become an integral part of the FEFF family each year and we are thrilled to once again welcome 10 emerging talents from across the globe to Udine,” said FEFF co-founder and president Sabrina Baracetti. “Our goal is to help them along their career paths, while celebrating their love of Asian cinema, and there’s no better place on earth to do that than FEFF.”
The FEFF Campus programme was initiated with great success in 2015 and will this year continue its commitment to providing a unique opportunity for young journalists to go “behind the scenes” at a film festival, while learning from the expertise provided by a line-up of media and film-industry veterans. This year’s Campus will include special seminars related to film-specific subjects, such the art of writing reviews, how to report on cinema, how to get a film made, and how to find work in the film industry, while the successful candidates will also have the opportunity to interview a selection of the biggest stars in Asia, and the chance to have their work published on global media platforms.
They will also have direct access to the ever-popular FEFF Talks series of seminars and guest appearances. The “business of film” is also high on the agenda for 2023, and the Campus attendees will be able to gain a valuable insight into the inner workings of the industry through FEFF’s "Focus Asia" and “Ties That Bind” industry sections.
Among the stars to take time to work with the Campus over the years have been Hong Kong legend Johnnie To, Oscar-winning Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Oscar-nominated Derek Tsang – and superstars Sammo Hung, Brigitte Lin and Moon So-ri.
The 9th edition of the FEFF Campus is this year being supported by the Asian film-industry platform Easternkicks.com as well as by the likes of the Taiwan News, Telum Media, Cineuropa and The New Straits Times.