2004 DRAGONS & TIGERS AWARD
For the eleventh year running, the Vancouver International Film
Festival is pleased to offer the Dragons
& Tigers Award for Young Cinema to the most
creative and innovative feature by a new director from the Asia-Pacific
region. The award is given to a first or second feature. We're very
grateful to Brad Birarda of Dundee Securities for continuing to
sponsor this award, and the series as a whole. The award - which
will again include a $5,000 prize to the director - was announced
before the 7:00 p.m. screening of Electric Shadows.
This year’s jury comprised Peggy CHIAO from
Taiwan, HONG Sang-Soo from Korea and Christoph
HUBER from Austria. They have issued the following jury
statement:
"It was a privilege to serve on this year’s jury, where
we encountered an interesting and diverse selection of Asian films.
We had a long debate about whether or not to give any films a Special
Mention – because we didn’t want to discourage the other
filmmakers whose work we appreciated but couldn’t include.
But we finally decided to cite three films that we found remarkable
for various reasons".
The films cited, in alphabetical order, are:
The Big Durian by Amir MUHAMMAD
from Malaysia
For its witty and unusual handling of an incident which ultimately
allows deep insights into the racial tensions in Malaysian society.
Good Morning Beijing by PAN
Jialin from China
For its compelling mixture of parallel narratives and its uncompromising
depictions of the darkness and frustrations of city existence.
Sund@y Seoul by OH Myung-Hoon
from Korea
For taking pieces of real-life experience – pieces never likely
to fit into conventional narrative forms – and holding them
together through to the end, creating a resonance that is anything
but banal.
Our unanimous choice for the winner of the 2004
Dragons & Tigers Award is:
THE SOUP, ONE MORNING by TAKAHASHI
Izumi from Japan
For its visual and emotional precision in mapping out the slow decay
of a relationship. The film gradually accumulates an overwhelming
power, which can only come from feelings that the director and his
actors have experienced and inhabited for themselves.
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