Mike Goodridge, the former CEO of Protagonist Pictures, is stepping down from his role as artistic director of International Film Festival & Awards Macao (IFFAM) after four editions.
Goodridge will continue to produce and manage his Good Chaos label, and will also continue festival programming and curation after IFFAM. He served as a consultant for the Chicago International Film Festival. His recent credits include as an executive producer on the Oscar-nominated Quo Vadis, Aida? and Ruben Ostlund’s upcoming Triangle Of Sadness.
IFFAM 2021 will not be held as Covid restrictions in the autonomous region of China’s coast remain strict. This area is well-known for its high-flying gaming industry.
The fest was founded in 2016, and Goodridge joined it after Marco Mueller, its founding artistic director, quit. Goodridge set up an international competition to find first and second-time directors. He also created the New Chinese Cinema competition. The festival played and celebrated strong Chinese language titles such as Better Days, Dwelling In The Fuchun Mountains, and Love Poem. It would also program international awards hits including The Shape Of Water, Green Book, and JoJo Rabbit.
It was forced to go online last year due to the pandemic. The digital masterclasses featured Hirokazu Koreeda and Hur Jin-ho as well as Nina Hoss, Viggo Mortensen, and Nina Hoss.
“I have a had an incredible experience working with my friends and colleagues in Macao,” Goodridge said. “We built the audience for different kinds of cinema in the city and created an event that resonated across the region and the world. The team we assembled was second to none, and we were all dedicated to stimulating the growth of film-making and film-going in Macao. IFFAM’s future is uncertain in an age of Covid and seismic local changes, but I wish it continued prosperity.”