Singapore Bags Grand Prize at APAC HUAWEI Film Awards4 min read

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HUAWEI Film Awards 2020 today announced Singaporean Tong Khoon Mun as the grand winner with his short film Thief, bagging the cash prize of USD20,000. Khoon Mun was selected out of 20 outstanding finalists
by the judging panel made up of regional esteemed filmmakers with the likes of TV producer and screenwriter, Adele Lim, film director, Rajay Singh and more.

Organised for the first time this year, HUAWEI Film Awards nurtured a group of creative talents – including award-winning filmmakers and content creators – to explore artistic possibilities in telling great stories with their Huawei smartphones. They utilised various filmography formats and content, presenting short films imbued with humour, philosophy, art, and emotion that run the gamut of the human condition.

Each participant applied their own perspective and style to interpret the theme ‘Empowering Your Possibilities’, resulting in a total of 107 submissions over the span of 2.5 months. Their high-quality work reinforced the impressive capabilities of Huawei smartphones in cinematography, particularly HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro.

“Through a successful first year of HUAWEI Film Awards, we are pleased to help bring out the best of filmmakers and content creators from all over Asia Pacific and provide a platform from which they can launch their careers in mobile filmography. Huawei smartphones have always been designed to ‘Make It Possible’ – in this case, we have witnessed how the right tool, in the right hands, can be the key to unlocking greatness,” said Phil Xu, Managing Director of Huawei Consumer Business Group Singapore.

Shot entirely using HUAWEI P30 Pro, “Thief” by Tong Khoon Mun is a short film that follows the journey of a young boy as he attempts to find ways to cover his monetary losses without getting caught by his mum.

Set in the heartlands of Singapore, the film uses shades of greens and browns to accentuate feelings of nostalgia. HUAWEI P30 Pro’s SuperSpectrum sensor brought these moments to life with its impressive low-light video recording when shooting in dark locations while the AI HDR+ tackles the backlight challenge, allowing light and colour to be balanced in different layers to bring the subject’s face into focus. Dramatic anchor moments of the lead character were further emphasized through the help of HUAWEI TOF Camera where the accurate measurement of the depth of subjects and AIS Long Exposure Shot allow scenes to have a professional-level background blurring with different creamy effects while still maintaining focus on boy’s eyes.

“We are very honoured to clinch the grand prize of the inaugural HUAWEI Film Awards. Huawei has provided us with a platform to challenge ourselves and express our creativity, which proved to be a fun and fulfilling experience. Shooting with HUAWEI P30 Pro’s Cine Camera allowed us to deliver the intended cinematography, nostalgic look and robust images for Thief. Despite being professionals who are used to bulky equipment and the restrictions in space and movement in certain locations, we were still able to produce what we wanted, all thanks to the lightweight and compact P30 Pro,” said Tong Khoon Mun, winner for APAC Best Film.

HUAWEI P30 Pro, engineered with advanced AI capabilities, carries a revolutionary new generation 40 million ultra-sensitive Leica with four cameras. The phone features Huawei ToF camera image system that supports double OIS optical anti-shake and AIS intelligent anti-shake, as well as 25 cm ultra-shake. HUAWEI P30 Pro also serves as a powerful video shooting equipment with its sophisticated imaging design and capabilities to support super-sensitive video, zoom video and double-view videos, empowering consumers to capture professional photos and videos effortlessly.

All winners, including APAC Best Director, APAC Best Cinematography, APAC Best Actor, and Country Level Best Film received a trophy and certificate each.

Here is the full list of winners from this year’s HUAWEI Film Awards:
APAC Best Film: “Thief” by Tong Khoon Mun (Singapore)
APAC Best Director: “Thief” by Tong Khoon Mun (Singapore)
APAC Best Cinematography: “Arbeit Macht Frei” by Vasavas Bhangsa-ard (Thailand)
APAC Best Actor: Vasavas Bhangsa-ard in “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Thailand)

Country Level Best Film:
– Singapore: “Thief” by Tong Khoon Mun
– Thailand: “Arbeit Macht Frei” by Vasavas Bhangsa-ard
– Malaysia: “Running Without Wings” by Yim Wai Lup
– Indonesia: “Jalu” by Juhendi
– Laos: “Promise” by Chittixay Phommaseng
– Myanmar: “Unbreakable Bond” by Arkar Win

The winners were determined by a panel of esteemed judges, which included TV producer and screenwriter, Adele Lim; Head of Production of A+E Networks Asia, Chris Humphrey; film director, Rajay Singh; screenwriter and filmmaker, Prabda Yoon; and APAC President of Huawei Consumer Business Group, Alex Lin.

For more information on HUAWEI Film Awards, please visit the official website at the link here. Watch the full short film below: