The 1st Asian Festival of First Films takes place in Singapore from 23rd November to 30th November this year. 

Organized by Teamwork Films, the film festival serves as a platform to celebrate the talent of promising filmmakers in Asia.

The Festival received a total of 233 submissions from Hong Kong, Chinese mainland, Singapore, Japan, Canada, Thailand and the USA, etc. Twenty-two of them were selected and nominated for competition by five eminent veterans of the film industry.

In the competition section, there are nine awards across eight categories and two Hong Kong debut films in competition, namely Mandheling, a love story by Ada Tong, and Becoming, a documentary by Duc Luu.

The Shoe Fairy, directed by Taiwan filmmaker Robin Lee is shown in the non-competitive feature films section. 

(hkfilmart November 28, 2005)