24th VIFFAC AWARD WINNERS

to M. Mohamad Malas (director, Syria) for his film career.

to M. Wang Xiaoshuai (director, China) for his film career.

Golden Rickshaw
(sponsored by le Conseil Régional de Bourgogne-Franche-Comté)

Bagage by Zig Dulay (Philippines)

for its quiet intensity combined with the raw portrayal of the bleak side of the world that overseas Filipina women domestic workers live in. Its affective setting and cinema vérité approach forces the audience to taste, feel, and hear each struggle and nuance. 

Grand Jury Award

Goodbye Grandpa by Morigaki Yukihiro (Japan)

for a visually compelling cinematography and a very unique and contemporary take on the dynamics of a dysfunctional family dealing with loss, Yukihiro Morigaki’s first film injects humor and balances light and dark themes effortlessly through the engaging performances of its ensemble cast.

Jury Prize
(sponsored by Conseil Départemental de la Haute-Saône)

The Taste of Rice Flower by Pengfei  (China)

for the striking contrast of the movie’s colorful and intricate background set against its story’s portrayal of the ever-present conflict between tradition and modernity, the young and the old. It quietly evokes the realism of the struggle to keep up with the rapidly changing world and finding one’s place in all of it.

Special Mention International Jury

A Letter to the President by Roya Sadat (Afghanistan)

A film that comes at a critical time when the world no longer wants to remain silent on the systemic mistreatment of women. The film manages to let some semblance of hope crawl into its world despite the bleakness of its premise esp through though the gripping performance given by Leena Alam.

NETPAC Jury Award (ex-aequo)

The Taste of rice flower by Pengfei  (China)

for its delicate balance in portraying tradition-vs-modernization issues of migrant workers and the children they leave behind in a subtle mother/daughter storyline graced with distinct moods and rituals.

NETPAC Jury Award (ex-aequo)

Mothers by Lee Dong-eun (South Korea)

for its low-key treatment in portraying the different faces of motherhood and how its characters cope and accept it in a sensitive drama about what it is to become a family.

Film Critic's Choice

The taste of rice flower by Pengfei  (China)

for the gripping portrayal of the identity conflict of an ethnic minority torn between ancestral traditions and economic, social and technological changes in modern China and the problems of the children growing without their parents, who left them to work in cities.

INALCO Grand Prize

Leaf of life by Ebrahim Mokhtari (Iran)

for the accurate reflection about fiction and reality, the anthropological issue about dealing with traditions, and for the dreamlike charm of pictures. 

INALCO Special Mention

The taste of rice flower by Pengfei (China)

for the thinking on Chinese society, the depiction of cultural tradition, and for the remarkable photography and beautiful shots.

High School Award

A letter to the president by Roya Sadat (Afghanistan)

Youth Jury Award

The Wait by Emil Langballe & Andrea Storm Henriksen (Afghanistan / Denmark)

Best Fiction Feature
(sponsored by Town of Vesoul)

A letter to the president by Roya Sadat (Afghanistan)

Best Documentary Feature
(sponsored by la Communauté d'Agglomération de Vesoul)

Weaving the World: Laos by Jill Coulon & Isabelle Dupuy Chavanat

Theater Manager Award
(sponsored by Syndicat des Théâtres Cinématographiques de Franche-Comté)

Honeygiver among the dogs de Dechen Roder  (Bhutan)