Singapore – The 27th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) announced its winners of the Silver Screen Awards at Marina Bay Sands, wrapping up an exciting year for the region’s filmmakers. This year saw 14 awards being presented, with the crowd-favourites Asian Feature Film Competition and Southeast Asian Short Film Competition awarding nine of them.
White Sun (Seto Surya) by Nepali director Deepak Rauniyar emerged as the Best Film of the Asian Feature Film Competition. Turah, the debut feature film of Indonesian director Wicaksono Wisnu Legowo, was given Special Mention by the jury for Legowo’s “exposure of the corruption and hypocrisy inherent in our society through the microcosm of a small village, showing how the strong oppresses the weak, while never losing sight of the inherent humanity in all his characters”. Bangladeshi film Live from Dhaka also clinched the Best Director for Abdullah Mohammad Saad and Best Performance for cast Mostafa Monwar. This debut feature film by Saad tells the story of a partially handicapped man who lives his days in anguish as he tries to find a way to leave Dhaka.
The winners of the Asian Feature Film Competition were decided by a jury panel, headed by Naomi Kawase, one of the most respected and adroit filmmakers in contemporary Japanese cinema, and a Cannes Film Festival regular. White Sun will be re-screened at the National Museum of Singapore on the last day of SGIFF, together with the announcement of the winning film of the Audience Choice Award.
In the Southeast Asian Short Film Competition, Indonesian film In the Year of Monkey (Prenjak) by Wregas Bhanuteja was awarded Best Southeast Asian Short Film. The jury found it to be “inventive in its story and imagery” and “presents a dynamic new voice in Indonesian cinema that challenges social mores that is both eclectic and humanist”. The film also won the Leica Cine Discovery Prize at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Singapore’s Liao Jiekai won the Best Director for the film The Mist. Singaporean filmmaker Chiang Wei Liang received the Best Singapore Short Film for Anchorage Prohibited that features two migrant workers with no money and a child, and their search for employment opportunities.
Indonesian director Bayu Prihantoro Filemon’s directorial debut On the Origin of Fear was given Special Mention by the jury for its “existential exploration on the evils of humanity, brought to light in a surprising environment that makes this exploration even more chilling, with a gut-wrenching performance by Pritt Timothy. The jury head for this year’s Southeast Asian Short Film Competition is Indonesian producer Mira Lesmana, who revitalised Indonesia’s film industry in the early 2000s and appealed the youths to local films. Other jury members include Programming Director of the Hawaii International Film Festival Anderson Le, and Singapore filmmaker Bertrand Lee. Participants of the Youth Jury & Critics Programme, an SGIFF initiative to nurture critical cinema writers for the region, also selected this year’s Youth Jury Prize for the best Southeast Asian short film. It was presented to Filipino director PR Patindol’s first short film Still (Hilom).
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 and won both Best New Performer and Best Actress in the 38th Golden Horse Awards. 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.
One of the region’s emerging filmmakers, Dong Phuong Thao from Vietnam was also awarded the Most Promising Project of the Southeast Asian Film Lab, an SGIFF initiative to nurture the future of Southeast Asian filmmaking. The project, Taste, features a Nigerian immigrant in the Vietnamese football league who has to find an alternative means of survival after having his contract terminated after breaking his leg. This was awarded after a six-day story development lab attended by 10 young talents and a pitch in front of an industry jury including Film Lab head and the face of the new wave of Indian Cinema Anurag Kashyap, and mentors – Thai director Anocha Suwichakornpong and Malaysian filmmaker Bernard Chauly. This year, the panel also awarded Special Mention to Thai project Rahula by Puangsoi Aksornsawang. SGIFF also presented its inaugural Young Critic Award to Eliza Ho, a student from Nanyang Technological University. The award was a commitment by the festival in acknowledging the contributions young writers make to the film landscape.
The Silver Screen Awards saw a total of 10 feature films and 16 short films, including a Singapore feature film and three Singapore short films vying for the awards. The glittering red carpet affair was also graced by Chinese actress and international film festival darling Huang Lu, Indian veteran actress known for her role in Bandit Queen, Seema Biswas, and Taiwanese singer-actress Yu Tai-Yan.
