Award winners revealed!
The penultimate day of the Osaka Asian Film Festival took place on March 17th with the Awards Ceremony at the ABC Hall. Excitement built at the venue as guests and audience member assembled for the evening as the winners of the awards were going to be announced.
Here are the winners of the awards.
(right) Moderator: KITAMURA Shinpei (Announcer at Asahi Broadcasting Corporation)
International Competition Jury Members
Housen Short Film Award
"CYCLE-CYCLE"
Japan｜Director: KANAI Junichi (金井純一)
JAPAN CUTS Award
"KUSHINA, what will you be" [クシナ]
Japan｜Director: HAYAMI Moët (速水萌巴)
Presenter: WATANABE Kazu’s comment
We decided to go with the film that we thought made the boldest choices, presented the freshest perspective and made us the most excited for the future of Japanese cinema. This year’s winner took up the challenge to imagine a different world and with all the beauty, danger, and risk that entails so it is my great pleasure to present this year’s Japan Cuts award to “KUSHINA, what will you be”.
Director HAYAMI Moët’s comment
It’s so unexpected. I’m a little bit nervous but I’m very happy for this movie. I don’t know how many people were able to see it but this is a film that made a small possibility into a reality and it also opens for me the next step and I’m looking forward to making an even more interesting film next time.
Yakushi Pearl Award
Ryza CENON
Philippines｜"Mr. and Mrs. Cruz" Actress
Ryza CENON ‘s comment
Thank you very much. I would like to thank the director, VIVA FILMS and everyone, thank you very much.
ABC Award
"Take Me To the Moon" [帯我去月球]
Taiwan｜Director: HSIEH Chun-Yi (謝駿毅)
Director: HSIEH Chun-Yi’s comment
Arigatou gozaimasu. I didn’t even dream about receiving this award and I would like to thank the organisers of the film festival for giving me the opportunity to show this film. This award also goes to my cast, my staff, and it is indeed a great encouragement for me to come back again with a new film.
Best Actress Award
IIJIMA Shuna (飯島珠奈)
Japan｜"Bad Poetry Tokyo" [東京不穏詩] Actress
IIJIMA Shuna’s comment
I would like to thank OAFF 2018 for screening “Bad Poetry Tokyo”. Thank you very much to the members of the jury for finding the various possibilities in this film. For me, personally, this is the most memorable film I have ever involved in and I would like to thank the director, cast, crew, and share this celebration with them. I hope that the world will continue to make a lot of movies full of love. Thank you, to all of you.
Most Promising Talent Award
Mikhail RED
Philippines｜"NEOMANILA" Director
Eula VALDES ("NEOMANILA" Actress)’s comment
On behalf of our director, Mikhail RED, I would like to thank Osaka Asian Film Festival for this award. Thank you very much.
Grand Prix (Best Picture Award)
"No. 1 Chung Ying Street" [中英街一号]
Hong Kong｜Director: Derek Sung-kee CHIU (趙崇基)
Derek Sung-kee CHIU’s comment
This is the 18th film for me and I have received other awards but I consider this award here to be the most important of all and I hope many people in Hong Kong will get to see this film and I would like to hope that you will continue to support the development of Hong Kong cinema.
It took eight years to complete this film and it was not without challenges that we were able to complete it. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all of the people who had invested in it and to the cast who worked so hard for this film and for all the volunteer staff who dedicated a lot of energy to the making of this film.
I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to the audience, yesterday, on the occasion of the film’s world premiere. I saw that the audience was watching my film with great concentration and I was very pleased to receive many good questions at the Q&A session. Thank you very much, to all of them.
Jury Statements
Statements were read out by the three jury members, KIM jungeun (Director), LIM Kah Wai (林家威) (Director), PHAN GIa Nhat Linh (Director):
KIM Jungeun on Best Actress Award: IIJIMA Shuna
IIJIMA Shuna’s powerful and sensitive acting left a strong impression on all jurors. We would like to applaud her soulful performance, especially her well-controlled emotions under extreme circumstances.
LIM Kah Wai on Most Promising talent Award Winner: Mikhail RED
Mikhail RED blends and reconstructs a criminal genre film with fresh characters and their unexpected journey related to our cruel and helpless world, proving he is one of the most promising talents in Asia.
PHAN Gia Nhat Linh on Grand Prix (Best Picture Award): No. 1 Chung Ying Street
What impressed us about “No. 1 Chung Ying Street” is how personally it affected us and provoked our emotions deeply, and we feel emotionally connected to the young people in this powerful and brave movie. It’s definitely an important film for our generation.
With a rapturous round of applause and cheers from the excited audience, the awarding ceremony came to a successful conclusion.
