“It was not my first time to attend international
festival. My short film has been nominated by various short film festivals internationally
such as Montreal, Caire, Bangkok and China, etc. Since I’m turning 30
years old, I’m at the turning point of my life. The trip sponsored by NAE allowed me to think over my future career.
I’ve been working as a film editor and photographer since graduation, now I
shall focus to directing.


After the NAE market screening, international audiences
showed their interests in my production and fishermen in Hong Kong. I took time
to explain to them that Hong Kong economy has been changing a lot. Many
secondary industries closed, including the fisherman industry. As a son of the
sea and the last generation of Hong Kong fisherman, I would like to make a
short film to describe the fates of fishermen in Hong Kong - how they struggling
to survive in the society, and the relation between family members. The story
is based on the real-life experience of my parents, and that’s why they play
their own character in the film.


I’m a fan of French New Wave films. Many talented
directors have occurred during that period and they are my references. I talked
with foreign producers, directors and investors and shared my projects, some of
them invited me to make shooting projects in their countries, such as Italy,
France, Canada etc. It’s an ideal way of cooperation for me.


During the festival, we had a unique chance to attend
a VIP cocktail dedicated to NAE delegation organised by a local commercial
association. This event gave me a lot of inspiration because we met several
family-owned craftsmen. Some of them have run the family business since 8
generations and it continues to be promoted locally and worldwide. French
people make huge effort to maintain local tradition by setting up museums and
schools. I’m very interested in this kind of culture phenomenon. I’m wondering if
I can come back to Clermont Ferrand one day to shoot a documentary about how
French people preserve their tradition from generation to generation. ”


— Shared by Wong Wai-nap, director
of The Sea Within after
attending Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival & Market 2016
in France, under the sponsorship of NAE.







“Bangkok World Film
Festival has shown cultures from different countries, esp. by those film
production from South East Asia and the developing regions. The most impressive
is, during these years, Thailand political situation is tense, and film and
cultural activities are not in favor of the stratocracy, therefore funding for
cultural productions are shrinked, but then the organizers are still running
the festival with limited resources.






It was a rare chance
to discuss with curator of the festival about the film production in South East
Asia, since there are only two short films shown in the festival, eight in
total from different parts of the world. There are only two from Thailand, so I
do not understand the short film culture there, but I knew there is another
film festival called Thai Short Film Festival there. Every year a lot of
local short films are shown in the film festival.”





— Shared by Wong Wai-nap, director of The Sea Within,
after attending 13th World Film Festival of Bangkok in Thailand,
under the sponsorship of NAE.

"It is my honor that The Sea Within was selected by Montreal World Film Festival, and shown in the section of ”Focus on World Cinema”. The festival aims to promote outstanding films from different countries, thus to encourage cultural exchange among filmmakers and audiences. During the visit, I know more about the status of overseas film market, meanwhile, besides cinematic art, I also learn more about different kinds of art-making, such us public art and new media."






— Shared by Wong Wai-nap, director of The Sea Within, after attending 39th Montreal World Film Festival in Canada.







"I am glad to be invited by Kuan-Du Film
Festival, one of the most important student film festivals in Taiwan. Kuan-Du
Film Festival is a very good communication platform for film school students to
exchange ideas and participate in the process of organising the festival. From
the festival, I have noticed the strict narrative structure in the Taiwan short
film culture. It is also unexpected that film students from Taiwan have shown
great interests in the situations of Hong Kong films nowadays. The discussion
was ardent and ideas out of the film were also bought up for discussion. "



— Shared by Wong Wai-nap, directors of The Sea Within after attending the 7th Kuan-Du Film Festival in Taiwan, under the sponsorship of NAE.












“Kaohsiung Film
Festival is the only film festival in Taiwan which includes international short
film competition section. I am honored that my work has been officially
screened and was given a chance to express my ideas to the audience and in
South Taiwan. Many outstanding short films from all over the world are shown
and thus it has been an eye-opening experience for me. I discussed with the
organizing committee of the film festival and understood more about the local
film production and filming plan. Although after screening discussion was not
arranged, many passionate audience took the initiative to stay in the cinema
and discussed my film with me."






— Shared by Wong Wai-nap, director of The Sea Within,
after attending Kaohsiung Film Festival 2015 in Taiwan, under the sponsorships
of NAE.










“I
am honored to receive the sponsorship from NAE such that I am able to visit the
most influential independent film festival in China, watch a number of
important works and receive the Best Short Film Award in person. In addition, I
also got the opportunity to communicate with local independent filmmakers and
companies to discuss the possibility of further cooperation between the two
places on independent film productions. The film festival has gone through 12
years and has incubated many outstanding filmmakers in China. I hope that more
people will pay attention to the local ban on the suppression of film
festivals, films and other cultural activities.”


— Shared by Wong Wai-nap, director of The Sea Within,
after attending 12th China Independent Film Festival in China,
under the sponsorship of NAE.










“For the screening of my short, most of the comments from audience were
inspiring and encouraging for my future production. Thanks to NAE, such that I
could attend the festival and be awarded in person. South Taiwan Film Festival
is a film festival that emphasizes on human literacy and the contemporary
society. I hope the films selected in the future can continue to catch the
attention of citizens on surrounding social issues and phenomenon.”


— Shared by Wong Wai-nap, director
of The Sea Within after
attending 15th South Taiwan Film Festival in Taiwan, under the
sponsorship of NAE.