Sound & Image Challenge expands into festival

The Sound & Image Challenge (SIC), a project launched by Creative Macau five years ago, has expanded into a film festival. Organizers announced yesterday that the event features two competitions, a short-­film contest (titled “Shorts”) and a music video contest (“Volume”). Submissions for both contests are open until June 16.
José Luis Sales Marques, president of the Institute of European Studies of Macau (IEEM), which supports the festival, told a press conference yesterday that, “[the project] has developed into something bigger, particularly last year with the support of the University of Saint Joseph (USJ). This has encouraged us to take a step forward and turn it into a festival.”
The Sound & Image Challenge Festival 2015 will be held between December 1 and 6. The “Shorts” category awards the best short films in four categories (Fiction, Documentary, Animation and Advertisement). For the “Volume” category, contestants submit music videos based on Macau compositions.
The winning music video will be recorded as the festival’s theme song.
A series of cultural events will be held between December 1 and 6, including film screenings and seminars on film production and development, as well as workshops.
Lúcia Lemos, project manager of Creative Macau, said that the event received 397 submissions last year. Local response, however, “was not as big as expected” as Macau’s film industry is still developing, she added.
This time, organizers are hoping to attract a higher number of submissions, while trying to capture the attention of local talent. João Cordeiro, the festival’s executive producer, said that they hope to reach about 1,000 submissions.
The “Best in Event” award is given to the best short-film, as voted by the grand jury among the four categories, with BNU sponsoring MOP20,000 in prize money. The best film in each category is awarded MOP10,000, sponsored by USJ, Creative Macau, or the Orient Foundation.
This year’s jury includes Mr. Zhang Zeming, Hong Kong film director and producer; João Francisco Pinto, TDM’s Portuguese News and Program Controller; and Mário Dorminski, founder of Fantasporto, Porto’s International Film Festival, among other international experts.
The Sound & Image Challenge was launched by Creative Macau – Center for Creative Industries in 2010, and targets both professionals and amateurs, said Ms Lemos. Since last year, the event has been held in collaboration with the University of Saint Joseph.