Winners of the 25TH SIFF Asian New Talent Award Announced

After walking the red carpet and being interviewed on the stage, director Aktan Abdykalykov, who is the Jury President of the Asian New Talent of Golden Goblet Awards of Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF), took out his cell phone and asked the staff to take pictures of himself; Song Jia, the guest of honor, did not wear an evening gown, but a white shirt and jeans on the stage, to convey the “true” attitude of newcomers in this way, and said with a smile, “It's very nice to be back here. I just want to run on stage”; Malaysian director Chui Mui Tan, who has been to the festival more than 10 times, also said on the stage that “being a newcomer is the best state for a filmmaker.”

Everything looks young and energetic, which is unique to the Asian New Talent section. On the evening of June 15, the Award Ceremony of the Asian New Talent section of Golden Goblet Awards under the 25th SIFF was held, and seven works including the Uzbek film SUNDAY became the winner of six major awards, demonstrating the vigorous creative power of young Asian filmmakers.

Winners of young and mature 

The Jury Panel of the Asian New Talent section of Golden Goblet Awards under the 25th SIFF, led by Kyrgyz director Aktan Abdykalykov, with Chinese Hong Kong producer Jojo Hui, Japanese director Kei Ishikawa, Chinese director and screenwriter Lu Yang, and Chinese actress Yang Zishan and actor Jackson Yee, selected the final winners from the 12 entries shortlisted this year.

SUNDAY, an Uzbek film directed by Shokir Kholikov, won the Best Film Award, while Kazakh director Aisultan Seitov of QASH and Luo Dong, director of the Chinese film MAY, were jointly honored as Best Directors. Yue Hao, who played the male lead in the Chinese film DAY DREAMING, directed by Wang Zi Chuan, and Sorour Peyrovani, who played the female lead in the Iranian film 1.5 HORSEPOWER, directed by Rasool Kahani, scooped Best Actor and Best Actress. The best screenplay was written and directed by Chen Xiaoyu, who wrote and directed GONE WITH THE BOAT, and the best cinematography was awarded to Davood Malek Hosseini, the cinematographer of the Iranian film CAUSE OF DEATH: UNKNOWN‎, directed by Ali Zarnegar.

The atmosphere at the awards ceremony was very lively, and when the 10-year-old Yue Hao won the best actor award, the cast members excitedly lifted him up, causing the whole audience to roar. Then his “old-fashioned” speech of thanks had the audience laughing. When he returned to his seat after receiving the award, the cast members took turns to pinch his face playfully again. The jury president, Aktan Abdykalykov, also took out his cell phone to capture this funny scene off stage.

 This is exactly how the Asian New Talent section looks this year, young and mature. At the previous jury meeting for the Asian New Talent section, all the jury members commented on this year’s shortlisted films this way, “the newcomers are now very mature, even ‘deprived of’ the attributes of newcomers, the completion levels of the shortlisted works are very high, and the ideas and techniques are quite sophisticated.”

Cell phone numbers left on site by jury members to seek cooperation

At the award ceremony, when the director of SUNDAY, Shokir Kholikov, came on stage to receive the award, he was so excited that he could not utter a word for a long time, and the stage gave him sincere encouragement with applause over and over again. As Asia’s leading platform for recognizing new filmmakers, the Asian New Talent section (formerly known as the Asian New Talent Award), founded in 2004, has brought to the forefront a large number of outstanding filmmakers, including Ning Hao, Pema Tseden and Cao Baoping.

Director Aktan Abdykalykov, jury president, revealed that the jury members “argued fiercely” during this year’s selection process, but in the end, they still came to an agreement. “All of the works in the competition are insightful, technically sophisticated, and the themes are very contemporary, able to express visions and reflections on society and human nature.”

He also sent a message to newcomers with his own experience, “I have also encountered many setbacks, and trials and tribulations, but no matter what, I think making soulful masterpieces is always the whole of my life, and I will be obsessed with it all. So, I hope that young filmmakers can make more and more contributions to the development of Asian and even world cinema with their creations, in the long run.”

As the youngest member of the jury lineup, Jackson Yee’s growth in recent years has attracted attention. Together with producer Nai An, he presented the best actress award. He said, “All mature filmmakers are originally newcomers, and we hope that through this platform, many young filmmakers with energy and vitality will get a chance to be seen and supported by more people.”

Despite being praised for their “maturity”, the winners still showed the characteristics of young filmmakers and nervousness of newcomers on the stage. This year’s Best Director Award was awarded to two winners, and both Kazakh director Aisultan Seitov and Chinese director Luo Dong were quite excited on stage. “I think it’s a great honor to be selected for the Asian New Talent section, so I didn’t even prepare a speech for the award,” said Aisultan Seitov, “I’m now in the spotlight of SIFF, and it is a supreme privilege.” Luo Dong made the film MAY which was screened at this year’s SIFF and was quite popular. He recalled his experience of participating in SIFF PROJECT of the festival 10 years ago, and since then he has started to create his own directorial works, “This is my second feature film, and I am especially grateful for the support of SIFF and the recognition from the jury.”

The newcomers showed their strengths through their works and attracted many famous producers to attend the ceremony. Chui Mui Tan, who was honored at the Asian New Talent Awards, the predecessor of the Asian New Talent section, deliberately asked for her partner’s cell phone number when she and jury member Jojo Xu were presenting the Best Director Award together this time. Jojo Xu readily gave a series of numbers, and then smiled and said: “For the 12 directors this year, each has brought very powerful work, each work is completely skillful as if made by a mature director, and I want to work with each of these directors, so I deliberately asked Tan to ask for my phone number, so I can give it to you, so, please write it down, and please call me!”

Winners of Asian New Talent

Best film

SUNDAY

Uzbekistan 

Shokir Kholikov

Best Director

QASH

Aisultan Seit

Kazakhstan

Aisultan Seit

MAY

Dong Luo

China

Dong Luo

Best Actor

DAY DREAMING

Hao Yue

China

Zichuan Wang

Best Actress

1.5 HORSEPOWER

Sorour Peyrovani

Iran

Rasool Kahani

Best Screenwriter

GONE WITH THE BOAT

Xiaoyu Chen

China

Xiaoyu Chen

Best Cinematography

CAUSE OF DEATH: UNKNOWN‎

Davood Malek Hosseini

Iran

Ali Zarnegar