Local productions win awards at audio-visual competition

Five films and a music video received awards at the Sound & Image Challenge Festival award ceremony, held recently at the Dom Pedro V Theatre. The contest, which is now in its sixth consecutive year, was transformed this year into the Macau First Short Film Festival with the aim of promoting and nurturing the local film industry and encouraging local individuals to consider a career in audio-visual design.
A Macau local film, entitled “Come, The Light” by Chao Koi Wang, won both the “Macau Cultural Identity” and “Best Local Entry” awards. Local band “Forget The G” and producer, Ao Ieong Weng Fong, won the “Best Music Video” award for the video accompanying the band’s song, “Sleepwalker.”
“The Mechanical Waltz,” an animated film by Julien Dykmans of France, took out awards for “Best in Event” and “Best Animation”. Meanwhile, “The Wall (Le Mur)” by Andra Tevy – also from France – secured the award for “Best Fiction” and the “Public Favourite Award,” as voted by the attendees at the open screening sessions.
In addition, the “Best Documentary” prize was awarded to “A Journey” by Naya Kuu from Belgium, while the prize for “Best Advertisement” was given to “Ad Rem” by Polish director Bartosz Kruhilk.
The Sound & Image Challenge Festival this year received a total of 680 film entries from 65 different countries, according to event organizers. The entries spanned five key categories: fiction; documentary; animation; advertisement; and Macau cultural identity.
“We have drawn a larger number of contestants this year through a new conceptual competition, with a higher outstanding level and quality movies – especially the twenty-five nominated films,” the event director, Lúcia Lemos, explained.
The Sound & Image Challenge Festival was originally launched in 2010 by Creative Macau – Centre for Creative Industries. The event was expanded in later years based on the five categories.  Staff reporter