The 27th edition of the Independent Short Film and Video Media Festival (ifva) is taking place this year. However, due to the pandemic, the scheduled screenings and exhibitions could not be held as planned. The most anticipated independent short film and video media competition has been moved online and the award results will be live streamed on March 12th.
The event is divided into 5 major categories, including the open category, youth category, animation category, Asian new forces, and media art category. There are 50 nominated works this year, and many creators interpret daily life from different perspectives, responding to the times, making it meaningful. Below, everyone will be able to preview some exciting clips of the works through the trailer in advance.
Open category
The works shortlisted in the open category reflect struggles with life and survival, as well as various separations and reunions in the new normal and diaspora. Zhu Ziyuan’s “Calm” records an encounter between a Hong Kong girl and a Japanese boy in Kaohsiung; Kwok Chung-yi’s “Dancing with Chaos” responds to the chaotic world through dance and documentary footage.
Yang Jinglin’s directorial debut “Moonlight” is interpreted by the new generation actor Chen Hanna, depicting the love between two distant places under the same moon; Huang Jiaqi’s feature script “Fei and Fire” was selected for the 2021 Script Station at the Berlin Film Festival; there is also Tang Yi’s Cannes Best Short Film “Under the Crow”, and Gu Ben Sen’s visual documentary “Land of No Reflection” capturing the final appearance of Cheung Chau Theatre.
Teenage group
Teenage group works, maintaining a youthful perspective that is both sharp and detached, facing the pandemic, systems, and even inevitable farewells, as well as reflecting on nature, all transformed into sincere and candid images.
Animation team
The animated works nominated include urban daily life portrayals as well as dark fairy tales. The four local works have different styles: Deng Jinqi, born in Tuen Mun, expresses his homesickness in “Tuen Mun Stories”; melancholy’s “Ansi Antelope” is a dark fable about an antelope assimilated by city life losing its voice; Luo Haohong and Li Yinglin’s “Deliveryman of Love Lost” documents the daily life of food delivery workers.
Zhang Xiaota’s “Polar Night” reminds us that after countless hardships, as long as we persevere, the polar night will eventually pass. Other Asian works come from Taiwan, China, Japan, and Singapore, including Honami Yano’s “A Bite of Bones,” produced by director Koji Yamamura, who was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for “Mt. Head”; Huang Shijian’s “Butterfly Jam” is also a nominee for Best Animated Short Film at the 58th Golden Horse Awards.
Asian New Power Group
The Asian New Force Group brings together works from creators from various countries, discussing global issues such as the extraordinary ways ordinary people survive during the pandemic, as well as life topics such as birth, aging, illness, and death. “A Little Circus” is directed by Yoshiro Osaka from Japan, delicately documenting the daily life of a circus in Cambodia during the pandemic.
“Speaking Without Listening” is a work by the famous Taiwanese editor Li Nianxiu, adapting his personal experience of his father’s passing with a dark humor approach. Starring veteran actors Jin Shijie and Yang Guimei; Li Mingyang was nominated for the Busan Film Festival and the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival with “Relics,” examining the conflict between civilization bulldozer and traditional beliefs.
Media Arts Group
The works of the Media Arts Group include new and old media such as sound installations, electronic games, autonomous intelligences, and cassette tapes, depicting imaginations of the future and the past in this ever-changing time. Local works include: Yang Jing and Guan Ziwei’s electronic game “Forgotten Engineer,” where players are tasked with finding traumatic memories in the brain of a deceased artist.
Xie Junsheng’s “I am like the sea waves, rising and falling.” reconstructs memories with his grandfather through looking at the sea and listening to the waves; Chen Langfeng’s “Petri.Vista” imitates human activities with autonomous intelligent bodies; Liu Qinghua’s “Cave Walls and Whistles” unfolds through stop-motion animation, contrasting real-world time with the condensed time within.
The award results will be announced online at 7 pm on March 12 (Saturday) (watch live here), everyone remember to tune in to the platform to support the favorite works!
Learn more: ifva
Image source: ifva, Hong Kong Arts Centre
