Filmmakers from Philippines, Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan honoured at Juree Asia Awards
Juree Asia Awards 2022 announced top prizes for its inaugural film festival during a TikTok Live hosted on December 9. Juree Awards is in its seventh-year edition, where for the first-time ever, it is running an Asia-wide film festival. ‘The Day It Snowed In The Philippines' by Joshua Caesar Medroso from the Philippines, won the Grand Prize Award while ‘Do Not Ask (Risau)' by Vera Isnaini from Indonesia, took home the Vertical Storytelling Award.
‘The Day It Snowed In The Philippines', a story of two young boys living by the coast of Davao City challenged by violence and abuse. “It's an honour to win the Grand Prize for Juree as this story is close to my heart. I grew up in the coastal slums of Davao City where violence against children is true in our society. Through this film, I hope to remind the victims that they are never alone in this world,” said Joshua Caesar Medroso.
This is the first year that the Vertical Storytelling Award was introduced which Indonesian filmmaker Vera Isnaini won with the film ‘Do Not Ask (Risau)'. Her film depicts the comedic reaction of an old maid whenever people around push her to get married despite her not having a partner. The Vertical Storytelling category was featured at the Juree Awards due to the rise in popularity of vertical content as an emerging style of storytelling.
“It's a common culture in Indonesia for others to ask about your marriage plans which I took ideas from and developed through a comedic twist. It has been an exciting journey being part of the Juree Asia Awards and I've been inspired by other Asian filmmakers to strive and create more stories,” said Vera Isnaini.
The Audience Choice Award was won by another Indonesian filmmaker, Philipus Maliobowo for his film ‘Package', a story where a family receives a surprising package full of old and odd items. Kyrgyzstan's film ‘Black Wagon' by Adilet Karzhoev was a special mention film at the Juree Awards for its intriguing plot about the life of coal miners from the town of Sülüktü in Southern Kyrgyzstan.
Among the judges for Juree Awards is Filipino filmmaker Quark Hanares who shared his experience, “All finalists (short films) did such a great job and I'm genuinely impressed by the quality, creativity and diversity for this year's edition of Juree Awards. There was even a debate among the judges on which film would win the Grand Prize award and ‘The Day It Snowed In The Philippines' shined through due to its tonality; of being a silent, black and white film, impactful acting and strong messaging”.
Judging alongside Quark Hanares include a panel of international judges comprising of Japanese film producer Ryohei Tsutsui whose film ‘BANGKOK NITES' won the Junior Jury Award at the Locarno International Film Festival; Taiwanese filmmaker Chang Chih-Wei whose film ‘JANG-GAE: THE FOREIGNER' made world premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival 2020; Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, Thai filmmaker whose feature project ‘A Useful Ghost' won the top prize ‘Production Support' during the Open Doors Hub at Locarno; Dian Herdiany is Indonesian producer and founder of Kampung Halaman Foundation a social enterprise that aims to spread access of storytelling to young Indonesians, and Viddsee Studios' Executive Producer Kenny Tan.
“There's an exciting variety in the quality and diversity of the films. More storytellers are coming forward with bold messaging and unique plots in their stories. Winning films have to be creative, inspiring and most importantly, be able to engage audiences with their narrative and messages. We see the potential of many of these short films having the possibility to be developed into longer form IPs for greater audiences,” said Kenny Tan when sharing his judging experience.
Selected finalists from the Juree Awards also have the opportunity to participate in Scene City Accelerator Asia 2023 where short films will be developed under Scene City Asia.
The Juree Asia Awards 2022 was supported by TikTok as a community partner, where the live award ceremony was held along with an open virtual workshop for the regional storyteller community. For more information about the Juree Asia Awards 2022, please visit https://jureeasia.viddsee.com.
