First Feature Film Initiative
The First Feature Film Initiative is a scheme of the Hong Kong government, organised by Create Hong Kong of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and supported by the Film Development Council, to nurture talents for the film industry. It is a competition on screenplay and production proposals, and the winning teams receive funding from the Film Development Fund to make their first feature films.
The competition is divided into Higher Education Institutions Group and Professional Group, the former recommended by higher education institutions or member institutions of the Vocational Training Council and the latter without quota. Each group awards up to three winners; prior to 2020, HEIG awarded up to two winners and PG at most one. For a team to be eligible, the directors must not have shot any commercial film with a running time of 80 minutes or longer as a director, co-director or executive director; the producers must have participated in the production of at least two films publicly exhibited in Hong Kong in the past 20 years in the capacity of a presenter or producer.
Inaugurated in 2013, the initiative has awarded 18 films as of 2020 and seven have been released publicly.
Funding
The winning teams receive full funding from the Film Development Fund in the production of their films. The amounts of the funding are as follows:| Awards | ||
| 1st | 2 million | 5 million |
| 2nd - 5th | 3.25 million | 5.5 million |
| 6th | 5 million | 8 million |
Winners
| Awards | Group | English Title | Chinese Title | Director | Release Date | Box office |
| 1st | PG | Opus 1Released as Somewhere Beyond the Mist | :zh:藍天白雲|藍天白雲 | Cheung King-wai | 771,424 | |
| 1st | HEIG | Mad World | :zh:一念無明 |一念無明 | Wong Chun | 16,923,985 | |
| 1st | HEIG | Weeds on Fire | :zh:點五步|點五步 | Steve Chan Chi-fat | 4,678,142 | |
| 2nd | PG | Love@The SquareReleased as Apart | :zh-yue:散後|戀@廣埸Released as 散後 | Chan Chit-man | Post-production | |
| 2nd | HEIG | In Your DreamReleased as In Your Dreams | :zh:以青春的名義|以青春的名義愛你 Released as 以青春的名義 | Tam Wai-ching | 475,274 | |
| 3rd | PG | The Assassination of G | :zh:G殺|G殺 | Lee Cheuk-pan | ||
| 3rd | HEIG | Still Human | :zh:淪落人|淪落人 | Oliver Siu-kuen Chan | 19,811,169 | |
| 4th | PG | Elisa's Day | 滄海遺愛Released as 遺愛 | Alan Fung | In production | |
| 4th | HEIG | Hand-rolled Cigarette | 手捲煙 | Kelvin Chan Kin-long | In production | |
| 4th | HEIG | My Prince Edward | :zh:金都 |金都 | Norris Wong | ||
| 5th | PG | A Light Never Goes Out | 燈火闌珊 | Anastasia Tsang Hin-Ling | In production | |
| 5th | HEIG | Time Still Turns the Pages | 遺書 | Nick Cheuk Yik-him | In production | |
| 5th | HEIG | The Dinner | 陽 | Eric Tsang Hing-wen | In production | |
| 6th | PG | Love Lies | 我談的那場戀愛 | Ho Miu-kei | ||
| 6th | PG | Foster Love | 流水落花 | Ka Sing-fung | ||
| 6th | HEIG | Fly Me to the Moon | 但願人長久 | Sasha Chuk | ||
| 6th | HEIG | The Wonder | 風景線 | Yip Yuk-ying | ||
| 6th | HEIG | Gamer Girls | 電競女孩聯盟 | Veronica Bassetto | ||
| 6th | HEIG | Gamer Girls | 電競女孩聯盟 | Sophie Yang |