In the beginning of 2023, Eye Catcher launched our new programme: the Eye Catcher Global (ECG). The first edition will be held in June 2023. One of the main events, the International Pitching Forum, is currently recruiting Hong Kong independent film projects.
Originated from Hong Kong, ECG aims to bring together the creative and production communities of the Asian and international independent filmmaking industry, gather resources to incubate film projects with unique visions and strong personal styles, and facilitate Hong Kong filmmakers to go global.
This June, both the international and local industry representatives will be invited as jury members to attend the International Pitching Forum in person. The shortlisted film projects will compete for a grant amount HKD 220,000 in total, and participate in one-on-one meetings with the international guests for more chances leading to industry support and international platforms.
Grasp the pulse of independent filmmaking and APPLY NOW!
The ECG is the international exchange platform of the Eye Catcher. Established by the Renaissance Foundation, Eye Catcher explores new perspectives and possibilities in filmmaking, production and distribution through the Creativity Camp and Incubation programme. The third stage ECG creates opportunities for international pitching, film showcases and exchanges, building close connections with the independent filmmaking community around the world.
Application Details on International Pitching Forum
【 Application Closed 】
Results Announcement: Early April 2023
International Pitching Forum: 15 – 16 June 2023 (Thur – Fri)
Application Fee: Free-of-Charge
Deadline: 3 March 2023 (FRI) 12:00 n.n. (GMT+8:00 Hong Kong Time)
1. Applications shall be submitted by film unit (as individual or as team). All applicants must have reached the age of 18 at the time of application.
2. The film project director must be one of the film unit members. He/She must be a resident of Hong Kong.
3. Applicants who directed more than 3 feature-length films (over 80 minutes each) in the same genre are NOT eligible to apply as the film project director.
4. There is no limitation on theme, genre or length. Diversified, disruptive and independent film projects are encouraged.
5. Film projects at the two below-mentioned stages are accepted. Budget plan is required.
In-Development Project: Film projects that are in pre-production or in the early stage of development, currently searching for producers, production companies, investors, etc. for the production.
Work-in-Progress Project: Film projects that are in a later stage of production or in post-production, looking for post-production funds, or collaboration opportunities with distribution agents, film festivals, marketing partners, etc.
6. Shortlisted film projects are required to include the Eye Catcher logo at the ending credits of their finished works.
(All information must be submitted through online application form)
Required Materials:
- Logline (English: up to 35 words; Chinese: up to 60 words)
- Synopsis (English: up to 180 words; Chinese: up to 300 words)
- Director’s Statement (English: up to 180 words; Chinese: up to 300 words)
- Treatment (No word limit)
- Production Plan (No word limit)
- Budget Plan (Submit in PDF format in both Chinese and English)
- A maximum of 3 video clips of the applied film projects, each clip within 10 minutes (Preview links and passwords are included)
- Director’s Biography (English: up to 60 words; Chinese: up to 100 words)
- Director’s Filmography (Preview links and passwords are included)
- Copy of Director’s Hong Kong Identity Card
Optional Materials:
- Producer or Key Creative Members’ Biography (English: up to 60 words each; Chinese: up to 100 words each)
- Producer or Key Creative Members’ Filmography (Preview links and passwords are included)
- Film Unit / Production Company Profile (English: up to 180 words; Chinese: up to 300 words)
- Script or Scene Outline (Submit in PDF format in both Chinese and English)
- Others (Submit in PDF format in both Chinese and English)
2023 Shortlist Film Projects
In-Development Project
11 Things about Her
Genre
Director
Producer
Screenwriter
Drama
YEUNG King Lun
HO Yuk Fai
YEUNG Leung Chuen
1998
Genre
Co-Director
Co-Director
Documentary
Jamie CHI
Junko ASANO
Homecoming and Going
Genre
Director
Producer
Cinematographer
Drama
Kristie KO
Merissa Jane LEE
Sophia SHEK
Rachel LIEW
I Thought You Were Real
Genre
Director
Executive Producer
Drama
LEE Ka Yan
Kai-Yin NG, Andrew
In Silence We Speak
Genre
Director
Composer
Drama
NG Ka Wai
Christopher LAI
Simple Story
Genre
Director
Drama
YUNG Tsz Hong
The Spectacle
Genre
Screenwriter, Director
Screenwriter, Director
Experimental
Sheung-Kan YIU
Libbie KATSEV
To the Rescue
Genre
Director
Director, Editor
Producer
Drama
CHAN Tsz Wan
LUI Yee Pan Ian
LAU Kok Rui, Ray
The Vampire of Sheung Shui
Genre
Director
Screenwriter
Drama
Shreyom GHOSH
D.F.W. Buckingham
The Way We Were
Genre
Co-Director
Co-Director
Documentary
HO Yuk Fai
WONG Ka Ki
Work-in-Progress Project
Ah Cheung
Genre
Director
Producer
Animation Director
Animated Documentary
SO Ka Ue
Catherine CHAN
John WONG
Confession
Genre
Director
Producer
Drama Director
Docu-Drama
LEE Wai Shing
Peter YAM
CHEUNG Lee Hung, Holmes
Look Me in the Eyes
Genre
Director
Creative Consultant
Documentary
Felix Christopher HUI
Sharon YEUNG
Save My Soul
Genre
Director
Producer
Drama
LEUNG Kam Fai
LAU Chi Fan
Semi
Genre
Director
Producer
Drama
LEUNG Kin Pong
WONG Wan Sze
Undercurrent
Genre
Director
Producer
Co-producer (Taiwan)
Documentary
TSANG Chung Yin
CHAN Hau Chun
CHOI Sin Yi Emilie
CHOU Tseng Chen
Awards
- Eye Catcher Grand Award (Total Grand Amount HK$140,000, approx. US$17,000)
– The Grand Award honors the most original project of self-producing spirit with a fresh perspective. It also has to show a sophisticated execution plan leading to project completion.
– One project will be selected from each of the categories (In-Development Project and Work-in-Progress Project). Each winner will be awarded a cash prize of HK$70,000 (approximately US$8,500).
- Eye Catcher Next Award (Grand Amount HK$40,000, approx. US$5,000)
– The Next Award recognises the most adventurous idea. The creator has to show the courage to achieve the artistic intention independently.
- Eye Catcher Jury Award (Total Grand Amount HK$40,000, approx. US$5,000)
– The Jury Award goes to the project with great potential and bold vision. It encourages the creator to continue to refine the production plan.
– One project will be selected from each of the categories (In-Development Project and Work-in-Progress Project). Each winner will be awarded a cash prize of HK$20,000 (approximately US$2,500).
Format
- Open Pitch: Film units with at most 3 members on stage will have 15 minutes each to pitch their projects. Each pitch consists of a 7-minute presentation (includes video-playing) and an 8-minute Q&A.
- One-on-one Meeting: Film units will each partake in one-on-one meetings with the international guests for 15 minutes each round.
- The International Pitching Forum will be conducted mainly in English. Chinese-English simultaneous interpretation will be provided during all pitching sessions. Participants with fluent English are preferred.
Jury Members
(In alphabetical order)
International Jury
Aditya ASSARAT (Thailand | Purin Pictures)
Aditya ASSARAT is a writer, director, and producer from Thailand. His feature films include Hi-So and Wonderful Town, which won the New Currents Award from Busan and the VPRO Tiger Award from Rotterdam. His most recent film, Ten Years Thailand, which he produced and co-directed, premiered in Cannes. In addition to his own films, Aditya has also produced the films of younger Thai directors such as Eternity by Sivaroj Kongsakul, which won the VPRO Tiger Award from Rotterdam, Mary is Happy, Mary is Happy by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, which premiered in Venice and W by Chonlasit Upanigkit, which premiered in Busan. Finally, Aditya is also the director of Purin Pictures, a non-profit foundation based in Bangkok that supports Southeast Asian cinema.
Min Bahadur BHAM (Nepal)
An award-winning filmmaker from Nepal, Min Bahadur BHAM graduated in Filmmaking and Literature. He has a master degree in Buddhist Philosophy and Political Science. His short film The Flute (2012) was the first Nepalese film presented at the Venice Film Festival. He was a participant of Berlinale Talent Campus 2013, Asian Film Academy 2013, awarded the Fellowship Award. His directorial debut The Black Hen (2015) is the first feature film of Nepal presented in Venice Critics Week and awarded with FEDEORA Best Film Award. Also it was an official entry from Nepal to Oscar for the category of Best Foreign Language Film 2016. Currently, he is preparing his second feature film, A Year of Cold that was developed at Cinéfondation Residence, Festival de Cannes, Torino Film Lab, and Golden Horse (FPP).
Ash HOYLE (United States | The Sundance Institute)
Ash HOYLE is a features Programmer at the Sundance Film Festival. He focuses on both fiction, nonfiction, and Midnight. He has previously worked at Sundance as an Associate Programmer for shorts and features and to support Director of Programming, Kim YUTANI. Ash has also worked as the Director of Programming of Damn These Heels Film Festival, run by the Utah Film Center, as well as a Senior Programmer at Outfest Los Angeles and a Programmer at Palm Springs Shorts Fest. Ash is a 2021 Project Involve Fellow on Film Independent’s programming track and has also been involved in programming, NewFest NY, Sun Valley Film Festival, Overlook Film Festival, and AFI Fest and worked in production at ABC, Mssng Peces, and The Annoyance Theater. Ash is originally from Philadelphia, PA and holds a dual degree in Film & English from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY.
Joe HUANG (Taiwan | The South Taiwan Film Festival)
Joe HUANG, part-time teacher for film aesthetics, sees himself as a freelancer for film art, but somehow works like a blue-collar. He is an independent curator, whom serves as the Artistic Director and Executive Director of the South Taiwan Film Festival after studying in Sound & Image Studies in management of TNNUA. Joe has been a juror and guest curator for several institutes and film festivals, including Taiwan International Documentary Festival (2022), Busan Inter–City Film Festival, Macao International Documentary Film Festival (2021), etc.
LIAO Jiekai (Singapore | 13 Little Pictures)
LIAO Jiekai is a filmmaker and artist based in Singapore. He is a founding member of the film collective 13 Little Pictures. Since 2005, he has directed a number of shorts and feature films, most notably Before the Wedlock House won the Best Documentary Short at the 2nd Salaya International Documentary Film Festival, and another short The Mist won the best director prize at Singapore International Film Festival’s Silver Screen Awards. His 2010 debut feature film, Red Dragonflies, won the Special Jury Prize at the Jeonju International Film Festival and was selected for competition at various film festivals such as Buenos Aires, Santiago, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. In 2012, Jiekai was conferred the Young Artist Award by the National Arts Council of Singapore.
Fransiska PRIHADI (Indonesia | Minikino)
Fransiska PRIHADI is an architect, co-founder of art-house cinema MASH Denpasar in Bali. She is Program Director of Minikino and Minikino Film Week, Bali International Short Film Festival. She served as guest programmer & jury for various national and international short film festivals, with experience as facilitator and mentor for filmmaking and film festival writing workshops.
Local Jury
Jacqueline LIU
Jacqueline LIU is a Hong Kong-based film producer for independent and commercial film, including: Vital Sign (2023); Warriors of Future (2022) ; The Way We Keep Dancing (2020); Keep Rolling (2020); The Secret Diary of A Mom-to-be (2019); Tracey (2018); Men on the Dragon (2018); Sisterhood (2016); Sky on Fire (2016); K (2015); Wild City (2015); The Great War (2013); Merry go Round (2010); Soundless Wind Chime (2009)—Teddy Award nominee of the 59th Berlin Film Festival; Plastic City (2008)—Special Screening at the 65th Venice Film Festival; August Story (2006)—Best Film at Tainan Film Festival; Butterfly (2004)—Opening Film of International Critics’ Week of the Venice Film Festival.
Flora TANG
Tang joined mm2 Hong Kong in 2017, focusing on producing Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia films. She was the line producer of A Journey of Happiness (2019), and Walk with Me (2019), and the associate producer of Drifting (2021) and The Shadow (2022). Her recent work, The Narrow Road (2022), was nominated for 3 awards in Golden Horse Awards and 10 awards in Hong Kong Film Awards, and won the Best Original Film Score from both of the Awards.
POON Eric T.P.
Renowned television documentary writer and director, POON is currently an Associate Professor of Practice in the School of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. For the past 20 years, he has been producing documentaries for RTHK’s flagship television programme Hong Kong Connection. His work has won numerous awards at local and international film and television festivals. He has also produced youth programmes such as the experimental cross-media project HKfile.X, which won the Best Mobile or Cross-Media Production at the International Media Excellence Award of the Association for International Broadcasting.
Elysa WENDI
Elysa WENDI is a dance artist, curator and filmmaker based in Hong Kong. Since 2008, she began experimenting on choreographic ideas with the medium of film, performances and curatorial projects. In 2015, she co-founded Cinemovement, a platform facilitating the creation of interdisciplinary films through a laboratory setting together with Film Producer Jeremy CHUA. In 2022, Elysa started her role as curator and festival director of Jumping Frames — Hong Kong International Movement-image Festival. One of her notable works, 1958 Delivery won the Best Experimental Film Award at the 2018 South Taiwan Film Festival and her recent film As I Imagine My Body Moving received Gold Awards (Open Category) at the 28th ifva Awards.
Remarks
- Plagiarism or imposter is prohibited.
- All submitted projects should be participants’ original production. If any violation is found, applicants would be permanently disqualified for all the future events presented by the Renaissance Foundation.
- One submission form is for one project submission only.
- Please follow all the requirements on language and word limit when filling or uploading application materials.
- Submissions missing any required materials will not be processed.
- No submitted materials will be returned. Please save a copy if necessary.
- Personal data, film project information and materials submitted will be treated as confidential and will be used by Eye Catcher, their affiliates or designated personnel only.
- Due to the limited quota, shortlisted projects will be selected according to the applications. The organiser reserves the right of change and final decision.
- The organiser will notify the shortlisted applicants through email.
- If there are any changes in programme, programme details and schedule of the International Pitching Forum, please refer to the latest announcement from the organiser.
- The Renaissance Foundation reserves the right of final decision and interpretation in case of any dispute.
- For enquiries on application or filling the form, please email to [email protected].
Application FAQ
An ‘In-Development Project’ is a film project that’s in an early stage of development, including projects which are under the stages of script writing, trailer or teaser making, footage collection, or seeking for producers, production companies and investors etc..
A ‘Work-in-Progress Project’ is a film project that’s in a later stage of production. The shooting should have begun. Or it can be at the post-production stage seeking for new funds, collaboration opportunities with distributors, film festivals or marketing partners etc..
There’s no absolute standard as long as it helps us understand your creation and production.
Treatments should demonstrate your artistic intentions, including but not limited to narratives, shooting methodology, use of techniques and special effects and etc. according to the genres.
Production Plan should include but not limited to field research and shooting and/or post-production schedule etc..
Video clip(s) should be provided for us to understand the topic, specific contents or treatments of your submitted film project. It can include but not limited to edited clips of original footages of the project.
Eye Catcher accepts all film projects that fit our requirements as stated at the ‘Call for Entries: Independent Film Projects for International Pitching Forum’ webpage. Please make sure you have already communicated with all the stakeholders upon the copyright issues and reached a consensus before application.
No. You may choose your own way to present. If participants want to play videos, screening time will also be included in the 7 minutes.
No.
There won’t be any interview sessions. Shortlisted projects will be selected directly based on the information you provided through the Online Application Form. Please fill in both in Chinese and English. Please pay attention to the word limit and the authorisation settings of the links (if any).
The International Pitching Forum will be held on the 15th and 16th of June, 2023. There will be briefing and/or technical rehearsal sessions beforehand which shortlisted candidates are required to join. There will also be film industry events and showcases during the Eye Catcher Global week. Please stay tuned for further details.
There won’t be any interview sessions. Shortlisted projects will be selected directly based on the information you provided through the Online Application Form. Please fill in both in Chinese and English. Please pay attention to the word limit and the authorisation settings of the links (if any).
Please fill in the Online Application Form again before the application deadline [3 March 2023 (FRI) 12:00 n.n.]. We will read only the latest version.
Eye Catcher 22/23 Programme Overview
Creativity Camp | AUG 2022
The five-day and four-night creativity camp invited guests and speakers to inspire participants’ imagination, stimulate their creative energy and expand their community connections. A series of events included experienced filmmakers / creators’ sharing about their inspirations and ideas, led the interdisciplinary workshops and created their own works in groups. During the nights exploring filmmaking, literature and music, campers watched the interdisciplinary creations, exchanged their ideas together, and completed their creative videos for the final showcase in the camp.
Incubation Programme｜OCT 2022 to DEC 2022
12 Hong Kong film projects were recruited through the open call. I) Mentorship. 12 film units were matched with experienced producers / directors for one-on-one guidance on the project development, as well as career development in the industry. II) 3-Phase Workshops: Storytelling, Self-producing and Pitching. 12 film units received professional advice on their story development, team building, financing strategy, audience design, film festival run, impact distribution, etc. III) Final Pitching Day. After the mentorship and tailor-made workshops, 12 film units pitched their film projects and competed for 3 awards, a grant amount HKD 80,000 in total, and the limited direct entries to the International Pitching Forum in June 2023.
Eye Catcher Global (ECG) | JUN 2023
Presented by：
Eye Catcher｜Renaissance Foundation