Entertainment & Media: Filipino Films ‘Circa’, ‘The Grandstand’ and More Win Big at the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF)

HAF Winners at the 17th HAF Awards Presentation Ceremony

Filipino film projects and filmmakers were well-recognized in the recently concluded Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), especially with Adolf Alix, Jr.’s Circa and Mikhail Red’s The Grandstand which received awards during the HAF Awarding Ceremony last March 20 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Circa brought home the White Light Post-Production Award, while The Grandstand won the Udine Focus Asia Award.

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Circa Director Adolfo Alix, Jr. and Producer Didier Costet at the 17th HAF Awards Presentation Ceremony

HAF is the leading film project market in Asia which provides Asian filmmakers with projects in development with opportunities for international co-production. It was held this year during the Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FILMART) where the Filipino projects were showcased along with thirty (30) Filipino production companies and producers at the Philippine Pavilion with the support of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP).

The Grandstand Director Mikhail Red and Producer Pauline Zamora at the 17th HAF Awards Presentation Ceremony

Joining Alix and Red at HAF were Jun Robles Lana with Between Sea and Sky under HAF projects, and Lana again with Son of God and Raymund Ribay Gutierrez with Verdict for HAF’s Work-in-Progress (WIP).

Meanwhile, four (4) Filipino films were included in the stellar lineup of films of the 43rd Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF). Alpha, The Right To Kill by Brillante Mendoza was in the Masters & Auteurs section, while the documentary In The Claws of a Century Wanting (Sa Palad ng Dantaong Kulang) by Jewel Maranan was under the Reality Bites section. Judgement by Raymund Ribay Gutierrez and The Imminent Immanent by Carlo Francisco Manatad were also in the Firebird Awards (Short Film Competition) programme.

The Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum took place from March 18 to 20 alongside the Hong Kong International Film Festival from March 18 to April 1 and the Hong Kong International Film & TV Market from March 18 to 21.