By: Alec Concejero
The Singapore Media Festival (SMF) returns for its seventh year in an online format, featuring an updated lineup that will catapult Asian stories to a global audience.
With works from over 50 local media firms to be offered under the Singapore Virtual Pavilion, Singapore introduces rich and fresh content to the global market at ATF Online+. The robust collection comprises over 730 hours of stories from Singapore and Asia, presented by the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA), covering over 135 titles and formats, such as anime, movies, crime thrillers, children’s programming, and feature films. ATF Online+, which runs from 1 to 4 December 2020, is part of the ongoing Singapore Media Festival.
The Singapore Media Festival is one of Asia’s leading international media gatherings, organized by the Infocomm Media Growth Authority, where the industry meets to explore the new trends, talents and content for film, TV, and digital media in Asia. The Singapore Media Festival puts together the Asian Academy Creative Awards (AAA), Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) and ScreenSingapore, from 26 November to 6 December 2020, and the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF). Along with SMF, the Singapore Games Market Bootcamp, SuperGamerFest and VidCon Now Asia will also be held.
For the whole length of the Singapore Media Festival, the SGIFF can run and merge interactive film screenings with physical activities. In order to honor women filmmakers, SGIFF is also running a New Waves initiative before the actual festival. The line-up comprises short films by female directors and film panel debates with women and takes place at the Oldham Theatre from Oct 24 to 25.
On Dec 3 and 4, the Asian Academy Artistic Awards will host their grand awards and gala ceremony. In the grand awards ceremony, national winners previously announced on Oct 15 will represent their country. The IMDA said that through the ATF Web Plus digital network, the cornerstone ATF will host its complete business and conference experience online. These include markets for virtual trading, conventions and pitches, and resources for speed dating. This year’s ATF, a regional media trade festival, will switch entirely online through its ATF Online+ digital channel for its run from Dec 1 to 4. Digital commerce markets and conventions will be included in the four-day affair.
Since July, Singapore’s movement control measures have been partially erased, but the country will officially remain “for the time being in Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) Orange. Singapore and Hong Kong, which likewise has the disease under control, are also close to agreeing on a transport bubble. This will possibly allow quarantine-free to travel between the two locations, provided that travelers have an existing negative virus test from government-approved laboratories.