HK Filmart 2013: Top HAF Prizes Doled Out To DOOMSDAY - PARTY And BARBER'S TALES
The Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum wrapped up on Wednesday and handed out its awards. The major prizes were picked up by Ho Hong and Jun Robles Lana. 25 projects took part, whittled down from 250 submissions, and the two big prizes (worth $19,230/HK$150,000) were destined for a Hong Kong film (of which there were five) and one of the remaining broader Asian hopefuls.
This year's HK prize went to debut helmer Ho Hong's Doomsday - Party while the Filipino project Barber's Tales from Jun Robles Lana took home the other top prize. Both projects were also handed ARRI prizes, which entitles them to €30,000 worth of rental equipment from the camera manufacturer. In addition, Barber's Tales took home the Technicolor Asia Award worth $25,000 (HK$195,000).
Jang Kun-jae's All About Love won the Walter Barendrecht Award, worth $6,410 (HK$50,000). The mainland Chinese picture Zhou Hongbo's Departure was awarded the Paris Project Award, which comes with an invitation to the Paris Cinema International Film Festival's pitch market. The $12,900 HAF Script Development Fund Award was scooped up by A Happy Wish (Taiwan).
The HAF/Fox Chinese Film Development prize was split between two projects: Han Yew Kwang's The Flying Postman from Singapore and the Chinese Underground River from Gong Zhaohui. Each will receive $13,000 (HK$100,000), a development contract and a first-look agreement with Fox.
The Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF), held in conjunction with the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan), gave its award to When I Come to Me from Hong Kong's Lam Suk-ching. The prize includes $2,700 (HK$21,060) and an invitation to this year's NAFF market.
Lastly, a new award was launched by the official crowdfunding platform for HAF, Catapooolt. The award was split between three films: $1,500 went to Joko Anwar's The Last Wedding On Earth (Indonesia's); $1,000 for Barber's Tales; and the Filipino film One Thousand from Lawrence Fajardo received $500. All of them will be listed for free on Catapooolt's website.
