Asian Festival of First Films
{{Short description|Film festival held in Singapore 2005–2009}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
The Asian Festival of First Films ({{zh|s=亚裔首作电影节}}) (AFFF) was an annual film festival held in Singapore from 2005 to 2009 to celebrate and provide a platform for emerging filmmakers. It was also part of the Asian Film Market.
The festival focused on first-time film- and documentary-makers and provided a platform for emerging film talent, including directors, actors and writers. Films submitted were screened at Golden Village's cinemas in Singapore. It culminated in an awards event during which the results of the competition were announced.{{cite web | title=Asian First Films | website=Asian First Films | date=4 December 2007 | url=http://www.asianfirstfilms.com/ | access-date=3 December 2021}} There were 11 categories of awards in 2008.
It was part of the Asian Film Market.{{Cite web |last=Tan |first=Jeanine |date=27 April 2005 |title=A First for budding Asian film talent |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/today20050427-1.2.3 |access-date=2022-10-07 |publisher=Today |page=1 |language=en-SG |via=NewspaperSG}}
History
The Asian Festival of First Films (AFFF{{cite web | title=First-time filmmakers in Singapore movie fest | website=Philstar| date=8 December 2008 | url=https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/arts-and-culture/2008/12/08/421688/lifestyle | access-date=7 October 2022}}) was launched in November 2005 by Teamwork Productions, in collaboration with Singapore's Media Development Authority.{{Cite book|last1=Rodrigues|first1=Usha M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fl0ZBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA107| title=Youth, Media and Culture in the Asia Pacific Region|last2=Smaill|first2=Belinda|date=2009-05-05|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing| isbn=978-1-4438-1039-5| pages=107|language=en}}
In 2008, AFFF was part of the Asia Media Festival, and the festival director was Sanjoy K. Roy. The festival received 638 submissions from more than 23 countries, and selected 28 films and documentaries for nominations for the 11 award categories.
The festival was held on the following dates:
- 2005: 23 to 30 November
- 2006: 29 November to 6 December{{Cite web |date=29 November 2006 |title=Asian film event starts today |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/today20061129-1.2.47.8 |access-date=2022-10-07 |publisher=Today |page=40 |language=en-SG |via=NewspaperSG}}
- 2007: 27 November to 4 December
- 2008: 4 to 10 December{{Cite web|date=2008-12-04|title=Asian Festival of First Films kicks off today| url=https://www.sinema.sg/2008/12/04/asian-festival-of-first-films-kicks-off-today/|access-date=2021-08-24|website=Sinema.SG|language=en-GB}}
- 2009: 28 November to 4 December
Awards and jury members
In 2007, Australian film Lucky Miles, produced by Jo Dyer and Lesley Dyer and directed by Michael James Rowland, won the Best Film award.{{cite web | title=Lucky Miles | website=Soft Tread | url=https://www.softtread.com.au/lucky-miles/ | access-date=3 December 2021}}
In 2008, the jury comprised Tikoy Aguiluz, from the Philippines; Yim Ho, from Hong Kong, and Nadia Tass, from Australia. Nominees included Bosco Francis (for Best Actor, in Eric Khoo’s My Magic), Auraeus Solito for Best Producer. Contenders for best director included Bollywood star Nandita Das (with her directing debut Firaaq); Filipino filmmaker Dante Nico Garcia, director of Ploning; Dai Wei for Ganglamedo (Tibet); and Sooni Taraporevala for Little Zizou (India). Garcia won the award for best director.{{cite web | last = Dimaculangan, Jocelyn| title=Dante Nico Garcia of "Ploning" named Best Director in Singapore | website=Philippine Entertainment Portal | date=12 December 2008 | url=http://www.pep.ph/news/20216/Dante-Nico-Garcia-of-Ploning-named-Best-Director-in-Singapore | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081213062153/http://www.pep.ph/news/20216/Dante-Nico-Garcia-of-Ploning-named-Best-Director-in-Singapore | archive-date=13 December 2008 | url-status=dead }}
The 2009 edition of the festival had Australian filmmaker Ana Kokkinos, US producer Chris Lee and Indian director Kabir Khan on its jury.{{cite web | title=Asian Festival of First Films 2009| website=Asian Festival of First Films | url=https://asianfirstfilms.wordpress.com/ | access-date=3 December 2021}} Indian films won seven awards, with four of those going to Sona Jain's For Real. Faiza Ahmad Khan's documentary Malegaon Ka Superman{{cite web | title=The Asian Festival of First Films | website=Filmfestivals.com | date=9 December 2009 | url=https://www.filmfestivals.com/entertainment_award_event/the_asian_festival_of_first_films | access-date=7 October 2022}} won Best Editing, Documentary and Director{{cite web | title=Supermen of Malegaon winner of 15 awards at Film Festivals now up for theatrical release | website=BollySpice.com| date=15 June 2012 | url=https://bollyspice.com/supermen-malegaon-winner-15-awards-film-festivals-now-theatrical-release/ | access-date=7 October 2022}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{official|http://www.asianfirstfilms.com}}
Category:Documentary film festivals in Singapore
Category:Film festivals in Singapore