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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


P


rojects 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 dif- fi 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 elev- enth 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 Entertain- ment 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 indus- try 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 net- work of project markets, including CineMart,


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 documen- taries and features from Europe, Australia and the Middle East.


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 fes- tivals, 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.





been helped by HAF? Brillante Mendoza’s Kinatay is the most notable.


 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, best


performance of a supporting actress, best


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


performance of 2010 an actress, best


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


Urumi


Rotterdam 2010; Fipresci Prize, Orizzonti, Venice Film 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


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 Winter Vacation


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


Q Which fi lms or fi lm-makers in particular have Q How would you summarise the achievements


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 Cin- derella 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


Jacob Wong Crazy Racer


■ 16 Screen International at Filmart March 21, 2012


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