Russian film Two Women won the best feature film award at the third
Hanoi International Film (HANIFF) that closed in the capital city on
November 27.
Directed by Vera Glagoleva, the film is based on a
play by Russian writer Ivan Turgenev. Set in the Russian countryside at
the end of the 19th century, it tells the story of the wife of a rich
landowner who falls in love with her son’s tutor.
The film has
garnered high praise for its humanistic and artistic values, winning
several awards at film festivals across Russia.
The Best Short Film was won by the 10-minute Indonesian film Waiting Colours.
The film festival marked new successes for Vietnamese cinema.
The
99-minute-film Dap Canh Giua Khong Trung (Flapping from the Middle of
Nowhere), a dark and sensual drama on the intricate emotional
consequences of sexual intimacy, directed by Nguyen Hoang Diep, won the
special jury prize for best feature-length film. The corresponding award
for short films went to the 14-minute entry, Ngoai Kia Co Gi (What’s
Out There), directed by Nguyen Diep Thuy Anh.
Allen Dizon of the
Philippines won the best leading actor title for his performance in the
film The Coffin Maker, and Anna Astrakhntseva of Russia was chosen the
best leading actress for her role in Two Women.
Director Shahram
Mokri of Iran was named best director for his feature film Fish and Cat,
while Ruslan Akun of Kyrgyzstan walked away with the best young
director award for his short film Herding.
This year, 52 films in
different categories from the Asia-Pacific region were shown at the
festival. Twelve films from the region competed for the best feature
film award, including two Vietnamese films Dap Canh Giua Khong Trung and
Nhung Dua Con Cua Lang (The Children of the Village).
Themed
“Cinema: Integration and Sustainable Development”, the festival, the
biggest cinematic event of the year, aimed to honour works of
excellence, said Hoang Tuan Anh, Minister of Culture, Sports and
Tourism.
The five-day event has served as a platform for bringing
together renowned directors, producers and actors from many countries,
and to highlight young film talents in the Asia-Pacific region, he
added.
Over the last five days, the festival screened 130 feature
films, documentaries and short films from 32 countries and territories
at five cinema complexes in Hanoi.
The fourth festival is expected to be held in 2016.
Il
Shin of the Republic of Korea and Nguyen Thi My Trang and Nguyen Minh
Tien of Vietnam received prizes at the Talent Campus of the HANIFF.
The
young student winners were adjudged the best in training courses on
scriptwriting, photography directing and film directing.
Shin
attended the campus for the first time and won over the tutors with
three scenes that she directed after taking the film directing course.
Trang was adjudged best scriptwriter for What’s with Coffee Today while Tien was recognised for his efforts at the training.
The
winners each received a cash prize worth 300 USD. The Goethe Institute
in Hanoi will sponsor Trang at the Berlin International Film Festival on
February 2015.
“The HANIFF Campus has contributed to the youth
for the festival. We believe that this is the place to discover and
cultivate talents,” said Ngo Phuong Lan, General Director of the Cinema
Department, a permanent member of the Steering Committee and director of
this year HANIFF.-VNA