Winners
of International New Talent Competition of the 21st Taipei Film
Festival was announced on the evening of July 2. Led by Shen Ko-shang (renowned
filmmaker and ex-Director of Taipei Film Festival), the jury composed of five
judges went through an intense four-day film viewing and discussion, unanimously
giving Grand Prize and NT$ 600,000 prize to System Crasher which also
won the Taiwan Film Critics Society Award in the off-competition co-organized
with Taiwan Film Critics Society. Special Jury Prize (NT$ 300,000 prize) went
to South Korean director Kim Bo-ra’s House of Hummingbird; Special Mention went to Thai film Manta
Ray; Audience Choice Award went to the highly popular Heavy Craving,
emerging Taiwanese director Hsieh Pei-ju’s debut feature.
The
strong jury lineup of International New Talent Competition this year features Jury
President Shen Ko-shang, the famous Japanese director Yamashita Nobuhiro,
director Pema Tseden (“Tibetan cinema pioneer”), Taiwanese executive producer Liu
Wei-jan and Toronto Film Festival programmer Giovanna Fulvi. In awarding
certificates to all the 12 nominated crews, Taipei Film Festival President Mark
Lee Ping-bing particularly thanked them for bringing their films to the
Festival; being able to stand out from 610 submitted works represented the
merits and uniqueness of each nominated film.
For the
Grand Prize-winning German film System Crasher, the cinematographer
Yunus Roy Imer received the trophy on behalf of the director Nora Fingscheidt
who could not attend the Festival. Jury praised the highly convincing
characterization of this film, the precise strategy in terms of cinematography,
editing, sound and art design as well as the auteur’s distinctive style, plus
the overall outstanding performance of the cast. The great maturity in its
scenario, cast and technical aspects made it a refined work.
As for Special
Jury Prize-winning South Korean film House of Hummingbird, the jury held
that director Kim Bo-ra cleverly integrated the context of the times into the
film, delicately depicted the girl’s complex feelings about family, friends and
ambiguous budding sentiments in the grow-up process, profoundly and sincerely relating
an ordinary growth story that is far from banal.
After
intense debates, the jury decided to additionally awarded Special Mention to
Thai film Manta Ray, considering that in his debut work, director Phuttiphong
Aroonpheng showed astonishing ability of expression through image; by cleverly
create a character with aphasia, he managed to liberate the scenario
constrained by dialogue and return to the spirit of cinema consisting in
storytelling through image.
Audience
Choice Award went to Heavy Craving whose popularity overwhelmed all
other 11 nominated films of International New Talent Competition. In thanking
the audience for passionate support, director Hsieh Pei-ju revealed the film
was inspired by her own experience; she hoped this film shows the inner world
of people losing weight. For her first time as main actress, Tsai Jia-yin featured
in this film was nominated for Best New Talent of Taipei Film Awards this year
for her natural and attractive performance.
Taiwan
Film Critics Society Award went to Grand Prize-winning System Crasher
once again. This year, the Festival collaborated with Taiwan Film Critics
Society for the first time to organize an off-competition focusing on International
New Talent Competition; seven Taiwanese film critics were invited to select
films that were best in their eyes. According to Kuang-Cheuh Lee, Director
General of Taiwan Film Critics Society, the film is audacious and challenges
the viewer’s identification; the satisfying technical aspects foreground the
amazing performance of Helena Zengel, the little girl in the main role.
The 21st
Taipei Film Festival runs in Zhongshan
Hall, Shin King Cinemas and SPOT Huashan Cinema in Taipei until July 13.
For more details, please check Taipei Film Festival’s official website
(http://www.taipeiff.taipei), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/taipeiff)
and FACEBOOK fanpage https://www.facebook.com/TaipeiFilmFestival).
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Grand Prize
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System Crasher
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Nora Fingscheidt
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Germany
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System Crasher tells
a very persuasive story from a little girl’s point of view. With one thing
after another, the film delicately portraits the main character and gradually
reveals the difficulties facing the mother, the carers, and even the entire
social welfare structure and educational system. With clear strategic
arrangements of photography, editing, sounds, and production design, the film
shows strong authorship and reaches a high level of completion in terms of
script, acting, and technical delivery.
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Special Jury Prize
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House of Hummingbird
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Kim Bo-ra
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South Korea, USA
|
House
of Hummingbird is a delicate portrait of a girl’s
complex relationship with her family, friends, and romantic encounters during
her adolescence. The film infuses every bit of her life with depth and
sincerely tells an ordinary, coming-of-age story in an extraordinary way.
However, this film is not just about a girl growing up.
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Special Mention
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Manta Ray
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Phuttiphong Aroonpheng
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Thailand, France, China
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Manta
Ray is a visually astonishing film that creates a
poetic, dreamy experience to the audience. It’s clever to have a verbally
challenged character, because it frees the story from the burden of dialogues
and brings the film back to the essence of cinema: the power of pure visual storytelling.
There’s plenty of room for imagination as the film leaves spaces for the
audience to fill. With abundant visual symbols, the director successfully
creates a visual fable to convey indescribable feelings such as the quest of self
identity, or struggles between longing and despair, and between “us” and “them”.
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Audience Choice Award
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Heavy Craving
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Hsieh Pei-ju
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Taiwan
|
—
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Taiwan Film Critics Society Award
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System Crasher
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Nora Fingscheidt
|
Germany
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System Crasher is
audacious and challenges the viewer’s identification; the satisfying
technical aspects foreground the amazing performance of Helena Zengel, the
little girl in the main role.
|