After Hong Kong superstars Stephy Tang and Josie Ho brought the glamour to the red carpet and Japanese legend Takeshi Kitano collected his Golden Mulberry Lifetime Achievement award live from Tokyo (“I'm now editing my new film and I hope to come to Udine to present it to you”), Far East Film Festival 24 comes to an end with a grand total of 40 thousand spectators. 40 thousand spectators who, for nine days, literally became a single body…
As per a tradition dating back to the very first edition, it was the FEFF public who chose the winner. This year the Golden Mulberry was awarded to:
Miracle: Letters to the President
by Lee Jang-hoon, a sweet-natured hymn to the power of dreams.
In second and third place on the podium was China with:
Return to Dust
by Li Ruijun
To Cool to Kill
by Xing Wenxiong
Black Dragon pass-holders also voted for:
Return to Dust
by Li Ruijun
MYmovies readers chose:
Kingmaker
by Byun Sung-hyun.
The jurors for the best debut film (the Manetti Bros. and Vanja Kaludjercic, director of the Rotterdam Film Festival) gave the White Mulberry to:
To Cool to Kill
by Xing Wenxiong
The Mulberry Award for Best Screenplay – new this year – went to:
Love Nonetheless
by Jojo Hideo's
After 2020's completely digital festival and 2021's blended edition, split between a streaming audience and an audience in the Visionario, the FEFF has finally come home, bringing with it more than 70 guests from Asia: the “Giovanni da Udine” Teatro Nuovo has resumed its role as headquarters and the Visionario played host to the special sections (Visions of Manila, The Odd Couples, Best of the Best) and the Canicola exhibition Tales from the Dusk. ‘Normality' might still be some way off, but Udine's Festival has definitely helped shorten the distances – the enthusiasm of the Fareasters and the explosion of creativity documented by the programme speak for themselves…
The 2022 line-up fielded a total of 72 films (13 world premieres, 18 international premieres, 11 European premieres and 13 Italian premieres), 42 of which in competition. The film industries of 10 Asian nations were represented, and 15 countries were involved (including, in an absolute first, Italy, with The Italian Recipe, an Italy-China co-production). 28 of the titles showing were selected for streaming on the platform managed by MYmovies.
All that remains now is to mark on your calendar the dates of the next edition, when the Far East Film Festival will hit a milestone – the quarter century: see you in Udine from the 21st to the 29th of April, 2023!
