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Film alumni stand out in First Feature Film Initiative

14 Nov 2022

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Academy of Film alumnus Mr Yu Sze-long (2nd right) shines in the Professional Group of the 7th First Feature Film Initiative.
Professor Ellen Seiter, Director of Academy of Film (AF) (2nd left), and Mr Norman Chan, Associate Director of AF (1st left), receive the award on behalf of alumna Miss Wu Chui-yi, the winner of the Higher Education Institution Group.

 

Two alumni of the Academy of Film (AF) stood out in the 7th First Feature Film Initiative (FFFI). They will receive HK$8 million and HK$5 million respectively in funding from the Film Development Fund (FDF) to implement their winning film projects and produce their first commercial feature films.

Mr Yu Sze-long, the winner of the Professional Group, is a 2014 graduate of AF’s Higher Diploma in Creative Film programme. His winning film proposal, entitled Love & Sex on Streaming, is about a young man, the protagonist, who discovers a crazy sex video on the internet featuring his girlfriend and her ex-boyfriend. With his perceptions of love and sex overturned, the protagonist is led into the realm of live porn streaming.

The winning film proposal in the Higher Education Institution Group was Bird of Paradise, which was written and directed by Miss Wu Chui-yi, a 2020 graduate of the Bachelor of Communication (Honours) – Film Major programme. The story is about a married woman who secretly goes to learn about pole dancing without telling her conservative husband and rebellious son. A family crisis is triggered when her secret is revealed.

The FFFI was launched in 2013 to identify new talent through a competition based on screenplay and production proposals. It is supported by the Hong Kong Film Development Council and funding is made available from the FDF for the winning new directors and their film production teams to help them make their first feature films. So far, a total of seven AF alumni have won prizes in the FFFI.