The 29th ifva Festival

The 29th ifva Awards

Open Category Jury Panel

Chan Chi Wa Ernest

Ernest Chan Chi-wa is the executive committee member and former president of Hong Kong Film Critics Society. He has served as a jury member of Golden Horse Awards and KFF International Short Film Competition. He is also the editor of Sylvia Chang, Filmmaker in Focus (co-edited), Brigitte Lin, Filmmaker in Focus (co-edited), In the Mood for Films - 25th Anniversary of Jet Tone Films (co-edited), Edward Yang, 10-Year Commemoration (co-edited), Stanley Kwan, Filmmaker in Focus (co-edited) and Soi Cheang, Filmmaker in Focus (co-edited).

Lau Kok Rui

Lau Kok Rui is a Hong Kong-Based Malaysian writer-director. He is alumnus of Asian Film Academy (Busan International Film Festival) and Golden Horse Film Academy (Taipei Golden Horse International Film Festival). He is also member of Hong Kong Film Directors’ Guild and Hong Kong Screen Writers' Guild. His directorial debuts, The Sunny Side of The Streets (2022), was developed in Hong Kong - Asia Film Financing Forum and Produire au Sud Taipei Workshop. The film earned 6 nominations in Golden Horse Awards and 4 nominations in Hong Kong Film Awards. It was official selection of Udine Far East Film Festival, Hawai'i International Film Festival, Osaka Asian Film Festival, etc. Lau has won Best New Director and Best Original Screenplay with this film in Golden Horse Awards.

Jacqueline Liu

Jacqueline, a Hong Kong local grown film producer, graduated from the Department of Film and Television of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the Department of Journalism of the University of Hong Kong. Since 2000, she has produced numerous independent and commercial films, she is currently the Production Director of One Cool Film Production Limited, recent titles are: Vital Signs, Warrior of Future, The Way We Keep Dancing , Keep Rolling, Tracey , Men on the Dragon, Wild City, Soundless Wind Chime, Butterfly and etc.

Man Lim Chung

MAN Lim-chung has been active in the film industry since 1991, after graduating from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, School of Design. He is a renowned production designer and art director within the Hong Kong film industry. In 1999, he won his first Hong Kong Film Award, namely Best Art Direction for the film “Tempting Heart.” His renowned work includes: “Confession of Pain”, Felix Chong & “Overheard 1,2 & 3”, “Isabella”, “Love in a Buff ”, “Love in the Buff ”,“Love off the cuff ” “Aberdeen ”,“Colour Blossoms” “July Rhapsody”, “The Golden Era”, “Our Time Will Come”, “Lost in Hong Kong”, “Tempting Heart”, “20:30:40”, “Love Education”, “ Project Gutenberg”, “ Hong Kong Family”, “ Lost Love”

Wong Hin Yan

An independent musician and actor.

The 29th ifva Awards

Open Category (Pre-selection) Jury Panel

Li Mei Ting

Dr Mei Ting LI received her PhD in Chinese Language and Literature from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her current research interests include cultural history, fandom, popular culture and gender and sexualities in Hong Kong and among global Sinophone communities. She teaches literature and culture, popular culture, gender and media courses. She is also a cultural critic and writer. She is the recipient of the Award for Young Artist (Arts Criticism) of Hong Kong Arts Development Awards 2018. She published many creative works and criticisms in newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Lo Chun Yip

Lo Chun-yip, director and actor. After graduating from the School of Creative Media of City University of Hong Kong, he started making independent films. In 2012, he finished his first feature film Days After n Coming which was screened at various film festivals such as Hong Kong International Film Festival and Chinese Documentary Festival. He won the Contemporary Perspective Award of South Taiwan Film Festival. In the same year, he received the Award for Young Artist of Hong Kong Arts Development Council. His recent performing works include Fagara No.1 Chung Ying Street, Suk Suk and Time Still Turns The Pages.

Norris Wong

Norris Wong obtained a Master of Fine Arts at the Academy of Film at Hong Kong Baptist University in 2012, and has been working as a screenwriter, director and lyricist. Her work as a screenwriter includes the TV series The Margaret and David—Green Bean, The Gutter and feature film Let It Ghost. Her debut feature My Prince Edward won her the Best New Director award at the 39th Hong Kong Film Awards and a Best New Director nomination at the 56th Golden Horse Awards. Her second feature The Lyricist Wannabe has been selected as the closing film of HKAFF.

The 29th ifva Awards

Youth Category Jury Panel

Chan Kin Long

Chan Kin Long is an actor and director, and graduated from the School of Creative Media at the City University of Hong Kong. In 2013, he was discovered by director Fruit Chan and played a role in The Midnight After. He received the Best Actor award at the Sapporo International Short Film Festival for I Can't Live Without A Dream in 2014. His debut feature, Hand Rolled Cigarette received seven nominations at the 57th Golden Horse Awards. The film was chosen as the closing film for the same edition of Golden Horse Film Festival and the opening film at 2020 Hong Kong Asia Film Festival. Chan was the recipient of the Best New Director Award at the 40th Hong Kong Film Awards.

Fish Liew

(Please refer to the Chinese version)

Man Pui Hing Mani

Man Pui Hing Mani is a Hong Kong film producer and screenwriter, graduated from Hong Kong Art School and City University of Hong Kong School of Creative Media, which majored in Cinematic Art. She obtained a Master of Science degree from Pompeu Fabra University in Spain. She continuously worked as a screenwriter. Her first production, Vampire Cleanup Department, won the HAF Award in 2016, which she started to work with emerging directors in Hong Kong as a emerging producer.

Eric Poon

Eric Poon, currently associate professor of practice in the School of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, is a veteran documentary producer. As a winner of various international film and TV awards, Poon has made over 100 episodes for Radio Television Hong Kong’s flagship documentary series, Hong Kong Connection, in the past two decades. His major works include Child Soldiers, Defending Justice in China, Twenty Years On and Revolution 1911. Besides documentaries, Poon also produced TV programmes for youth, and encourages them to create their own work through multi-media projects.)

The 29th ifva Awards

Asian New Force Category Jury Panel

Chen Chih Ting Timmy

Chen Chih Ting Timmy is Assistant Professor in Cultural Studies in the School of Arts and Social Sciences at Hong Kong Metropolitan University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong with the dissertation “In the Mood for Music: Sonic Extraterritoriality and Musical Exchange in Hong Kong Cinema” (2016). Dr. Chen has published in A Companion to Wong Kar-wai (Wiley Blackwell), the Journal of Chinese Cinemas, Surveillance in Asian Cinema (Routledge), The Assassin (HKU Press), Frames Cinema Journal, and Sound Stage Screen.

Chong Keat-Aun

Chong Keat Aun, an award-winning Malaysian writer-director. His first short ‘Cemetery of the Courtesy’ was shortlisted for the 22nd Busan Film Festival. His Directorial debut ‘The Story of Southern Islet’ earned him the award for Best New Director, FIPRESCI Prize and NETPAC Prize at the 57th Golden Horse Film Festival; FIPRESCI Prize at the 45th Hong Kong International Film Festival. In 2023, second feature film ‘Snow in Midsummer’ selected for 80th Venice International Film Festival.

Li Ya Mei

Graduated from the Cinema-TV School, University of Southern California, and currently the director of the Taipei Film Festival. She used to be the general manager of Good Day Films, the deputy secretary-general of the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee, and teacher of film and television related departments in many colleges and universities. Marketing Representative Work: Cape No. 7, Pinoy Sunday, Make Up, Sweet Alibis, The Long Goodbye, When Yesterday Comes, The Fierce Wife Final Episode. Representative works of producer: Cha Cha for Twins, When Yesterday Comes, Myth, The Receptionist.

Adam Wong

Adam Wong started to make short films with facilities at University of Iowa when he was an exchange student there. Many of his later works were awarded at ifva. His short films include：Ah Wai and Murphy, Glowing, Pinwheel, Secret Taste, Our Playground and Assignment, Bitter Sweet and etc. His feature films include: When Beckham Met Owen, Magic Boy, The Way We Dance, She Remembers, He Forgets and The Way We Keep Dancing. In 2017, he made the documentary The Way Out for UNICEF Hong Kong. In 2013, he was invited to be the voice-actor for the protagonist of Hayao Miyazaki’s animation The Wind Rises.

Didi Wu

Didi WU, Director of Broadway Cinematheque and Hong Kong Asian Film Festival. She received her first degree in architecture, and furthered her studies in film curating in London. After she graduated, she worked at the Taiwan International Documentary Festival, and later joined the programming team of the Broadway Cinematheque, presenting a broad range of film genres. Aside from film series, she wants to curate programmes of other artistic media to explore the possibilities of space and image.

The 29th ifva Awards

Asian New Force Category (Pre-selection) Jury Panel

Chen Chih Ting Timmy

Chen Chih Ting Timmy is Assistant Professor in Cultural Studies in the School of Arts and Social Sciences at Hong Kong Metropolitan University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong with the dissertation “In the Mood for Music: Sonic Extraterritoriality and Musical Exchange in Hong Kong Cinema” (2016). Dr. Chen has published in A Companion to Wong Kar-wai (Wiley Blackwell), the Journal of Chinese Cinemas, Surveillance in Asian Cinema (Routledge), The Assassin (HKU Press), Frames Cinema Journal, and Sound Stage Screen.

HSIEH I-Hsuan

HSIEH I-Hsuan is a film curator, critic, and researcher with an anthropological background based in Amsterdam and Taipei. She's been working as a programmer at the Women Make Waves Film Festival Taiwan since 2021. She was the programmer at Taipei Film Festival (2017-2019), program director at Taoyuan Film Festival (2018), a selection committee member for TIDF (2022, 2024) and Taipei Film Festival New Talent Competition (2019-2021). She also served as a jury member for the 2023 Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition. Her curatorial work has been presented at the Eye Filmmuseum, National Palace Museum (TW) - Southern Branch.

Tsang Hing Weng Eric

Tsang Hing Weng Eric’s debut feature film Hong Kong Family (2022) premiered in Busan International Film Festival. His short films have been selected by four Oscars-Qualifying film festivals so far including A Thousand Sails (2019) which was selected by Sundance Film Festival. Eric co-founded Eye Catcher with Renaissance Foundation Hong Kong in recent years in order to promote independent filmmaking among Hong Kong young moving image creators. He’s also the author of the book Tales of Honey: A Collection of Interviews with Post-80s Directors from the Greater China.

The 29th ifva Awards

Animation Category Jury Panel

Fung Hing Keung Honkaz

Honkaz Fung, Hong Kong interdisciplinary creator. Beginning as a comics artist, Honkaz has taken on roles such as director, special effects designer, and art director since switching to advertising and film production. Also, he is the founder of the onebyone studio, board-member of Film Culture Centre (Hong Kong) and current chairman of the Cantonese Cinema Study Association.

Lo Che-ying

Lo Che-ying, veteran animator and animation critic, started as animation designer at Radio Television Hong Kong from 1978 to 1993, and also worked for several Hong Kong movies on their animation effects. He has started to produce independent animations since 1977, and won the gold awards of Hong Kong Independent Short Film Festival in four consecutive years. He has hosted animation courses, talks and seminars at Hong Kong Arts Centre and various tertiary institutes, and curated the “60 Years of Hong Kong Animation” exhibition in 2012. He is currently Secretary-General of the Hong Kong Animation Association.

Tamas Waliczky

Tamás Waliczky, Hungarian, born in Budapest in 1959, computer animator and media artist. His works won numerous international awards, including the Golden Nica Prix at Ars Electronica. Works have been shown in renowned festivals and exhibitions worldwide, including the Ars Electronica, SIGGRAPH, Lyon Biennale, etc., and are in the permanent collection of different museums such as the Pompidou Center Paris. Before joining the City University, he was a member of the research staff of ZKM Institute for Visual Media in Germany and artist-in-residence at IAMAS in Gifu of Japan. He has been selected to represent Hungary at the Fifty-Eighth Venice Biennale, 2019.

Ulrich Wegenast

Ulrich Wegenast, was born in Stuttgart in 1966. Honorary professor at the Film University Babelsberg since 2012. He has been the artistic director of ITFS (Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film) and Raumwelten – Platform for Scenography, Architecture, and Media from 2005-2022. In September 2022 he has been appointed as dean at the faculty of design at the Peter Behrens School of Arts in Düsseldorf.

Yu Kaho

Kaho Albert Yu studied computer engineering at the University of New South Wales and fine art at the School of Visual Art in New York. He started his career as an effects artist for at Dreamworks Animation, and later joined Blue Sky Studios where he became a lead technical director to develop fur grooming software for films including the series. Besides professional work, his personal works in photography and experimental animation have been exhibited and screened at various festivals including Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, interFilm Berlin, SIGGRAPH, and Festival du nouveau cinéma. Kaho currently teaches at the Hong Kong Baptist University and continues to create works that explore storytelling in immersive and interactive media.

The 29th ifva Awards

Media Art Category Jury Panel

Bryan Wai-ching CHUNG

Bryan Wai-ching CHUNG is an interactive media artist and design consultant. Chung was awarded the Media Artist of the Year 2016, by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. He was also the Grand Prize winner of the Japan Media Arts Festival, Art Division, 2015. In 2009,his consultation work, Coca Cola Happy Whistling Machine won the Media Kam Fan Advertising Award. Chung’s works have been exhibited at the World Wide Video Festival, Multimedia Art Asia Pacific, Stuttgart Film Winter Festival, Microwave International New Media Arts Festival and the China Media Art Festival. In the former Shanghai Expo 2010, he provided interactive design consultancy to various industry leaders in Hong Kong and China.

Tsang Tsui Shan Jessey

Tsang Tsui Shan Jessey, Best New Director of the 31st Hong Kong Film Award 2012. Tsang studied sound design at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts’s School of Film and Television before she entered the MFA program in Media Design and Technology at the City University of Hong Kong. After graduating in 2005. Beginning with short film productions, her works have been presented internationally. Her films have typically focused on female stories in the humanitarian grounds.

Kingsley Ng

Mr Kingsley Ng is an interdisciplinary artist and designer with a focus on conceptual, site-specific and participatory projects. His creative practices are driven by a belief that art can be socially relevant and transformative. His projects include Twenty-Five Minutes Older, a commission by Art Basel which takes the audience on a camera obscura moving tram, and After the Deluge, presented in an underground storm-water tank the size of 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Nóra Ó Murchú

Nóra Ó Murchú is a curator & researcher. In her curatorial work she explores online culture and the implications of technological developments. Her multidisciplinary practice embraces narratives, and fictions, resulting in objects, exhibitions, and interventions. Her research aims to help people understand how complex socio-technical systems are imagined, built & used. She has curated exhibitions and events for institutions including Akademie Schloss Solitude, LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial, Rua Red, and The Science Gallery.

Ulanda Blair

Ulanda Blair is Curator, Moving Image at M+, an international museum for contemporary visual culture that opened in Hong Kong in November 2021. At M+, she is helping to build the moving-image collection, while presenting exhibitions, commissions, screenings, publications, and events.