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The place to fi nd an international partner HAF director Jacob Wong talks to Liz Shackleton about the finance market and how the event has evolved over the past 10 years Projects markets are now plentiful in Asia, but at the time of its inception, the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) was only the second of its kind in the region, and the fi rst to be located in and have a focus on Hong Kong. The event had a diffi cult birth. After a successful fi rst edition in 2000, initiated by industry fi gures including the late Wouter Barendrecht, the market did not return the following year, due partly to diffi culties in securing government funding. It was held in a modifi ed form in 2002 and almost made a comeback in 2003, but was cancelled at the eleventh hour thanks to the SARS virus outbreak. HAF hit its stride in 2005 when it moved to March and became part of Hong Kong’s Entertainment Expo, under the same roof as Filmart and the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF). Now organised by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society, it has become a major industry event with a proven track record — more than 50 HAF projects have been produced and released, racking up more than 200 festival appearances, nominations and awards. It has also become part of an international network of project markets, including CineMart, HAF PROJECTS: RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2011 TRESPASSERS (Phil) Dir Jeffrey Jeturian Track record Vancouver International Film Festival 2011; Winds of Asia-Middle East Best Asian-Middle Eastern Film Award, Tokyo International Film Festival 2011; best fi lm, lm, best best performance of an actress, actress, best performance performance of a supporting actress, actress, best Urumi ■ 16 Screen International at Filmart March 21, 2012 Busan’s Asian Project Market (APM), Paris Project, Copenhagen’s DOX:LAB and New York’s Independent Filmmaker Project. Though HAF retains its Asian focus, this year’s selection of 32 projects is the widest yet, including six documentaries and features from Europe, Australia and the Middle East. ■Q How would you summarise the achievements of HAF since its launch? Jacob Wong We’ve put some fi lms into the market and helped some fi lm-makers go to major fi lm festivals, and launched their careers in a way, and I think that’s what these co-production markets are all about. HAF is lucky that Filmart moved from June to March in 2005 because a co-production market is always better tied to a large market event. In the early days, people such as Wouter and [US- Korean producer] Paul Yi had the foresight to bring an initiative like this to Hong Kong, but there were ups and downs with funding problems and SARS. Eventually, things started to take off. ■Q Which fi lms or fi lm-makers in particular have been helped by HAF? Brillante Mendoza’s Kinatay is the most notable. cinematography and best production design, directors showcase, Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival 2011 URUMI (Ind) Dir Santosh Sivan Track record Busan International Film Festival 2011; commercial release in 2011 2010 FLOATING LIVES (Viet) Dir Nguyen Phan Quang Binh Track record Opening fi lm, Vietnam International Film Festival 2010; in competition, Busan International Film Festival 2010 2009 ADRIFT (Viet) Dir Bui Thac Chuyen Track record Three nominations, Asian Film Awards 2010; International Film Festival Rotterdam 2010; Fipresci Prize, Orizzonti, Venice Film Festival Festival 2009; Floating Lives Toronto International Film Festival 2009; Busan International Film Festival 2009 WARRIORS OF THE RAINBOW: SEEDIQ BALE (Tai) Dir Wei Te-Sheng Track record Best feature fi lm, best supporting actor, best original fi lm score, best sound effects and audience choice award, Golden Horse Awards 2011; Hong Kong Jacob Wong Crazy Racer Asian Film Festival 2011; Taiwan’s entry for best foreign-language fi lm, Academy Awards 2011; in competition, Venice Film Festival 2011; Busan International Film Festival 2011; Toronto International Film Festival 2011; commercial release in September 2011 KINATAY (Phil) Dir Brillante Mendoza Track record Best director, Cannes The day before HAF fi nished, I saw him and his producer Ferdie [Lapuz] and they said, “Thanks for having us — we’ve got our money and we’re going back to shoot.” Two months later, the fi lm was in Cannes. That must be some kind of record. Another person who springs to mind is Ning Hao. He was a young fi lm-maker when he brought Crazy Racer to us, which became another Cinderella story in the Chinese fi lm industry. ■Q Since HAF was established, mainland China has risen to become a major source of film fi nance. Do you feel it is still as important to have a fi nancing platform focused on Asian fi lms? It’s still just as important, especially for most of the fi lms that are brought to HAF, as they are the kind of fi lms that don’t get fi nance easily. Of course there Film Festival 2009; best director and best original soundtrack, Sitges-Catalonia International Film Festival 2009; Busan International Film Festival 2009; Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 2009 WINTER VACATION (Chi) Dir Li Hongqi Track record International Film Festival Rotterdam 2011; Red Chameleon Award, Cinema Digital Seoul Film Festival 2010; Golden Leopard Award, Locarno Film Festival 2010; Open Doors, Locarno Film Festival 2009; in Winter Vacation
is money in Asia, especially north of Hong Kong. But the question is, how do you get that fi nance into your pockets to do what you want to do? There’s still not much of an infrastructure in China for fi nancing these kinds of budgets, so we don’t see a lot of that money coming to HAF. HAF sometimes has bigger productions, and those can attract fi nance easily, but the smaller producers still rely on fi lm funds in Western Europe. It’s easier for a Hong Kong person to fi nd Chinese money, but those who are not making Chineselanguage fi lms will fi nd it diffi cult. ■Q Is it also diffi cult to fi nd fi nance for Chinese arthouse fi lms? Yes, a large proportion of these projects don’t get made because of the subject matter, even if it competition, Vancouver International Film Festival 2010 GENPIN (Jap) Dir Naomi Kawase Track record Toronto International Film Festival 2010; Paris Project 2009 THE YELLOW SEA (S Kor) Dir Na Hong-jin Track record Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival 2011; best actor, Asian Film Awards 2011; no. 1 holiday weekend box box offi ce in South Korea, 2010 THE DANCER (Indon) Dir Ifa Isfansyah Track record Commercial release in 2011 doesn’t cost a lot of money. Sometimes it’s tricky because a fi nancier, especially those from Western countries, will look at a film that costs so little money and hesitate because it’s too small. Distribution is also diffi cult — Asian arthouse fi lms go on the international fi lm festival circuit and may fi nd with some luck that they get picked up by European sales agents. And sometimes with even more luck, they get sold back to this part of the world. In most Asian countries, we don’t look at the works of our neighbours apart from some major Chinese, Japanese and Korean products. ■Q Why did you decide to include documentaries for the fi rst time this year? We decided to do so this year because it’s our 10th anniversary. We thought we’d have a little more money and we have a tie-up with Copenhagen. There There are not many events focusing on Asian documentaries, but there are funding bodies such as as Busan’s Asian Asian Network of Documentaries (AND). And And [Japanese broadcaster] NHK is a major fi nancier of documentaries in this region, but everyone approaches them so it’s diffi cult to get fi nancing. ■Q What proportion of the projects that are submitted to you come with finance already attached? We have a tendency to give priority to projects that already have some money attached because it’s easier for for them to to get more financing. When an investor sees there is is already somebody in a project, they feel it it is is easier easier to take a share rather than go go into a brand brand new project, project, especially if the fi lm-maker or producer is new. Also, in matters matters of quality, usually the better better projects are those those that already have a little bit bit of fi nancing nancing secured. ■Q Looking at the region, which countries do you think are the most cinematically exciting at present? Probably Indonesia. We have four Indone- SAMPAGUITA, NATIONAL FLOWER (Phil) Dir Francis Xavier Pasion Track record Berlin International Film Festival 2011; in competition, Vancouver International Film Festival 2010; in competition, Busan International Film Festival 2010; special jury prize, The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival 2010 2008 THIRST (S Kor) Dir Park Chan-wook Track record Best visual effects, Asian Film Awards 2010; jury prize, Cannes Film Festival 2009; NETPAC Award, Busan International Film Festival 2009; best supporting actress and best music, Blue Dragon Awards 2009; Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 2009 KARAOKE (Mal) Dir Chris Chong Chan Fui Track record Best editor, Asian Film Awards 2010; Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes Film Festival 2009; Toronto International Film Festival 2009; Busan International Film Festival 2009; Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 2009 SERVICE (Phil) Dir Brillante Mendoza Track record Three nominations and winner of best supporting actress, Asian Film Awards 2009; Taipei Golden Horse Film Karaoke ‘We’ve helped film-makers go to major film festivals and launched their careers’ Jacob Wong, HAF Kinatay Festival 2009; in competition, Cannes Film Festival 2008; Toronto International Film Festival 2008; Busan International Film Festival 2008 MOTHER (S Kor) Dir Bong Joon-ho Track record South Korea’s entry for best foreign-language fi lm, Academy Awards 2010; best fi lm, best actress and best screenwriter, Asian Film Awards 2010; Un Certain FEATURE sian fi lms in HKIFF and three and a co-production in HAF. I think a certain sector of their population is becoming affluent, so there are young film-makers who are well-educated and interested in world cinema and want to become a part of it. They also have an indigenous industry, though most of what they make is only for domestic consumption. The optimism is comparable to what I experience in Taiwan — these were the two happiest places in 2011. ■Q How do you see the future of independent Hong Kong cinema? I think it’s very diffi cult for Hong Kong people to overcome the illusion that what happened in the ‘golden years’ of Hong Kong cinema was not a miracle. A miracle by defi nition is something that happened but should not have happened, and it is unrealistic to expect a miracle to to go on forever. We have new film-makers emerging but they tend tend to follow the tradition and and move into the industry. There’s nothing nothing wrong with that, but they’re they’re not consciously going to make a Hong Kong film. Conditions have changed and China is so big. Also, the Cantonese language is still spoken, but it is spoken less — especially in Chinese communities outside of Hong Kong. ■Q ■Q■ Where do you see HAF heading in the next 10 years? We’ll keep on doing what we’ve been doing. We’re also considering a tie-up with TIBE TIBE [Taipei [Taipei International Book Book Exhibition ]. They They have have a stand at Filmart this year and a happy happy hour inside HAF to tell people what they are doing. In the future, we could bring in publishers and instead of fi lm projects there will be books and works-in-progress. Chinese filmmakers often read books and think about adapting them, but it’s not easy because there’s no formalised system. Regard, Cannes Film Festival 2009; best performance by an actress, Asia Pacifi c Screen Awards 2009; best fi lm, best supporting actor and best lighting, Blue Dragon Awards 2009; Toronto International Film Festival 2009; Busan International Film Festival 2009; Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 2009 HI-SO (Thai) Dir Aditya Assarat Track record Hong Kong International Film Festival 2011; Tokyo International Film Festival 2010; Busan International Film Festival 2010; Paris Project 2008 JULIETS (Tai) Dirs Hou Chi-Jan, Shen Ko-Shang, Chen Yu-Hsun Track record Nomination at Golden Horse Awards 2010; opening fi lm, Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 2010; Tokyo International Film Festival 2010; Busan International Film Festival 2010 March 21, 2012 Screen International at Filmart 17 ■
Page 3 and 4: DAY 3 www.ScreenDaily.com Editorial
Page 6: REVIEWS Reviews edited by Mark Adam
Page 9 and 10: The Fourth Direction Dir Gurvinder
Page 11 and 12: elephant soldiers Dirs Vardan Hovha
Page 13 and 14: NEW EOF TITLES SELECTED 2012 Regula
Page 18 and 19: scReenings edited by paul lindsell
Page 20 and 21: Meeting Room N111-N112, HKCEC PEtal
Page 22 and 23: EvEnts SeminarS and eventS WedneSda

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