Two shorts in the running at Hong Kong filmfest

A total of two short films ‘Manicure’ by Arman Fayyaz and ‘Ballsy’ by Seyyed Mohsen Pourmohseni Shakib are in the shortlist to vie for top prize at the 24th IFVA Festival in Hong Kong.  

‘Manicure’ will compete as finalist at the Asian New Force Category of IFVA Festival (Incubator for Film and Visual Media in Asia) with a showcase at Hong Kong Arts Centre.        

‘Manicure’ is the story of a young man who struggles to deal with the aftermath of the unexpected death of his wife while facing pressure from the local villagers.

Produced in 2017, the 14-minute short film participated in various film festivals across the globe, including 24th Encounters Film Festival in the UK, 9th Istanbul Int’l Short Film Festival in Turkey, the Big Bang Int’l Short Film Festival in Athens and the 35th Sundance Film Festival in the US.  

‘Manicure is also a recipient of various accolades such as the best short film award at the 5th Los Angeles Diversity Film Festival in the US as well as the Special Jury Prize garnered by the flick from 2018 Rio de Janeiro Int’l Short Film Festival (Curta Cinema).  

‘Ballsy: Story of a Revolution’ short animated piece will also vie at the non-competition section of the festival.  

“The story of two chickens which live in a cage. They are fed by a hand. Due to lack of food, chickens strike against the hand and achieve their own freedom, but they can't go out of the cage since there is no hand to feed them,” is revealed as the synopsis of the piece.

‘Ballsy’ has received a nomination for best animation award at the 9th Karama Human Rights Film Festival in Jordan. It also attended the 14th World Festival of Animated Film Varna 2018 in Bulgaria.   

The Incubator for Film and Visual Media in Asia (IFVA) is organized by Hong Kong Arts Centre serving as a platform that promotes and encourages creative talents in Asia, making short films, videos, animation and interactive media. It organizes the "ifva Awards" and "ifva Festival" annually.

The 24th edition of the festival is to be launched on March 6-17, 2019 in Hong Kong, southeastern China.

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