Announcement of “Strings of Sorrow” in press conference of The 4th International Film Festival and Award Macao

The International Film Festival & Awards • Macao (IFFAM) today announced its programme at a press conference in Macao, officiated by Carina Lau, the Hong Kong star who will attend as Talent Ambassador for the 4th edition of the festival.

We are very happy to announce the premier of our second feature film at the 4th International Film Festival and Award Macao. We done to our team, we made another impossible project possible.

We are very happy to announce the premier of our second feature film at the 4th International Film Festival and Award Macao. We done to our team, we made another impossible project possible.

The graceful poise of a string quartet hides a multitude of unrequited desires, secrets and sorrows in Oliver Fa’s second feature which takes Macao’s classical music scene and infuses it with tumultuous melodrama. Each member of the quarter is tortured. ‘First violin’ Sieo struggles with the burden of following in the footsteps of her famous late mother and a love for ‘cello’ Fung (played by Fa himself). Fung is a disciplinarian and taskmaster, but hides a secret love for Sieo that echoes his love for her mother who was his mentor. Fung is also hiding another secret: that he has brain cancer and will soon be unable to play anymore. The hothead of the group is ‘second violin’ Fei who has been harbouring a love for Sieo since they were kids, but cannot accept the fact that she has no interest in him. And Chin-I – ‘viola’ – has a fairly obvious love for Fei, who clearly doesn’t reciprocate. It’s a heady brew of thwarted passions accompanied by some of the greatest musical strains of all time.– Mike Goodridge

Festival programme highlights

International Competition – An international competition comprising 10 feature films, which is a showcase for first- and second-time filmmakers.

• Bellbird, by Hamish Bennett (New Zealand)
• Bombay Rose, by Gitanjali Rao (India/France/UK/Qatar)
• Buoyancy, by Rodd Rathjen (Australia)
• Family Members, by Mateo Bendesky (Argentina)
• Give Me Liberty, by Kirill Mikhanovsky (US)
• Goldie, by Sam de Jong (US)
• Homecoming, by Adriyanto Dewo (Indonesia)
• Lynn + Lucy, by Fyzal Boulifa (UK/France)
• Two Of Us, by Filippo Meneghetti (France/Belgium/Netherland/Luxembourg)
• Two/One, by Juan Cabral (UK/Mainland China/Canada)

Galas – A selection of mainstream crowd-pleasing films will be screened in a series of red-carpet presentations.

UK Galas

• Shaun The Sheep 2: Farmageddon, by Will Becher and Richard Phelan (UK)
• Judy, by Rupert Goold (UK)

Japan Gala

• Dance With Me, by Shinobu Yaguchi (Japan)

Flying Daggers – A selection of films representing the latest style of genre cinema, including TIFF People’s Choice Award winner The Platform.

• First Love, by Takashi Miike (Japan)
• The Platform, by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia (Spain)
• The Lighthouse, by Robert Eggers (USA)

World Panorama – Celebrated directors and award-winning films from major international film festivals.

• Dirty God, by Sacha Polak (Netherlands/UK/Belgium/Ireland)
• The Invisible Life Of Eurídice Gusmão, by Karim Aïnouz (Brazil/Germany)
• The Long Walk, by Mattie Do (Laos/Spain/Singapore)
• Proxima, by Alice Winocour (France/Germany)
• Little Joe, by Jessica Hausner (Austria/UK/Germany)
• My Zoe, by Julie Delpy (France/Germany)
• Saturday Fiction, by Ye Lou (Mainland China)
• The Wild Goose Lake, by Yi’nan Diao (Mainland China)
• Balloon, by Pema Tseden (Mainland China)

New Chinese Cinema – A competitive section of outstanding films from Chinese speaking territories.

• Better Days, by Derek Tsang (Mainland China)
• Dwelling In The Fuchun Mountains, by Xiaogang Gu (Mainland China)
• Lucky Grandma, by Sasie Sealy (USA)
• To Live To Sing, by Johnny Ma (Mainland China/France)
• Wet Season, by Anthony Chen (Singapore)
• Wisdom Tooth, by Liang Ming (Mainland China)

Directors’ Choices – Classic films selected by Asian filmmakers – Anthony Chen (Singapore) and non-Asian filmmaker – Cristian Mungiu (Romania)

• The 400 Blows (1959, François Truffaut, selected by Anthony Chen)
• Tokyo Story (1953, Yasujirô Ozu, selected by Cristian Mungiu)

Special Presentations
20th Anniversary Macao Special Presentations

•  Years of Macao, by Tou Kim Hong; Penny Lam; Albert Chu; Emily Chan; Peeko Wong; Chao Koi Wang; Maxim Bessmertny; Ao Ieong Weng Fong; António Caetano de Faria
• Ina and the Blue Tiger Sauna, by António Caetano de Faria; Bernardo Rao
• Let’s Sing, by Keo Lou
• Patio of Illusion, by Shangshi Chen
• String Of Sorrow, by Oliver Fa

Special Presentations

•  A City Called Macau, by Shaohong Li (Mainland China)
• Red Amnesia (2014, China), by Wang Xiaoshuai (Mainland China)
• The Truth, by Hirokazu Koreeda (Japan/France)
• The Present, by Hur Jin-ho (Korea)

Masterclass

• Kim Yong-Hwa Masterclass

The IFFAM Industry Hub will also be held during the festival between 6 and 8 December.

Tickets to films across all sections at The International Film Festival & Awards • Macao will be available for purchase through the Macau Ticketing Network from 6th November 2019. Tickets are also available at the screening venue from 5th – 10th December 2019 during the festival.

For more information, please visit the official website: http://www.iffamacao.com

【Source：IFFAM】

（Link：https://www.iffamacao.com/tc/2019/11/06/the-4th-international-film-festival-awards-%e2%80%a2-macao-announces-festival-programme/