13.06 Sat 16:30 With Post Screening QA
1. Flower of Firecrackers
For years, the creator, living in a foreign land, attempts to “return home” without stepping foot on their native soil. They seek out various “Made in Macao” items through the internet and second-hand markets, triggering a search for personal memories.
Director · Kate Ngan Wa AO
AO is an artist from Macao currently based in Poznań, Poland. She earned her B.A. and M.A. in Photography from the University of the Arts Poznań and has a PhD in Vernacular Photography studies. Kate’s artworks are often inspired by visual cultures, childhood memories, and identities. She reshapes archives, photos, and everyday objects, blending materials and cultural symbols to reveal nuanced and complex meanings. Her works have been featured in exhibitions across multiple countries and cities, including Poland, Athens, Paris, Slovakia, Norway, Denmark, Taiwan, and Macao.
2. The Sea
The boy, Arman, is at home for the summer holidays. It is his grandfather's birthday, and he decides to go to the sea to help his bedridden grandfather fulfil a birthday wish.
Director · Junyi SONG
Film Writer and director. SONG graduated from the Central Academy of Drama with a bachelor's degree in 2012, and in 2018, he was selected for the CSC National Artistic Talent Program to study at the London Film School in the United Kingdom for a master's degree. After returning to China, he participated in the Golden Rooster Youth Director Training Camp and the Wu Tianming Film Foundation Master Class. He is currently studying for a PhD in Film Industry Management at Macau University of Science and Technology, and is preparing for his first feature film project.
3. Beco da Rede
In the densely populated city of Macao, where the population density reaches 21,158 people per square kilometre, lies the narrowest street in the region—"Beco Da Rede".
This street is only 30 meters long and 0.73 meters wide, making it impossible for even Google Maps to accurately locate. As we traverse this inconspicuous alley, this overlooked narrow street serves as a microcosm of Macao itself. BECO DA REDE captures the realities of several individuals from diverse backgrounds and identities, inviting them to engage with their daily lives within this confined space. Within the constraints of land and borders, what will they encounter?
Director · 𝗟AO Keng U
LAO is a filmmaker and artist. He graduated from the Arts University Bournemouth with a BA degree in Film Directing. He is currently pursuing the DocNomadsPlus Master Programme in Documentary Filmmaking in Portugal, Lithuania and Belgium. Through different materialities of the moving image, Lao explores the performativity of theatrical magic as an expanded metaphor for how perceptions and imaginaries of reality are manipulated and generated. Lao’s works reflect and refract conceptions of identity, memory, and futurity in contemporary Macao. His films have been shown in festivals internationally, including at Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg, Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival, Aesthetica Short Film Festival and Bogota Experimental Film Festival, among others. In 2025, his experimental short DIRTY EYE won the “Award for Excellence” at the 39th Image Forum Festival in Japan. Beyond his creative practice, Lao actively promotes local film culture. As a curator for the Associação Audio-Visual CUT, he has organized the "Macao Experimental Cinema" series and the "CUT! Experimental Film Festival" initiatives dedicated to fostering experimental cinema within the Macau community.
4. Before Sunrise, We Write
Two insomniac college students meet in a public restroom late at night and decide to escape the city together. After heading up the mountain, they vent their frustrations under the influence of alcohol and, in the span of a single night, write an absurd screenplay. At sunrise, they part ways, carrying with them a brief moment of resonance. Before the sun comes up, no one knows what tomorrow will bring, but once it rises, there is still a tomorrow.
Director · Po-Cheng HUANG
HUANG was born in a rural area of Chiayi County, Taiwan, and grew up in Macau. He is currently studying in the Department of Performing Arts at Taiwan Normal University.
5. A Way to the End
One night, I witnessed the killing of a stray cat downstairs, which stirred up a memory of something that had passed and I could not express. I turned it into images as a way to the end.
Director · AO IEONG Weng Fong
AO IEONG Weng Fong, aka Uncle Peace. He liked movies, wine, scenery and chatting. Part-time film director and photography wanderer. He majored in entomology in college, held exhibitions, published a photo album, and ran an independent photography magazine “GALO-zine” . In 2024, he completed his first feature film, I WANT TO BE A PLASTIC CHAIR.
6. Between the Stanzas
On a weekday evening at McDonald's, a group of people gathers to read poetry. A guy tries to hit on a girl, a young woman argues with her best friend, and an onlooker watches all the drama unfold with gossipy amusement.
Director · TENG Kun Hou
Graduated from the director group of the master's class of the Department of Filmmaking of Taipei National University of the Arts, and was selected into the 2021 Golden Horse Film Academy. His previous work ONE TO TEN has won the Golden Harvest Awards Student Group Best Feature Film.
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SECTION 3: BORROWED EYES, INNER LIGHT
Firefall
Xiaomin travelled to Macao for a date with someone she met online. The pair wandered through the city, which is designed specifically for tourists, and tried to build a connection through their meandering conversation.