Mike Goodridge, who was appointed artistic director of the International Film Festival & Awards Macao (IFFAM) in 2017, is stepping down after four editions. COVID-19 in Macau means that the festival will not be held in 2021.
IFFAM, like many other festivals, went online in 2020. It featured a section for film screenings, masterclasses with Hirokazu Koeeda, Hur Jin-ho and Nina Hoss, as well as masterclasses by Viggo Mortensen and Nina Hoss.
Goodridge has been busy with production and management via his Good Chaos label, and will continue to work in programming and curation for festivals. This year, he was a consultant to the Chicago International Film Festival.
“I have a had an incredible experience working with my friends and colleagues in Macau,” Goodridge. “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 Macau. IFFAM’s future is uncertain in an age of COVID and seismic local changes, but I wish it continued prosperity.”
Macau is a special administrative province in China which allows casino gambling. The growth of the Macau enclave’s economy has been sustained by the expansion and modernization of the casino sector over the past 20 decades. However, a crackdown by the central government on the sector saw the introduction of a new gambling law and many measures to control capital outflow such as facial recognition systems at ATMs, cash withdrawal restrictions and the possibility of introducing a government-controlled digital currency.
Perhaps the biggest shakeup is yet to come. The master licenses to operate casino operations will be renewed in ten month’s time. The government is pushing license-holding companies to diversify into nongaming business and to invest in favored development projects along the border in cities in the Greater Bay Area.
After Marco Mueller, the founding artistic director of IFFAM, left, Goodridge was appointed to join. Goodridge created an international competition for first- and second-time directors and strengthened the festival’s Chinese-language programming with the creation of the New Chinese Cinema competition strand. The festival played and celebrated strong Chinese language titles such as “Better Days,” “Dwelling In The Fuchun Mountains,” “Love Poem,” “To Live To Sing,” “Wisdom Tooth,” “The Pluto Moment,” “Up The Mountain,” Xiao Mei” and “Wrath Of Silence.”
Variety was involved with the festival as co-presenter of the Asian Stars Up Next awards. This event was designed to highlight international talent in acting who had already achieved some success in Asia but have the potential to do more.
Meanwhile IFFAM hosted Hong Kong/Macao premieres for titles which would go on to be Oscar favorites: “The Shape Of Water,” “Green Book,” “JoJo Rabbit,” “The Favourite” and “Judy.”
Jury presidents included Laurent Cantet (2017), Chen Kaige (2018), Peter Chan Ho-sun and Christian Mungiu (2019) and Ning Hao (2020). Donnie Yen (Aaron Kwok), Joan Chen, Takashi Miike and John Woo were the visiting guests for four years.