ANYONE CAN be a film-maker, but not everyone can be a good director. Organisers of the Eighth Hong Kong Independent Short Film and Video Awards (IFVA) hope that through competition, young people can improve their techniques in capturing moving images.
'More young people can now afford to make their own videos because digital video camcorders (DV) are much cheaper now, but the quality varies. Through watching other people's work, young film-makers can learn from each other,' says Jonathan Hung Ping-man, development manager of the Hong Kong Arts Centre's film and video department, co-organiser of the awards.
The IFVA has three categories - open (aged above 18), youth (under 18) and animation. Mr Hung says that this year they have received about 30 submissions for the youth category out of a total of 270 entries.
Most contestants are Secondary Four and Five students, but there are also participants as young as 14, and many of them are first-time entries. They are either those who finished the summer DV courses at the Arts Centre or were encouraged by their schools, but the standard ranges from very amateur to almost professional.
'The judges say some are of very high quality, no matter the editing, scripting and lighting. But there are others that are just like home videos,' says Mr Hung.
'It does not matter. We hope that with more support from schools and youth centres in the future, we can show them other film-makers' work and discuss young people's techniques so they will be more aware of the quality of video shooting.'
Although there is a lack of knowledge about film-making, Mr Hung says the students' entries are a reflection of their inner world.
