39th HKIFF Honors Filmmakers with Awards of Five Competition Sections

Gala Premiere of The Taking of Tiger Mountain 3D with cast

3 April 2015 (Hong Kong) – At the Awards Gala at MOKO, the 39th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) revealed the winning films for five award categories, namely the Young Cinema Competition, the Documentary Competition, the Short Film Competition, the FIPRESCI Prize and the SIGNIS Award, in recognition of filmmakers’ outstanding achievement. The Awards Gala is the festival’s main awards event and attracts wide attention and support. The evening was also enhanced along with the gala premiere of The Taking of Tiger Mountain 3D with cast, including SHI Yanneng and SU Yuming.

Each competition was judged by an independent jury, consisting of renowned industry figures such as Mohsen MAKHMALBAF – Iranian director, Sandra NG – local actress, Jonathan ROSENBAUM – film critic and Chris LEE – renowned producer (see Appendix for complete list of jurors).

The Young Cinema Competition pays tribute to the future of the industry and aims to discover and honor budding filmmakers who push the envelope with their unique and innovative works. Eight films from a range of countries including Albania, Czech Republic, Mongolia and Thailand competed for awards. While the coveted Firebird Award was given to Sworn Virgin, directed by Laura BISPURI. For her debut film, BISPURI tackles both the socio-political and the magical. XIN Yukun’s The Coffin in the Mountain received a Special Mention, K by D.E. Bulag and Emyr ap Richard won the Jury Prize this year.

Many filmmakers embrace the documentary genre to address a variety of social issues. The Documentary Competition pays tribute to documentarians who inspire audiences with their insights. The Firebird Award went to I am the People, directed by Anna ROUSSILLON. ROUSSILLON’s documentary, by contrast, probes below the grassroots, exploring Egypt’s political drams, from the gall of Mubarak to the rise of Morsi. Meanwhile, the Jury Prize was awarded to DU Haibin’s A Young Patriot.

The Short Film Competition is a valuable platform for local and international filmmakers. The Festival selected 20 entries this year, among which Rungano NYONI and Hamy RAMEZAN’s Listen won the Firebird Award, and Tomasz SIWINSKI’s A Blue Room took home the Jury Prize.

The FIPRESCI Prize is presented by the International Federation of Film Critics to promote young talent in Asian cinema. The award this year went to D.E. Bulag and Emyr ap Richard’s K. The film skillfully distills Kafka’s absurdist fable about bureaucracy into a modern tale of man’s existential struggle against alienation and questionable authority.

Established in 2004 and co-organised by the HKIFF and SIGNIS Hong Kong, the SIGNIS Award salutes films that fully express social and humanitarian concerns, as well as spiritual and artistic values. LI Ruijun’s River Road won the SIGNIS Award and Christian PETZOLD’s Phoenix  received Special Mention.

ist of Awardees:

List of Jurors:

Young Cinema Competition

Mohsen MAKHMALBAF, Jonathan ROSENBAUM, Sandra NG, and Chris LEE.

Documentary Competition

WAN Jen, Chris FUJIWARA, and WONG Bik-wan.

Short Film Competition

FUJIOKA Asako, Heinz HERMANNS and CHAN Chui Hing, Nose.

FIPRESCI Prize

Bérénice REYNAUD, CHANG Yen-Tuo, and Joyce YANG.

SIGNIS Award

Ninfa WATT, Nancy WANG, and Mary Mee-Yin YUEN.