Shanghai International Film Festival 2015: And the winners are…
updated the 6 October 2015 à 23:02
The 18th edition of the film festival opened with a strong Asian flavour in movie selections and a host of Chinese stars gracing the red carpet.
The 18th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) opened on Saturday with Jackie Chan, Fan Bingbing, Leon Lai and a host of other Asian A-listers walking the red carpet. Founded in 1993, the prestigious film festival features more than 380 movies from 50 countries and unlike most film awards in Hollywood, the SIFF has a strong focus on Asian movies and films that fall outside of the Hollywood mainstream.
This year, China dominated the scene with 80 films, the highest number of any participating country and almost double the amount by closest competitor, the United States. So naturally, there were bound to be winners from China amongst the contenders.
The crime drama 12 Citizens directed by Chinese director Xu Ang took home five awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for the Movie Channel Media Awards category. Inspired by the 1957 classic Hollywood film Twelve Angry Men, 12 Citizens tells the story of an adopted young man who murders his biological father. The movie’s stars, Han Tongsheng won Best Supporting Actor, while He Bing took home the Best Actor award.
As for the Best Actress, the award went to 29 year-old Yang Zishan for her role in Miss Granny and Krista Kosonen for The Midwife.
While the Chinese dominated the ceremony, competitors of other nationalities were not to be left out. Pierre Jolivet who directed the Franco-Belgian film The Night Watchman won the Golden Goblet award for Best Film, while the Jury Grand Prize went to Polish director Jacek Lusinski for Carte Blanche.
Recognizing emerging talent, the Asian New Talent award went to Iranian filmmaker Hooman Seyyedi. His debut film, 13, nominated for best film and cinematography focuses on the loneliness and rage of a 13 year-old boy whose parents are divorced.
The awards were decided by the jury, headed by Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev, whose most recent movie Leviathan won the best screenplay award at Cannes last year.
Aside from the minor uproar that occurred when Korean guests were asked to stay away due to the deadly Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome, the festival turned out as planned and is slowly establishing a name for itself in the region and around the globe.
Now to await next year’s line up!
Karen George
