All three Asian entries in this year's Tiger Competition walk away with something to take home. First, hailing from Hangzhou, Chinese filmmaker Zheng Lu Xinyuan reaps the prestigious Tiger Award at the 49th International Film Festival Rotterdam with her debut feature, “The Cloud in Her Room.” The existential black and white film about love, loneliness, and loss subsequently earns a prize of €40,000 to be divided between filmmaker and producer. On the other hand, South Korean crime-thriller “Beasts Clawing at Straws” by Kim Young-hoon wins the Special Jury Award and €10,000. The star-studded first feature (featuring Jeon Do-yeon and Jung Woo-sung) similarly earned praise for its precise craftmanship. Last but not least, Tamil filmmaker Arun Karthick takes home the NETPAC Award for best Asian world premiere of IFFR 2020 with his second feature, “Nasir.”
In the Bright Future Competition, Yoon Dan-bi's Kore-eda-esque, intimate family drama “Moving On” adds the Bright Future Award (and €10,000) for best feature-film debut to its current list of Busan-earned awards. Indian-Romanian co-production “A Rifle and a bag” (triple co-directed by Isabella Rinaldi, Cristina Hanes and Arya Rothe) likewise earned a special mention. Chinese film “Only You Alone” by Zhou Zhou earned the title of the best world premiere in the Bright Future Competition, meriting the FIPRESCI Award. And perhaps unsurprisingly, Bong Joon-ho's “Parasite” (B&W Version) won over local audiences and takes home the BankGiro Loterij Audience Award.
Festival director Bero Beyer congratulated all winners. In his closing speech, he said “We are incredibly impressed with the quality of this year's Tiger Competition, which in many cases spurred significant festival buzz. We thank all filmmakers for their ambitious and creative approaches to cinema. Remember these names, because we're sure to see much more of them in the future.”
