ARTICLE
Local Filmmaking Talents at Cathay Motion Picture Awards 2013!
By InCinemas / 19 Jul 2013 (Friday)
On Thursday, the Cathay Motion Picture Awards came to an end where the winner walked away with $15,000 cash prize, the biggest for a filmmaking competition in Singapore.
The Cathay Motion Picture Awards 2013 has concluded with the crowning of the top three winning short films and the Viewers’ Choice award. On top of the cash prizes, the aspiring filmmakers will also realise the ultimate dream of seeing their own films gracing the silver screen and entertaining mass audiences. All four winning short films will be screened on Cathay Cineplexes’ circuit for a period of four weeks in 2014.
In its second year currently, Cathay Organisation’s annual short film competition saw a 120 per cent increase in participation with a total of 109 entries, compared to the 49 entries received in 2012. In conjunction with Cathay Organisation's 78th Anniversary, filmmakers were required to create their 78-seconds film in 78 hours with the theme 'Tomorrow'.
(View all the top 15 finalists' films here!)
The panel of judges, formed by esteemed members of the local film industry, shared that the competition has indeed identified an emerging trend in the next generation of filmmakers.
Team Ayam Man which received the coveted Best Motion Picture award comprised of members Randy Ang, Adam Tun-Aung and Mavis Kuang. All of them are in the filmmaking industry and were surprised to win the first prize.
"Before the winner was announced, I was telling my friends that 'Child' was going to win two awards this time, so I was really surprised when they called out our film," said Ang.
About Ayam Man
The unlikely superhero Ayam Man returns to Earth to embark on an epic adventure. He fights to keep a promise made to his beloved, and also to face the wrath of his arch nemesis.
“Ayam Man is the chicken of tomorrow,” he continued. “It is inspired by how Superman is known as the man of tomorrow."
If you're wondering how many chickens were used in this short film, the answer is six chickens, including the black ones.
The 1st Runner-Up, Reality by Team Lawliepop Offset, made use of impressive special effects to embellish their futuristic story of a couple which kept secrets from each other. Done with 'Minority Report' kind of futuristic edits, it was definitely one that stood out among the rest.
About Reality
Set in a futuristic world where the advancement of technology has opened up endless possibilities for anyone to be who they want to be, a couple takes a leap of faith to reveal their true selves.
Elgin Quek, Director of Photography for 'Reality' mentioned that the group didn't want the theme 'tomorrow' to be too straightforward, there for 'tomorrow' in this short film meant the 'future'.
"The inspiration behind it is really how we hide behind technology, does it really regress us as human beings of who we are," he continued.
2nd Runner-Up went to Team P² who created 'Pause for Tomorrow' and this marks their first participation in a film competition together. The actress went through 42 outfit changes for the film, though the initial plans was for her to to change 78 times!
Talking about her experience, 20 year-old Rini Hapsoro said, "It definitely gives us some confidence and it gives us hope that we don't need exquisite stuff, we just need to work with what we have, maybe a couple of good brains and confidence along the way."
'Child' received a total of 1,070 votes on the competition website, out of more than 4,200 public votes received over a period of 20 days, making it the winner of the 'Viewers' Choice' award.
About Child
A reminder on not being so obsessed with the goals of tomorrow that you neglect the here and now, told through the eyes of a little boy.
Child was also the hot-favourite among the other filmmakers where many thought they would be the one to win.
"I guess this is part and parcel of a competition; the uncertainty of things. I'm just thankful that my film has reached out to the people and that they voted for it. I'm also very grateful that we won viewers' choice," director Sufyan said.