Lady directors scoop top prizes at Hong Kong festival
HONG KONG: Lady filmmakers scooped the top prizes at the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) on Monday.
Chinese drama Girls Always Happy was the main winner with two awards, while Japanese gay film Of Love & Law won in the documentary category.
Girls Always Happy, the directorial debut for filmmaker Yang Mingming, revolves around a complex motherdaughter relationship.
It won the Firebird Award in the Young Cinema Competition
‘Girls Always Happy’, the directorial debut for filmmaker Yang Mingming, revolves around a complex mother-daughter relationship.
and the FIPRESCI Prize.
Earlier this year, the film had premiered at the Berlin Film Festival.
The Hong Kong festival features three different competitions: young cinema, documentary and short film. Daughter of Mine by Italian filmmaker Laura Bispuri, which also premiered in Berlin, was awarded Jury Prize in the Young Cinema Competition.
The Firebird Award of the documentary competition went to Of Love & Law by Toda Hikaru, which follows the story of gay couple Fumi and Kazu, who run a law firm together in Japan. Simon Lereng Wilmont’s The Distant Barking of Dogs, which was set in a village near the front line of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, took home the jury prize. Mama by Jin Xingzheng earned a special mention.
Animated short film Wicked Girl by Turkish filmmaker Ayce Kartal won the Firebird Award in the short film section. Niki Lindroth von Bahr’s The Burden was presented the jury prize in this category.
An Elephant Sitting Still, the directorial debut of Chinese filmmaker Hu Bo – and also his last feature due to his untimely death – won the Audience Choice Award.
The festival tomorrow. runs until