The film Black Dog, Directed by Chinese filmmaker Guan Hu, which tells the story of friendship between a dog and an ex-convict returning to his hometown, has won the award for best film in the official section of the Asian Barcelona Film Festival – AFFBCN this year.
The Japanese director Taichi Kimura He won the award for best director for his film AfterGlows, and the best script went to the Iranian film My favourite cake directed by Maryam Moghaddam & Behtash Sanaeeha. A special mention has also been given to the film Namibian Desert by Japanese filmmaker Yoko Yamanaka.
This was decided by the jury of the Official Section of this twelfth edition of the AFFBCN, which was held from October 24 to November 3 at Cinemes Girona, Phenomena, Filmoteca de Catalunya, Escola de Cinema de Barcelona, Zumzeig, Institut Français, and online through Betevé and Filmin.
These are the prizes for the sections in competition:
Official Section
Best film: Black dog Directed by Guan Hu
Best Director: Taichi KimuraBy Afterglows, Japan
Best screenplay: My Favorite Cake de Maryam Moghaddam & Behtash Sanaeeha, Iran
Special Mentions: Namibian Desert, de Yoko Yamanaka, Japan
Jury: Mike Ostench (President), Olga Shishko, Aditya Bhattacharya, Kamyar Mohsenin, Nastaran Molavi and Yun Suik.
Official Panorama Section
Best film: Terrestrial Verses Directed by Ali Asgar & Alireza Khatami, Iran
Best Director: Mirlan Abdykalyov, by Bride Kidnapping, Kyrgyzstan
Best screenplay: Seed of the Sacred Fig de Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran
Special Mentions: For the actors of Girls will be girls by director Shuchi Talati, India, and for the photography of The Land where the winds stood still, by director Ardak Armikulov, Kazakhstan.
Jury: Esteban Andueza (president), Anastasia Stravinsky, Batbayar Chogsom, Adriano Calero and Yoko Yamanaka.
Discoveries Section
Best film: The Narrow Road by director Lam Sum, Hong Kong
Best Director: Kangyu Garam by Lucky apartment, CSouth Korea
Best screenplay: Another Day of Hope by Taifeng Liu and Zhiling Cai, China
Special mentions: to the films Madina by Kazakh director Aizhan Kassymbe, and white flag from Batbayar Ghogsom, Mongolia.
Jury: Rosa Verges (president), Javier Martin-Dominguez, Jose Felix Collazos, Laura Mazza and Natalia Diaz.
Netpac Section
Best film: Hollywoodgate de Ibriahim Nash'atm, Afghanistan
Best Director: Sasha Chuk by Fly Me to the Moon, Hong Kong
Best screenplay: Green Plum Season from Ali Bayat, Iran,
Jury: Nomuunzul Turmunkh (President), Sandra Mur Puyuelo, Alexis Racionero Claudia Luque and Kei Matsushima
Special Section
Best film: Ademoka's Education by Adilkhan Yeerzhanov, Kazakhstan
Best Director: Adiklan YerzhanovBy Waltz for Three, Iran
Best screenplay: Waltz For Three by director Adilkhan Yerzhanov, Iran
Special mention for the movie a Celluloid Underground by Ehsan Khoshbakht, Iran
Jury composed of Sandra Sotelo, Alvaro Gonzalez, Jimena Tercero, Belen Abad and Louise Wu.
Evaluation of AFFBCN 2024
The director of the Asian Film Festival Barcelona, Menene Gras Balaguer has positively evaluated this edition. He considers that the festival not only brings the novelties that its programme presents, incorporating the best films programmed at the festivals of Rotterdam, Berlin, Udine, Cannes, Venice and San Sebastian, but also those productions that have been best regarded at the festivals of Busan, Hong Kong, Kerala, Ulan Bator or Nepal, among others. And, in this sense, he adds that “A great effort has been made to make a selection that takes into account both the biggest hits that Spanish distributors will soon release on the market, as well as those more independent productions from countries whose film industry is smaller than others.”
The director of the AFFBCN also highlights the incorporation of the Escola de Cinema de Barcelona (ECIB) as new headquarters Festival programming, the Creation of the New Perspectives jury, who “It has been very well received following the open call for applications for students aged 18 to 30 from all over Spain” and finally "the desire to consolidate and guarantee the continuity of a Festival that is of great importance for bringing other cultures closer together and for the knowledge of others, convinced that cinema is the means of communication par excellence.”
The AFFBCN 2024 has awarded 18 prizes in total for the 5 sections in competition: Official Official-Panorama, Discoveries, Netpac and Special. This edition also saw the addition of the New Perspectives Jury, made up of students of film, visual arts and East Asian studies from national and international universities, which also awarded the prizes for best film, best director and best script.
The AFFBCN 2004 has presented a total of 101 movies Representatives of experimental and independent cinema of the new Asian cinema, of about 25 countries from the Asia-Pacific region.
The Festival has had the support of ICEC (Generalitat de Catalunya), ICUB (Ajuntament de Barcelona), HKETO (Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Brussels), FICB (Fundació Institut Confuci de Barcelona), the Australian Embassy and the Japan Foundation, among others.
