The Go Master: Chinese political controversy at the Golden Horse Awards.
‘After This Our Exile’ tops Golden Horse Awards
Patrick Tam’s Fu zi / After This Our Exile won this year’s Golden Horse for Best Film of the year at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, which ended yesterday.
Set within a Chinese community in rural Malaysia, After This Our Exile depicts the complex relationship between a boy and his no-good father. Curiously, Patrick Tam’s name was not included among the four Best Director nominees.
After This Our Exile leading man, Hong Kong pop singer Aaron Kwok, won the Best Actor award – his second in a row (Kwok had previously won for Divergence). “The movie is a huge challenge for me … but I never thought I could win [the Best Actor award] again,” Kwok remarked upon accepting his award. His nine-year-old co-star, Goum Ian Iskandar, was given the Best Supporting Actor award thus becoming the youngest Golden Horse winner ever.
The evening’s other top winner was the Hong Kong musical Ru guo · Ai / Perhaps Love, which revolves around a love triangle taking place on a film set. Among its four wins were those for director Peter Chan and for Mainland performer Zhou Xun, who was chosen Best Actress.
Earlier in the festival, two nominated films were pulled out of the competition.
Malaysian-born but Taiwan resident Tsai Ming Liang withdrew his film I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone, following comments from jury members that it was self-indulgent and unengaging, while Tianzhuang Zhuang’s The Go Master was unexpectedly pulled out reportedly due to pressure from Mainland authorities.
The Golden Horse, the Chinese equivalent to the Oscars, covers productions made in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
‘The Go Master’ withdrawn from Taiwan’s Golden Horse Film Festival
Fortissimo, the Hong Kong distributor of Tian Zhuangzhuang’s The Go Master / Wu Qingyuan, has withdrawn the film from Taiwan’s 2006 Golden Horse Film Festival. The story of Go game master Wu Qingyuan, The Go Master has been nominated for four Golden Horse Awards, including Best Actor (Chang Chen). Pressure from mainland China officials is reportedly the reason for the abrupt withdrawal. (See also: “Tsai Ming Liang’s ‘I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone’ pulled out of the 2006 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival.”)
Golden Horse Awards: Best Film nominees
Among the 2006 Golden Horse Award nominees in the Best Film category, the odds-on favorite is Peter Chan Ho Sun’s Perhaps Love / Ru guo · Ai, which has garnered twelve nominations. In the top categories, besides Best Film Perhaps Love is also in the running for Best Director and Best Actress (Zhou Xun, this year’s Hong Kong Film Award and Hong Kong Film Critics Award winner). Curiously, the film’s screenplay, which revolves around a love triangle formed during the making of a film musical, failed to be shortlisted.
The other Best Film nominees for the 2006 Golden Horse Awards are the following:
- Ning Hao’s box office sensation Crazy Stone / Fengkuang de shitou, a caper comedy-thriller that has been referred to as the Chinese Ocean’s Eleven.
- Su Chao Pin’s Silk / Guisi, a supernatural thriller in which a team of scientists capture the energy of the ghost of a child. Silk is reportedly the most expensive locally produced film in Taiwan’s history.
- Johnnie To’s gangster flick Exiled / Fong juk, featuring Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Simon Yam, Nick Cheung, and Francis Ng.
- Patrick Tam’s After This Our Exile / Fu zi, a father-son drama set in rural Malaysia that received seven nominations.
The Go Master image: Century Hero.
Golden Horse Awards
The 2006 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival was held between Nov. 10-24. The winners were announced on Nov. 25.
Note: The Go Master and I Don’t Want To Sleep Alone were withdrawn from the 43rd Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival.
Best Feature Film
Fengkuang de shitou / Crazy Stone, Focus Films Ltd., Concord Creation Int’l Beijing Co., Ltd., Warner China Film HG Corporation
Fong juk / Exiled, Media Asia Films Ltd.
Guisi / Silk, CMC Movie Corporation
Ru guo · Ai / Perhaps Love, Astro-Shaw Television Broadcasts Ltd., Stellar Megamedia Group Ltd.
* Fu zi / After This Our Exile, Vision Film Workshop
Taiwanese Film Award
The Touch of Fate, TLF Production Co, Ltd.
* Do Over, Top Film Company, Leader Entertainment Company Ltd.
Days on the Crosswalk, National Taiwan University of Arts Department of Motion Pictures
Best Documentary
Doctor, Cream Production Company
* My Football Summer, Serenity Entertainment International
Best Director
Ning Hao, Fengkuang de shitou / Crazy Stone
Johnnie To, Fong juk / Exiled
Su Chao Pin, Guisi / Silk
* Peter Chan Ho Sun, Ru guo · Ai / Perhaps Love
Best Actor
Sam Lee, Dog Bite Dog
Francis Ng, Wo Hu / Operation Undercover
* Aaron Kwok aka Kwok Fu Shing, Fu zi / After This Our Exile
Chang Chen, Wu Qingyuan / The Go Master
Best Actress
Siqin Gaowa, The Postmodern Life of My Aunt
Lee Sinje, Re-cycle
* Zhou Xun, Ru guo · Ai / Perhaps Love
Carina Lau, Curiosity Kills the Cat
Best Supporting Actor
Chapman To, Moonlight in Tokyo
Wu Zhong Tian, The Touch of Fate
* Gouw Ian Iskandar, Fu zi / After This Our Exile
Joseph Chang, Sheng xia guang nian / Eternal Summer
Best Supporting Actress
Amy Chum, My Mother Is a Belly Dancer
Zhao Wei The Postmodern Life of My Aunt
* Nikki Shie, Reflections
Pearlly Chua, I Don’t Want To Sleep Alone
Best New Performer
Wu Zhong Tian, The Touch of Fate
Goum Ian Iskandar, Fu zi / After This Our Exile
* Bryant Chang, Sheng xia guang nian / Eternal Summer
Joseph Chang, Sheng xia guang nian / Eternal Summer
Best Original Screenplay
* Ning Hao, Fengkuang de shitou / Crazy Stone
Su Chao Pin, Guisi / Silk
Pan Zhi Yuan, Liu Hsueh Jung, The Touch of Fate
Tam Ka Ming, Tian Koi Leong, Fu zi / After This Our Exile
Best Adapted Screenplay
* Ning Dai, Zhang Yuan, Little Red Flowers
Li Qiang The Postmodern Life of My Aunt
Edmond Wong, Dragon Tiger Gate
Best Cinematography
Zhang Li, The Banquet
* Peter Pau, Ru guo · Ai / Perhaps Love
Mark Lee Ping Bing, Fu zi / After This Our Exile
Wang Yu, Wu Qingyuan / The Go Master
Best Film Editing
Du Yuan, Fengkuang de shitou / Crazy Stone
David Richardson, Fong juk / Exiled
Wenders Li, Kong Chi Leung, Ru guo · Ai / Perhaps Love
* Chen Po Wen, Liu Chun-hsiu, Do Over
Best Original Score
Tan Dun, The Banquet
Peter Kam, Guisi / Silk
Peter Kam, Leon Ko, Ru guo · Ai / Perhaps Love
* Lim Giong, Do Over
Best Original Song
“Longing in Silence” (The Banquet) Lyrics: anonymous; music: Tan Dun; singer: Zhou Xun
* “Crossroad” (Ru guo · Ai / Perhaps Love) Lyrics: Chris Shum; music: Leon Ko; singer: Takeshi Kaneshiro; Zhou Xun
“Urge” (Reflections) Lyrics: Teresa Chang; music: KbN; singer: Teresa Chang
“Eternal Summer” (Sheng xia guang nian / Eternal Summer)
Best Art Direction
* Tim Yip, The Banquet
Narongchai Aunn-Jai, Re-cycle
Yee Chung Man, Pater Wong, Ru guo · Ai / Perhaps Love
Emi Wada, Etsuko Aikou, Wu Qingyuan / The Go Master
Best Makeup & Costume Design
* Tim Yip, The Banquet
Yee Chung Man, Dora Ng, Ru guo · Ai / Perhaps Love
Tu Hsu Chung, Fu zi / After This Our Exile
Emi Wada, Wu Qingyuan / The Go Master
Best Visual Effects
Ng Yuen Fai, Re-cycle
* Foo Sing Choong, Guisi / Silk
Ho Siu Lun, Pornpol Sakarin, Ru guo · Ai / Perhaps Love
Eddy Wong, Victor Wong, A Chinese Tall Story
Best Action Choreography
* Ling Chun Pong, Wong Chi Wai, Fong juk / Exiled
Donnie Yen, Dragon Tiger Gate
Stephen Tung, Farah Khan, Ru guo · Ai / Perhaps Love
Yuan Woo Ping, Huo Yuan Jia / Fearless
Best Sound Effects
Jadet Chawang, Re-cycle
Kinson Tsang, Ru guo · Ai / Perhaps Love
* Tu Du Chi, Guo Li Chi, Ke Yi Jun, Amour – Legende
Tu Duu Chih, Tang Shiang Chu, I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone
Best Short Film
Next Door, Filmko Entertainment Limited
53 Flower House, The London Film School
* The Secret in the Wind, Motion Picture Department, National Taiwan University of Arts, Portico Media
Days on the Crosswalk, National Taiwan University of Arts Department of Motion Picture
Taiwanese Filmmaker Award
* Kuo Lichi
Pan Zhi Yuan
Berlin Chen
Special Award: Cheng Tzu-Fu
Jury: University professor and writer Chang Chang-Yan (chairman); associate professor Lee Daw Ming; actress Lang Tsu Yun; music recording executive Chen Huan Chang; film critic Zhang Ching Bei; film critic and screenwriter Tsai Guo Jung; director Cheng Wen Tang; assistant professor Isabelle Wu; director, producer and screenwriter Mabel Cheung; television producer Sylvia Feng; director Han Yun Chung; director Watanabe Takayoshi; director and producer Kim Sung-Soo
‘The Host’: Monster movie tops Korean Film Awards
Bong Joon-ho’s monster movie The Host was the top winner at the 2006 Korean Film Awards, announced on Nov. 19. The environmentally conscious film about a gigantic creature who comes out of polluted waters to feast on human beings took home six awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography (Kim Hyeon-joo), and Best Special Effects. The Host is South Korea’s all-time highest grossing film, having sold 13 million tickets.
The Korean Film Award for Best Actor went to Ji In-seong for the underworld drama A Dirty Carnival, while Jang Jin-yeong was chosen as the year’s Best Actress for the romantic drama Between Love and Hate.
Writer-director Jae-gon Son’s My Scary Girl, the story of a man who discovers that his new girlfriend has a hair-raising personality, won the Best Screenplay award.
Sponsored by government-owned broadcaster MBC, the Korean Film Awards are the – to date – less prestigious cousin of the Korean film industry’s Blue Dragon Film Awards and Golden Bell Awards.
Magnolia Pictures will release The Host in the United States in early 2007.
Korean Film Awards winners
Best Film: The Host
Best Director: Bong Joon-ho (The Host)
Best Actor: Ji In-seong (A Dirty Carnival)
Best Actress: Jang Jin-yeong (Between Love and Hate)
Best Supporting Actor: Lee Beom-soo (City of Violence)
Best Supporting Actress: Choo Ja-hyeon (Bloody Tie)
Best New Director: Lee Hae-yeong (Like a Virgin)
Best New Actor: Lee Joon-gi (The King and the Clown)
Best New Actress: Choo Ja-hyeon (Bloody Tie)
Best Screenplay: Jae-gon Son (My Scary Girl)
Best Cinematography: Kim Hyeon-joo (The Host)
Best Editing: Park Gok-ji (A Dirty Carnival)
Best Music: Lee Byeong-woo (For Horowitz)
Best Lighting: Lee Kang-seon (The Host)
Best Art Direction: Jo Geun-hyeon (Forbidden Quest)
Best Special Effects: The Host
Best Sound Effects: Choi Tae-yeong (The Host)
Best Short Film: War Movie, by Park Dong-hoon
Go Ah-sung in The Host photo: Showbox / Mediaplex Chungeorahm Film Sego Entertainment.
Queens Film Festival Awards
2006 Queens Film Festival Awards: Nov. 20.
Best Domestic Feature:
* The Limbo Room
Slipdream
M.O.G.
Best Foreign Feature:
Lagan – The Dedication
* Masz na imie Justine / Your Name Is Justine
Bosta
Best Director:
Philippe Aractingi for Bosta
* Yuksel Aksu for Dondurmam gaymak / Ice Cream I Scream
Franco de Pena for Masz na imie Justine / Your Name Is Justine
Best Feature Screenplay:
* Felix the Flyer, by Christopher Canole
Eternal Breath of an Unknown Bird, by Minji Kang
Intolerance, by Gary Branfman
Best Drama:
* Be My Oswald
The Mensahib
The Limbo Room
Best Comedy:
Rhapsody in Red
Approaching Union Square
* Dondurmam gaymak / Ice Cream I Scream
Best Documentary:
* The Shape of Water
Sita, A Girl from Jambu
Knocking
Best Animation:
* Guide Dog
Davie Y Golimyr
Nasuh
Best Producer:
The Limbo Room
* M.O.G.
Nina
Best Domestic Short:
* Soldier
Confessions of a Late Bloomer
Blood Money
Best Foreign Short:
* Devilwood
Dammi il La
1969
Best Short Screenplay:
* Confessions at Death, by Misty and Kim Ormiston
Voyeur, by Diane Kemp-Jones
Indifference, by Luis Alvarex
Best Music Video:
Try Me
Everything You Said
* YEP
Audience Award Foreign: Bosta
Audience Award Domestic: The Tournament
Humanitarian Award: Zelda Kaplan
New York on Film Award: Nina
‘Family Ties.’‘Family Ties’ tops Thessaloniki International Film Festival
The top winner at the 2006 Thessaloniki International Film Festival, which wrapped up today, Nov. 26, was Kim Tae-yong’s Korean drama Family Ties / Gajokeui Tansaeng, featuring three segments focusing on problematic family relationships. (Image: Thessaloniki winner Family Ties.)
In addition to the Golden Alexander Award for Best Film (worth 37,000 euros), Family Ties won a joint Best Actress Award (for Moon So-ri, Goh Doon-shim, Kong Hyo-jin, and Kim Hae-ok), while screenwriters Sung Ki-young and Kim Tae-yong shared the Best Screenplay Award with Maurício Zacharias, Felipe Bragança, and Karim Ainouz for the Brazilian comedy-drama Love for Sale / Suely in the Sky / O Céu de Suely.
Directed by Karim Ainouz, Love for Sale tells the story of a woman (Hermila Guedes) from Brazil’s impoverished Northeast who dreams of a better life elsewhere. Last month, Ainouz’s movie won the Best Film Award at the 2006 Rio de Janeiro Film Festival.
More Thessaloniki Film Festival winners
The 2006 Thessaloniki Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize – the Silver Alexander Award (worth 22,000 euros) – went to Mona Zandi Haghighi’s Iranian drama On a Friday Afternoon / Asre Jomeh, which chronicles the travails of a lower-class unwed mother who must come to terms with her rebellious teenage son.
Slawomir Fabicki was chosen Best Director for the Polish drama Retrieval / Z Oszysku, about a young boxer who becomes attached to a gangster. As the boxer, Antoni Pawlicki took home Thessaloniki’s Best Actor Award. Retrieval is Poland’s submission for the 2007 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.
This year’s Thessaloniki jury was presided by American producer Christine Vachon, whose credits include Todd Haynes’ Safe (1995), with Julianne Moore; Tony Vitale’s gay romantic comedy Kiss Me, Guido (1997), with Nick Scotti; Haynes’ Velvet Goldmine (1998), starring Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Christian Bale; Kimberly Peirce’s Boys Don’t Cry (1999), which earned Hilary Swank the year’s Best Actress Academy Award; and Haynes’ Far from Heaven (2002), which earned Julianne Moore a Best Actress Oscar nomination.
Thessaloniki International Film Festival Movies
The Thessaloniki International Film Festival kicked off on Friday with a screening of Stephen Frears’ crowd pleaser The Queen.
Fourteen films have been included in the International Competition section, among them Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche’s Bled Number One / Back Home, the story of an Algerian former convict who suffers a cultural shock after being deported from France back to Algeria; Julia Loktev’s Day Night Day Night, about a suicide-bomber wannabe who gets ready to self-explode in Times Square; Markus Herling’s Schöner leben / Riding Up Front, which revolves around assorted people crossing each other’s paths on Christmas Eve; and Tariq Teguia’s Roma wa la n’touma / Rome Rather Than You, the tale of a young Algerian couple trying to flee that country’s bloody (even if unacknowledged) civil war.
Among the special screenings are Guillermo del Toro’s mercilessly violent fable El laberinto del fauno / Pan’s Labyrinth; Marwan Hamed’s solid feature-film debut, Omaret yakobean / The Yacoubian Building, about an iconic Cairo building – a symbol of Egyptian society – now in disrepair; and Richard Linklater’s diet-inducing Fast Food Nation.
Also, a tribute to Wim Wenders, with a screening of 27 of the director’s films, including Lisbon Story, Hammett, and what many consider Wenders’ best film, Der Himmel über Berlin / Wings of Desire; a glimpse at Brazilian filmmaking of the last 40 or so years, with 18 films ranging from Vidas Secas / Barren Lives, Nelson Pereira dos Santos’ classic Cinema Novo drama about extreme poverty in the arid Brazilian Northeast, to Breno Silveira’s recent feel-good box office hit 2 Filhos de Francisco / Two Sons of Francisco; and finally, a look at 22 recent Chinese films, among them Zhang Yuan’s dysfunctional love story I Love You and Li Shaohong’s Baober in Love.
The Thessaloniki festival runs until Nov. 26. Alain Resnais’ beautiful, haunting Private Fears in Public Places will be the closing night gala screening.
Thessaloniki Film Festival Awards
Best Feature Film Award – Golden Alexander
Gajokeui Tansaeng / Family Ties by Kim Tae-yong. Producers: Bae Yong- kook, Jung Tae-woon, South Korea
Special Jury Award – Silver Alexander
Asre Jomeh / On a Friday Afternoon by Mona Zandi Haghighi. Producer: Jahangir Kossari, Iran
Best Director:
Slawomir Fabicki for Z Oszysku / Retrieval, Poland
Best Actor:
Antoni Pawlicki in Z Oszysku / Retrieval, Poland
Best Actress:
Moon So-ri, Goh Doon-shim, Kong Hyo-jin and Kim Hae-ok in Gajokeui Tansaeng / Family Ties, South Korea
Best Screenplay (ex aequo):
Maurício Zacharias, Felipe Bragança, Karim Ainouz for O Céu de Suely / Suely in the Sky, Brazil- Germany-Portugal-France
and
Sung Ki-young, Kim Tae-yong for Gajokeui Tansaeng / Family Ties, South Korea
Artistic Achievement Award:
O Céu de Suely / Suely in the Sky, Brazil- Germany-Portugal-France
OTHER AWARDS
FIPRESCI (Federation of International Film Critics) Award – International Competition Section: O Céu de Suely / Suely in the Sky, by Karim Ainouz, Brazil-Germany-Portugal-France
FIPRESCI (Federation of International Film Critics) Award – Greek Films 2006 Section: Eduart, by Angeliki Antoniou, Greece
Everyday Life – Transcendence or Reconciliation Award:
Rome Rather Than You by Tariq Teguia, Algeria-Germany-France
Woman & Equality Award:
Grbavica by Jasmila Zbanic, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Germany, Croatia
Human Values Award:
El Violin / The Violin by Francisco Vargas, Mexico
Digital Alexander Award:
Land of Nod by Evangelos Yiovannis, Greece
Special Mentions:
Alpha by Yorgos Loukakos and Madeleine Aktypi, Greece
Mr. Lumiere Im Back by Nikos Alevras, Greece
Summer Province Dreams by Yorgos Akseherlidis, Greece
A Pink Safety Pin by Nikos Pomonis, Greece
Jameson Audience Awards
For a film in the International Competition Section:
Gajokeui Tansaeng / Family Ties by Kim Tae-yong, S. Korea
For a film in the Greek Films 2006 section:
Yios tou fylaka / The Guardians Son by Dimitris Koutsiabassakos, Greece
For a film in the Balkan Survey:
A fost sau n-a-fost? / 12:08 East of Bucharest by Corneliu Porumboiu, Romania
For a film in the DigitalWave:
Onira therinis eparhias / Summer Province Dreams by Yorgos Akseherlidis, Greece
The Greek Union of Film Television and Audiovisual Technicians (ETEKT) Award: (Greek Films 2006 section)
Eduart, by Angeliki Antoniou, Greece
The Greek Film Critics Association (PEKK) Award:
I Psyhi sto stoma / Soul Kicking by Yannis Economidis Greece
Crossroads Co-Production Forum Award:
“Pandoras Box” by Yesim Ustaoglu, Turkey
Industry Center & Eave Award: (Eave Training Program Scholarship)
Ada Solomon, producer (Romania)
Jury: Christine Vachon, Producer, (USA) President; Pierre Rissient, Film director, distributor, film consultant (France); Katia Lund, Film director, screenwriter, producer (Brazil); Diego Galán, Film critic, film director (Spain); Mogens Rukov, Screenwriter, professor (Denmark); Xu Jinglei, Film director, screenwriter, producer, actress (China); Lefteris Voyatzis, Stage director, actor (Greece)
FIPRESCI Jury: José Carlos Avellar (Brazil), President; Genoveva Dimitrova (Bulgaria); Sergei Lavrentiev (Russia); Thilo Wydra (Germany); Ioanna Papageorgiou (Greece)
Asia-Pacific Film Festival winners
The Unwanted Woman / The Extra Woman, a complex Iranian drama about an escaped (accused) murderer who gets entangled in a love triangle of sorts involving a 35-year-old woman, her husband, and a young widow, won the Best Film award at the 51st edition of the Asia-Pacific Film Festival, held in Taipei. (The Asia-Pacific Film Festival, organized by the Federation of Motion Picture Producers Asia-Pacific, is not to be confused with the recently wrapped Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, which was being held at the same time.)
In addition to the top prize, The Unwanted Woman won both the Best Director and the Best Screenplay awards for writer-director Tahmineh Milani.
According to Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Milani’s work has been suppressed in Iran because of the director’s controversial focus on the plight of women living under that country’s radical Islamic regime. Milani was arrested by the Revolutionary Council in 2001, and has been threatened with execution.
The Unwanted Woman, known in Iran as The Extra Woman, stars Amin Hayaie, Merila Zarei, Parsa Piruzfar, and Elsa Firuz-Azar.
The Asia-Pacific Festival Grand Jury Award went to Bui Thac Chuyen’s Living in Fear, the story of a Vietnam Democratic soldier trying to evade the ghosts of his past.
Korean peformers won three of the four acting honors: Lee Jae-eung won the Best Actor prize for his portrayal of an adolescent about to face adulthood in Saranghae malsoonssi / Bravo, My Life, Son Ye-jin was chosen Best Actress for her performance as an adulterous wife having an affair with a married man in Oechul / April Snow, and Byun Hee-bong was Best Supporting Actor for his attempts to fight a mutant monster in the box office sensation Gwoemul / The Host.
The Best Supporting Actress award went to Taiwan’s Lu Yi-jing for Shen hai / Blue Cha Cha, Taiwan’s entry for the upcoming Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.
Lifetime achievement awards were given to Hong Kong mogul Run Run Shaw, now near his 100th birthday, and to Japanese producer Shigeru Okada.
‘The Road.’‘The Road’ Movie & ‘Journey from the Fall’: Asian Festival of 1st Films Best Film nominees
As its title clearly states, the Asian Festival of 1st Films consists of first feature-film efforts by filmmakers from Asian countries (or “semi-Asian” countries, such as Armenia and Cyprus) – in addition to filmmakers of Asian descent. Also: all nominees for the Asian Festival of 1st Films Awards are supposed to be first timers in their respective categories.
In 2006, the four nominees in the Asian Festival of 1st Films’ Best Film category are the following:
- Nishikant S. Kamat’s Dombivali Fast (India), which, according to its website, tells “the story of [an] every man who journeys to and fro everyday, trapped in metal boxes [in this case the Dombivali Fast train], trying to beat the monstrosity he himself created.”
- Zhang Jiarui’s The Road / Fangxiang zhi lu (China), about the lives of a provincial bus driver and his wife through four decades of recent Chinese history.
- Ham Tran’s U.S.-made, Vietnamese-language Journey from the Fall, which follows a Vietnamese family struggling to remain together after the fall of Saigon.
- Robin Moran’s Maskot (Indonesia), about a man who, in order to inherit the family business, must find a new chicken mascot for his family’s company logo printed on ketchup bottles.
Note: Zhang Jiarui has directed three previous feature films, but The Road marks his debut as a film producer. That’s why it received a Best Film nomination, though Jiarui himself was ineligible for the Best Director Award. The winners of the 2006 Asian Festival of 1st Films Awards will be announced on December 6, 2006.
Full list of 2006 Asian Festival of 1st Films nominations and winners
BEST FILM
Dombivali Fast, producer: Ramakant S Gaikwad (India)
* The Road / Fangxiang zhi lu, producer: Zhang Jiarui (China)
Journey from the Fall, producer: Lam Nguyen; director: Ham Tran† (USA)
Maskot, producers: Robin Moran and Ari M Syarip (Indonesia)
BEST PRODUCER (tie)
* Dombivali Fast, Ramakant S Gaikwad (India)
The Road, Zhang Jiarui (China)
* Journey from the Fall, Lam Nguyen (USA)
Men Suddenly in Black 2, Teresa Mo (Hong Kong)
BEST DIRECTOR (tie)
* Dombivali Fast, Nishikant S Kamat (India)
Bliss, Sheng Zhimin (China)
A Bite of Love, Siwaporn Pongsuwan (Thailand)
* Journey from the Fall, Ham Tran (USA)
BEST ACTOR
Bliss, He Xing-quan (China)
Becoming Royston, Alvin Neo (Singapore)
* The Road in the Air, Le Go (Taiwan)
BEST ACTRESS
* Gangster, Kangana Ranaut (India)
Bliss, Guan Jinag-ge (China)
Journey from the Fall, Diem Lien (USA)
Sringaram – Dance of Love, Aditi Rao Hydari (India)
BEST SCREENPLAY
* The Road, Zhang Jiarui (China)
Maskot, Robin Moran, Ari M Syarip, Joko Nugroho (Indonesia)
Go Go G-Boys, Da Yi Li, Chang Lee Shamolo (Taiwan)
Becoming Royston, Nicholas Chee, Terence Teo (Singapore)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER (tie)
Becoming Royston, Ken Minehan (Singapore)
* Omkara, Tassaduq Hussain (India)
* Gangster, Bobby Singh (India)
Lost or Found, Nitin Bal Chauhan (India)
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Bagher Baccha, producers: Bishnu Dev Halder / Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute (India)
* One Show Less, producer: Nayantara Kotian (India)
A Hero’s Journey, producer: Grace Phan (Singapore)
House No. 103, producer: Ohad Domb (Israel)
BEST DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR
* Banana in a Nutshell, Roseanne Liang (New Zealand)
Jonathan, Adi Helman (Israel)
Don’t Cry, Cheng Gong (China)
All About Our Mothers, Manak Matiyani, Kuber Sharma (India)
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS ASSOCIATION CHOICE PURPLE ORCHID AWARD
The Road
† In this instance, both the film’s producer and director were listed as nominees.
2006 Asian Festival of 1st Films Jury: Cinematographer Volker Langhoff (Germany), filmmaker and writer Michael Yorke (United Kingdom), director Ketan Mehta (India), producer and screenwriter James V. Hart (United States), and actress Cecilia Yip (Hong Kong).
Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival Awards
2006 Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival: Huelva, Andalucia, Spain, between Nov. 18–25.
Colón de Oro for Best Feature / mejor largometraje: El violín / The Violin by Francisco Vargas Quevedo (Mexico)
Special Jury Prize / Premio Especial del Jurado: Páginas del diario de Mauricio by Manuel Pérez (Cuba, Spain and Mexico)
Colón de Plata for best director / mejor director: Alejandro Doria for Las manos / The Hands (Spain and Argentina)
Carabela de Plata for best new director / mejor director novel: Jorge Durán for Proibido Proibir / Forbidden to Forbid (Brazil, Chile and Spain)
Colón de Plata for best actor / mejor actor: Jesús Aranda for Chicha tu madre (Peru and Argentina)
Colón de Plata for best actress / mejor actriz: Kate del Castillo for American visa by Juan Carlos Valdivia (Bolivia and Mexico)
Colón de Plata for best original screenplay / mejor guión original: Jorge Durán for Proibido Proibir / Forbidden to Forbid (Brazil, Chile and Spain)
Colón de Plata for best cinematography / mejor fotografía: Martín Boege Paré for El violín / The Violin by Francisco Vargas Quevedo (Mexico)
Short Films
RTVACAJA SAN FERNANDO Award: La leche y el agua / Milk and Water by Celso García (Mexico)
Special Mention: Miramar ST. by Jon Garaño (U.S.)
Special Jury Prize: (a scholarship at the Universidad Internacional de Andalucía) Esmir Filho, director of Alguma Coisa Assim / Something Like That (Brazil)
Other Awards
I.E.S. Pablo Neruda Audio-Visual Production Students Award for Best Short / Premio al Mejor Cortometraje por los alumnos de Realización de Audiovisuales y Espectáculos del I.E.S. Pablo Neruda: American visa by Juan Carlos Valdivia (Bolivia and Mexico)
I.E.S. Pablo Neruda Audio-Visual Production Students Award for Best Short / Premio al Mejor Cortometraje por los alumnos de Realización de Audiovisuales y Espectáculos del I.E.S. Pablo Neruda: La leche y el agua / Milk and Water by Celso García (Mexico)
Architectural College Award for Best Feature / Premio al Mejor Largometraje por el Colegio de Arquitectos: American visa by Juan Carlos Valdivia (Bolivia and Mexico)
Press Association Award for Best Feature Film / Premio al Mejor Largometraje de la Sección Oficial por la Asociación de la Prensa: El violín / The Violin by Francisco Vargas Quevedo (Mexico)
Andalusian Youth Institute Award for Best Short / Premio al Mejor Cortometraje por el Instituto Andaluz de la Juventud (three-way tie): Rosario by Juan Miguel del Castillo Moreno; Chocolate con churros by Mario de la Torre Espinosa; and Judes Story by Fernando Ruiz Romero
RTVA Award for an Andalusian Production / Premio RTVA a la creación audiovisual andaluza: (for the short film) Yov by Carlos Pérez Santamaría.
Freedom Key Award for Best Feature / Premio Llave de la Libertad al Mejor Largometraje: La perrera by Manuel Nieto (Uruguay, Argentina, Spain and Canada)
Radio Exterior de España Award for Best Feature / Premio al Mejor Largometraje por Radio Exterior de España: American visa by Juan Carlos Valdivia (Bolivia and Mexico)
Ciudad de Huelva Award: Jose María Morales and Ernesto Alterio
Feature Film Jury: screenwriter Manuel Hidalgo (Spain), television executive Mercedes Ortiz Solórzano (Spain), screenwriter and director Juan Carlos Tabío (Cuba), actor Ulises Dumont (Argentina), actor Eduardo Blanco (Argentina)
Short Film Jury: Ana Ferrand, Santiago CotánPinto, and Esteban Gallego