We present the list of winners of the 26th ifva Festival which took place which took place from February 24th until March 14th (2021) at the Hong Kong Arts Centre.

About the Awards:
ifva was founded by the Hong Kong Arts Centre in 1995. Over the years, ifva has established itself as Asia’s pioneering force in short film, animation and media arts, by providing a unique and professional platform for Hong Kong and Asian creative talents to unite, exchange and promote their works.

Open Category

Gold Award

One night in the life of a taxi driver during the anti-extradition law protests in Hong Kong.

Silver Award

Wing-luk, who grew up in a poor and repressed family, is fortunate enough to find an outlet for his emotions: hurdle races, even though his mother Saul ing does not care. He tries his best to overcome his born limitations, yet his goals remain even more distant. As he is about to graduate, can he take the leap to achieve better results and at the same time overcome his difficulties in life?

Special Mention

A local economics teacher and a “native English-speaking teacher” from the United States spend one school year crisscrossing Hong Kong. As they say goodbye, they recall connecting and disconnecting over after-school snacks.

My original intention was to shoot a documentary about my mother, but during an ad-hoc trip back to my hometown, I accidentally learned another family secret.

Asian New Force Category

Gold Award

The Moniri and Kheradmand families are in the park for a picnic. After finishing their meal, it is revealed that they are here for something else.

Silver Award

Yan is an illegal second child born under the one-child policy. To avoid being punished by the government, Yan’s parents hid their older daughter in the countryside and raised Yan as a girl. Now a young adult, Yan struggles with his gender identity and is being treated as an outcast in a conservative society. His sole escape is drifting his father’s old taxi through abandoned parking lots.

Special Mention

A transgender female dancer, Shin-mi, gets a call from the Military Manpower Administration.

Youth Category

Gold Award

Mr. Tse works at HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity. There are hardly any students in campus under the pandemic. When night falls, the school is now managed by Mr. Tse, the only janitor on campus. The short film records the daily routine of Mr. Tse, and how such routine connects with the pandemic and the society. He actually finds his haven within the bureaucracy.

Silver Award

Owen is a warrior of some country where he is locked in jail for causing casualties. The government one day demands Owen to interrogate an AI system to retrieve top secret information of their benefit. There he struggles between sense and sensibility.

Special Mention

A 16-year-old youngster experiences the cycle of friendship within a few months. He makes his wish in front of his birthday cake and is granted a precious time to spend with his friend.

Violence gives birth to violence, bias leads to further bias, we are all living in this enormous consequence. At this trial, everyone is shouting out loud that lost sin – injustice!

This is the year when the familiar turns strange, when protectors turn to the source of fear, and the past becomes the present. We may need to think about this, “What is it that we are facing right now? What is the one thing we fear that would appear out of nowhere?＂

Enthusiastic Award

HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity

Animation Category

Gold Award

Mountains and Seas – Village of Muds is an animation based on an original script inspired by The Classic of Mountains and Seas . The story centres on three youngsters’ adventures in the land of mountains and seas.

Silver Award

An aging grandmother loses her five senses, one after the other before finally becoming a wooden chair. Throughout her transformation, she realises that her housekeeper is not the wild animal she once thought she was, but the caring and loyal family member she was sadly lacking. A poignant story about illness and growing old which employs imagination and metaphor to show the difficult and painful process of departing.

Special Mention

Iron Fist is a stuntman who lives a happy life with his pet dog Popo after his retirement. One morning, a car runs over Popo, and the killer turns out to be the billionaire Danny. As he watches the car takes off, Iron Fist vows revenge.

Media Art Category

Gold Award – Give No Words but Mum by Lo Lai-lai Natalie

Silver Award – Modern Body by Katsuki Nogami

Special Mention
Living to Die by Hoi In-wai Kelvin
Unerasable Characters II by Winnie Soon