The 10 best films/events to see at the Macau international film festival 2018
- Nicolas Cage and Aarok Kwok will be there as ambassadors for the festival of more than 50 films, and Chen Kaige heads the awards jury
- Audiences will get first look at major awards contenders such as Green Book, and new films from Zhang Yimou, Yorgos Lanthimos and Luca Guadagnino
Now in its third year, the International Film Festival and Awards Macao runs from December 8 to 14 and is an exciting addition to the film calendar. It offers local film-goers their first chance to catch big-name awards hopefuls and critical favourites before their cinematic release.
“Fifth generation” Chinese filmmaker Chen Kaige heads this year’s jury, which will consider 11 new titles from around the world. Oscar winner Nicolas Cage, Hong Kong’s Aaron Kwok Fu-shing and rising Korean starlet Lim Yoona will be the event’s talent ambassadors. Below we select 10 titles from this year’s line-up not to be missed.
1. Green Book
This year’s opening film is already being touted as an early favourite for the best picture Oscar in February. Comedy director Peter Farrelly (There’s Something About Mary) shifts gears for this mismatched road movie set in the racially charged 1960s.
Viggo Mortensen plays an Italian-American bouncer assigned to drive Mahershala Ali’s African-American pianist on a tour through the Deep South. With career-best performances from its two leads, themes of tolerance and racial equality, amd infused with a refreshing streak of heart-warming humour, Green Book has tear-jerking crowd pleaser written all over it.
2. Suspiria