ARTICLE
Last Call for Submissions for Southeast Asian Film Financing (SAFF) 2016.
By Flora / 31 Aug 2016 (Wednesday)
On to its second year, the Southeast Asian Film Financing (SAFF) is a platform for filmmakers to search for opportunities to make their feature film a reality. It aims to match promising feature-length projects with a global network of media financiers, distributors, and collaborators.
Photo Courtesy of: SAFF
Due to its previous edition’s success, which saw an overwhelming 148 entries, SAFF Project Market 2016 will feature up to 15 projects, from 10 in its inaugural year. It will be held at Marina Bay Sands Singapore from 7-9 December 2016 which includes a financing conference and the prestigious Ties That Bind (TTB) cross-cultural Europe/Asia co-producing workshop.
The selection of the final 15 projects will be made by an esteemed panel of international film industry experts that will include:
- Kathy Morgan – Principal of Kathy Morgan International (KMI) / Executive Producer of Academy Award-winning THE DANISH GIRL
- Chan Gin Kai – Executive Producer of Silver Media Group / Chairman of the Southeast Asian Audio-Visual Association (SAAVA)
- Kristina Trapp – CEO of European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE)
- Jeffrey Paine – Founding Partner of Golden Gate Ventures
- Leonard Retel Helmrich – Two-Time Sundance / Three-Time IDFA winning Filmmaker
Winners of last year’s SAFF including Mattie Do and Singaporean William Lim have went on to develop their feature films.
Do won the ‘Gateway to Digital Award’, and is the only Lao woman to ever direct a feature film, ‘The Long Walk’, which tells of a subsistence farmer living on the fringes of rural Laos who develops an obsession with the amnesiac spirit of an accident victim who haunts the dirt road where she died.
A deeply personal story for Mattie, this film is an expression of her experiences and thoughts after mother’s passing – Lao ceremonies, all-night vigils, feverish dreams where her mum needed to be rescued. These left her waiting for some sign that there was an afterlife, and led to questions about what remains after a person’s physical self deteriorates.
On the other hand, Lim is the producer of The Happiness (R)evolution, recipient of the Silver Media Award, RED Cinema package, RED Education course. His documentary sheds light on Bhutan’s journey in pursuit of Gross National Happiness. “The Happiness (R)evolution” – together with another feature drama set in Bhutan – gave its producer, Singaporean William Lim, the opportunity to satisfy his curiosity about the nation’s efforts to age-old tradition and values, while opening up to the world.
Speaking about his experience at SAFF Project Market 2015, William shared that it gave him exposure to external funding and the global market. Unlike other markets where Asian content is not the highlight, he enjoys the fact that SAFF’s focus is on Asian content.
Submissions for SAFF 2016 close on 5 September 2016. The event will take place 7-9 December 2016, in conjunction with ScreenSingapore.
More information is available at http://www.screensingapore.com.sg/film-financing-forum/.