Here are all the winners of the 28th Vesoul IFF Asian Cinemas that took place from the 1st to the 8th of February in Vesoul, France.
HONORARY GOLDEN CYCLO:
(offered by the Agglomeration Community and the city of Vesoul)
Mrs. Leila Hatami, actress, Iran for her entire career, and Mr. Kôji Fukada, director, Japan for the all of his work.
CYCLO D’OR:
(offered by the Regional Council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté), International Jury: President: Ms. Leila Hatami, actress (Iran), members: Ms. Suha Arraf, director (Palestine), Ms. Tran Bich Quan, distributor, producer (France), Mr. Zig Dulay, director (Philippines)
YANAGAWA by Zhang Lu (China) Beautiful, strong images, based on a powerful and perfectly told story, lead us to the discovery of brotherly relationship and love
GRAND JURY PRIZE:
ALONG THE SEA by Fujimoto Akio (Japan) Exposing a calm, restful nature on the one hand, harsh and merciless on the other, the film confronts us with the major socio-economic problems faced by the characters, geographically close to developed countries but who experience completely opposite living conditions.
JURY PRIZE:
(offered by the Departmental Council of Haute-Saône)
ALONERS by Hong Sung-eun (Korea) The director brilliantly emphasizes the duality of human desire for friendship on the one hand, and withdrawal into oneself for sentimental detachment on the other. How do you find the balance between these two feelings?
SPECIAL MENTION:
THE FALLS by Chung Mong-hong (Taiwan) with its excellent female interpretation, the film depicts human fragility in the face of challenges that are beyond us and that jostle us.
GENSAN PUNCH by Brillante Ma Mendoza (Philippines), With extraordinary mastery of the camera and the perfect incarnation of a real story, the director shows us the important role of family and friendship by recalling good manners even in debates far from hatred.
2000 SONGS OF FARIDA by Yolkin Tuychiev (Uzbekistan) reminded us of human nature before it was controlled by modernity. Using, with mastery, very beautiful images, the director remarkably brought to light the depth of resentment and the weight of patriarchy
NETPAC JURY PRIZE:
(NETWORK FOR THE PROMOTION OF ASIAN CINEMA), president: Mr. Qasi Abdur Rahim, Festival Director (India), members: Mr. Azizbek Mannopov, producer (Uzbekistan), Mr. Watanabe Kazutaka, producer (Japan)
ALONERS by Hong Sung-eun (Korea) for pioneering artistic solutions to the nature of human interaction in the context of modern technological complexity and its encounter with universal issues in an elegant and subtle manner
MARC HAAZ PRIZE:
President: Kavich Neang, members: Jung Wonhee director (Korea) and Soraya Akhlaqi, director (Afghanistan)
Shahrbanoo Sadat’s ORPHANAGE (Afghanistan), Through the eyes of a young orphan, his daydreams, his freedom of spirit and his optimism, we share the difficult existence of Afghans, the tragic moments they go through during the soviet occupation
PRIZE OF THE JURY OF CRITICS:
president: Mrs. Houda Ibrahim (RFI); members: Ms. Ogoulbibi Amanniyazova-Marias (independent), Mr. Christophe Maulavé (Ecran noir)
ALONG THE SEA by Fujimoto Akio (Japan) for his so accurate way of filming a universal story related to a form of modern slavery, in today’s Japan where he places his camera as close as possible to his heroines and dares daring sequence shots that deeply involve us in the painful journey of these three characters.
INALCO JURY PRIZE:
(offered by the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations), president: Mr. Jean-Michel Butel, members: Mr. Babak Onalu, Mr. Tajamul Faqiri-Choisy and Mrs. Mathilde Pelletier
ALONG THE SEA by Fujimoto Akio (Japan) a film that sheds particularly significant light on contemporary realities in Asia. It respectfully shows the journey of migrant women in Japan
INALCO FAVORITE:
THE COFFIN PAINTER by Da Fei (China) for the beauty of his images and the brilliance with which he was able to transport us to the confines of contemporary China to tell us a tender and universal story.
FICTION FILM AUDIENCE AWARD:
(offered by the city of Vesoul)
Ex aequo :
NO CHOICE by Reza Dormishian (Iran)
NO LAND’S MAN by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki (Bangladesh)
HIGH SCHOOL JURY AWARD:
THE FALLS by Chung Mong-hong (Taiwan)
AUDIENCE PRIZE FOR THE DOCUMENTARY FILM:
(offered by the Agglomeration Community of Vesoul):
INDIAN SPACE DREAMS by Sue Sudbury (India-England)
YOUNG JURY PRIZE:
(offered by the Agglomeration Community of Vesoul)
FEBRUARY 1st by Leila Macaire and Mo Mo (France-Myanmar)
The 29th edition of the Vesoul IFF Asian Cinemas will take place from February 28 to March 7, 2023.