Wyman Leong, a postgraduate of communication and new media, is a film lover and has dabbled in video making. He supports organising film screening on campus, saying it gives students an opportunity to know more about different cultures. Jimmy Kwok, a fourth-year undergraduate from the Department of Communication, says, ‘We’ve just moved to the new campus, and it’s precisely the right time that we foster a special new campus culture, so I think it is absolutely necessary to organise cultural events like film-watching on campus. Watching films allows you to experience different lives and different cultures; it also teaches you valuable lessons about life. ’
Albert is a famous director in Macao, co-founder of the Associação Audio-Visual CUT, and part-time lecturer in the Department of Communication. He has made a number of documentaries and films which have been greeted with positive reviews. For years he has spared no efforts in promoting a culture of film-watching in Macao. The Associação Audio-Visual CUT Albert and his friends co-founded is the most active film association in Macao. The Free Screening event was first launched over ten years ago. Asked why he decided to organise Free Screening on UM’s campus, Albert says, ‘I started teaching play writing at UM last year, and I’ve noticed that students here like to discuss about films, and the plays they wrote are very creative and have some potential, but because of their limited experience in film-watching, there is no range in the plays they wrote. We have students from different places, so I hope to organise some cultural events in the evening, such as film-watching, to give them a window through which they could know more about the outside world.’ A good film never ceases to touch your heart, but as time goes on, it touches you in different ways.
‘Teaching college students how to appreciate good films can go a long way towards promoting a culture of film-watching in Macao. We don’t just play films, we also invite film commentators to discuss how to appreciate the art of film. In a sense, this event is a kind of training, and we will go deeper when film watching becomes a culture here at UM.’
The Free Screening event will be held every semester. Stay tuned to the Communication Society and the Associação Audio-Visual CUT’s Facebook pages for screening dates.
