Are you a budding filmmaker?
Do you own a Huawei phone?
Would you like an extra US$20,000 in your bank account?
If you answered “yes” to all three questions, then the HUAWEI Film Awards (HFA) might be of interest to you.
First announced in December 2019, the inaugural HFA aims to push the boundaries of smartphone filmmaking. Following the theme of “Empowering Your Possibilities”, the folks at Huawei are looking for both long-from (5-10 minutes) and short-form (60 seconds or less) narratives.
What’s interesting is that the films can be shot in either landscape or vertical orientations, which opens up new storytelling possibilities that aren’t typically used in traditional filmmaking.
The entries will be judged by a panel of five prominent names in Asia’s film and broadcasting scene, which include Thai postmodern filmmaker/author Prabda Yoon and Adele Lim, the screenwriter of Crazy Rich Asians.
Considering that it’s a Huawei-organised event, it should be of little surprise that entries must be shot on a Huawei smartphone. Seeing that their phones have some of the best cameras on the market, however, that might not be such a bad thing.
Entries must be submitted to filmawards@huawei.com by the 25th of February (11:59pm), though you’ll probably want to head to Huawei’s website first to read the submission criteria and download the necessary paperwork.
Winners will be announced shortly after on the 6th of March, and even if you don’t win the US$20,000 for Best Film (which includes an all-expenses paid trip to Bangkok to attend the awards ceremony), awards for Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Actor and Best Film (Country Level) are still up for grabs, which come with their own set of prizes.
There’s less than a month to go before the competition ends, and since it’s free to enter it’s worth just giving it a shot if you want to exercise your filmmaking chops.
Header Image Credit: Huawei
