2019-06-22

Award Ceremony of Asian New Talent Award│The Asian Filmmakers Gathered to Witness the "SIFF ASIA"

On the evening of June 21, the Award Ceremony of Asian New Talent Award of 22nd Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) was held at the Daning Theatre of the Shanghai Haishang Culture Center in Jing\'an District "Huanshangda International Film Park". That night, Ning Hao, chairman of the Asian New Talent Award Jury, members Yûya Ishii, Su Youpeng, Tan Zhuo and Philip Cheah gathered with Asian film new talents to witness the issue of all Asian New Talent Awards. As an important move to highlight the "Asia-based" positioning of SIFF, the Asian filmmakers also celebrated the breaking out of SIFF AISA.

All kinds of Asian New Talent Awards were announced at the ceremony. The Chinese film TO LIVE TO SING won the Best Picture, and the Japanese director Yuko Hakota won Best Director for BLUE HOUR, and the Indonesian screenwriter Yusuf Radjamuda won Best Screenwriter for MOUNTAIN SONG, the Malaysian actor Teng Yuan and the Chinese actress Zhao Xiaoli won Best Actor and Best Actress for THE PARADISE and TO LIVE TO SING respectively, and the Indian photographer Venumadhav Gajjala won Best Cinematography for MOAN/MA.AMA. Raul Garcia, chairman of international short film unit jury, and member Leonel Vieira, also jointly announced Best Live Action and Best Animated Short-Film which won by NOWHERE TO PUT from China and LANORIA from Spain respectively.

At the ceremony, Ning Hao, on behalf of the jury, made a speech. He said that the Asian New Talent Award had maintained a consistent innovation and passion, especially for young filmmakers from different regions, and the stage of the Awards made it possible to make the dream come into reality, "they make a very personal artistic expression in their different cultural field, these works have outstanding style and deep subject, and their culture and artistry are also worth noting."

Young director Wen Muye, who directed the first feature film DYING TO SURVIVE last year and won more than 3 billion box office, shared his experience in the film, and shared his encouragement with the young filmmakers. Although the first feature film was a great success, Wen Muye still faced the public as a newcomer. "There will be a lot of difficulties in the process of making a movie", he said, "my approach is to keep calm in every link and always remember my original aspiration. When I was a student, my teacher Tian Zhuangzhuang once asked me, \'do you like the process of making movies, or do you like what movies bring to you?\' I replied to him that I love the process of making movies. I think, as long as I love making movies, I can go on all the time, no matter what difficulties and challenges I encounter in the future."

That night, the Best Picture was awarded by Ning Hao, chairman of the Asian New Talent Award Jury, and Sandra Ng, director and actress of Hong Kong, China. Chinese film TO LIVE TO SING won the award, when director Ma Nan came onto the stage to receive the award, he said that he was born and raised in Shanghai, left Shanghai at the age of 10, and returned to Shanghai in his 20 year\'s old, "I\'m glad that SIFF made me go home again to receive the award". Deng Jie, a well-known actress and the producer of the film, said it took seven years to make the film, "I\'m glad it\'s blooming and bearing fruit here, and it\'s been recognized and recognized by everyone."

In recent years, many Asian filmmakers have taken the works from the Asian New Talent Award in SIFF to the world and gradually become the middle-force of the Asian film. With the growing and more frequent exchange and cooperation of Asian filmmakers, the pattern of Asian films will become more and more remarkable.

This year, SIFF further highlighted the positioning of "based on Asia, paying attention to Chinese and supporting new talents", and improved the six-step new talent cultivation system, including short video works, short films, venture capital of training camps, film project venture capital, Asian New Talent Award and Golden Goblet Award. In order to implement the spirit of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, this SIFF launched the "SIFF ASIA" framework, including combing the Asian film classics and launching the Asian film exhibition through the country exhibition, the Asian New Talent Award to encourage the creation and development of new Asian filmmakers, the Asian venture capital co-production project to encourage the interaction of the Asian film industry, the Asian film salon to promote the exchange and interaction of Asian filmmakers, and the Asia station of Film Express to help more excellent domestic films go to Asia from their countries.

In the propaganda film introducing "SIFF ASIA", Xu Zheng, who was an old friend of the Asian New Talent Award and participated in the Award for four consecutive years, appeared. He said, "this platform makes me constantly have new feelings, gains, surprises and topics". He praised the emergence of "SIFF ASIA" as a sign of the growing maturity of the Asian film industry and the continuous rise of Asian filmmakers on the world stage. He believed that the "SIFF AISA", which has taken root and sprouted, would rapidly grow into a leafy tree and become the most solid and vital carrier of the new forces in Asia.