SINGAPORE: Nepali film White Sun (Seto Surya) was named Best Film at the 27th Singapore International Film Festival’s (SGIFF) Silver Screen Awards on Saturday night (Dec 3).
Director Deepak Rauniyar’s penetrating film about the strife between the supporters of the monarchy and the Maoist faction was said to have impressed the jury as “an exceptional and incisive film”.
Exploring the scars that remain from civil war using both tension and absurdist comedy, White Sun tells an all pervading story through the eyes of the young which the jury found “encapsulates the never-ending conflict that is the state of the world today, with a message of hope that a different future for all of us can be possible through our children”.
Bangladeshi film Live from Dhaka clinched the Best Director award for Abdullah Mohammad Saad and Best Performance award for cast Mostafa Monwar. This debut feature film by Saad was shot in black and white, and paints a riveting and complex portrait of a partially handicapped man pushed to his very extreme and his struggle between morality and the instinct for self-preservation.
Live from Dhaka is about a partially handicapped man who struggles between morality and the instinct for self-preservation. (Photo: SGIFF)
The winners of the Asian Feature Film Competition were decided by a jury panel, headed by contemporary Japanese cinema legend Naomi Kawase.
The Silver Screen Awards this year saw a total of 13 awards being presented, with In the Year of Monkey (Prenjak) by Indonesian director Wregas Bhanuteja picking up the accolade for Best Short Film in the Southeast Asian Short Film Competition.
The jury found the film to be not just “inventive in its story and imagery” but also “bold yet sensitive” in presenting “a dynamic new voice in Indonesian cinema that challenges social norms that is both eclectic and humanist”.
In the Year of Monkey won the jury over with its “bold yet sensitive” storytelling. (Photo: SGIFF)
The film about a woman who, in need of money desperately seeks help from her friend Jarwo by selling a matchstick for 10,000 rupiahs also won the Leica Cine Discovery Prize at the Cannes Film Festival this year.
Singapore’s Liao Jiekai won the Best Southeast Asian Short Film Director award for The Mist, which features two women who recollect the sounds and images from places in their collective memories in this evocative dance-inspired film.
A dance-inspired film, The Mist saw Liao Jiekai taking home the Best Southeast Asian Short Film Director award. (Photo: SGIFF)
The jury felt that Liao “successfully translates collective memory in a poetic way” through sound and image, “without falling into experimental film pretension”. Liao was conferred the Young Artist Award by the National Arts Council of Singapore in 2012.
Anchorage Prohibited emerged as Best Singapore Short Film. Filmmaker Chiang Wei Liang’s story about two migrant workers with no money and a child, and their search for employment opportunities “shows the challenges of a day in the life of migrant workers without going into tropes of melodrama, with an observational style that makes the characters’ plight resonate”, said the jury. The film also won Best Short Film at the Taipei Film Awards and the Audi Short Film Award at the 66th Berlinale.
Anchorage Prohibited was named Best Singapore Short Film. (Photo: SGIFF)
Two established Asian industry veterans were also celebrated at the Awards. Hong Kong film director Fruit Chan was presented with the Honorary Award this year, which recognises individuals who have made exceptional and enduring contributions to Asian cinema, especially within their own country. He received the award from SGIFF Executive Director Yuni Hadi, and Chinese actress Qin Hailu, who starred in Chan’s feature film Durian Durian.
With a career spanning nearly forty years, Simon Yam was also conferred the Cinema Legend Award, which recognises Asian actors and their outstanding achievements in bringing Asia’s story to life on screen. The award was presented to Yam by SGIFF Chairman Mike Wiluan, and Hong Kong director Herman Yau.
Said Hadi: “The Silver Screen Awards is integral to the Singapore International Film Festival as we seek to inspire the discovery of independent cinema. Each year, we chart the depth of Asian cinema, and recognise our regional talents, including up-and-coming filmmakers, many of whom become prominent filmmakers of our time.
“Through the competition, we also pave the way for our region’s film industry and provide opportunities for its growth and sustenance. Congratulations to all award winners this year, and we are already looking forward to uncover more hidden gems of the Asian cinema next year.”
White Sun will be re-screened at the National Museum of Singapore on Sunday, the last day of SGIFF, together with the winning film of the Audience Choice Award that will be announced on Sunday as well.
