Despite the cancellation of the 44th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF44) last month due to an upsurge in COVID-19 pandemic, HKIFF44’s Firebird competitions continued with online judging.
Zheng Lu Xinyuan’s The Cloud in Her Room and Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection were named best films of the Firebird Young Cinema Competitions.
Both films also won the Best Actress awards in their respective section, with This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection notching a third win by capturing the FIPRESCI Prize.
Mosese’s This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection, the first feature film shot entirely in his native Lesotho, was chosen as the Firebird Award winner of Young Cinema Competition (World) for crafting “a universal story of an African village caught between its history, tradition and the encroachment of the 21st century”. The late Mary Twala Mhlongo, who plays the fearless widow in the film, was also named Best Actress. Indian filmmaker Pushpendra Singh received Best Director for deftly employing magical realism in The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs. The Best Actor award went to Bakhtiyar Panjeei ofIranian film The Alien, and Greek director Janis Rafa received a Special Mention for her debut feature, Kala Azar.
In the Documentary Competition, the jury unanimously awarded the Firebird Award to The Painter and the Thief by Norwegian director Benjamin REE, commending it for “extremely cinematic…mirroring the process of the painter’s search for realistic creativity”. French filmmaker Emmanuel Cappellin took the Jury Prize for Once You Know.
In the Short Film Competition, the jury selected French animation Genius Loci by Adrien Merigeau for the Firebird Award, praising it “unique in its artistic vision, its style and form also coherent with the content”. Chinese filmmaker Yuan Yuan received the Jury Prize for Heading South.
44th Hong Kong International Film Festival Award Winners
Young Cinema Competition (Chinese Language)
Firebird Award
The Cloud in Her Room
ZHENG Lu Xinyuan
Best Director
Wisdom Tooth
LIANG Ming
Best Actor
Wisdom Tooth
WU Xiaoliang
Best Actress
The Cloud in Her Room
JIN Jing
Young Cinema Competition (World)
Firebird Award
This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection
Lemohang Jeremiah MOSESE
Best Director
The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs
Pushpendra SINGH
Best Actor
The Alien
Bakhtiyar PANJEEI
Best Actress
This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection
Mary Twala MHLONGO
Special Mention
Kala Azar
Janis RAFA
Documentary Competition
Firebird Award
The Painter and the Thief
Benjamin REE
Jury Prize
Once You Know
Emmanuel CAPPELLIN
Short Film Competition
Firebird Award
Genius Loci
Adrien MERIGEAU
Jury Prize
Heading South
YUAN Yuan
FIPRESCI Prize
FIPRESCI Prize
This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection
Lemohang Jeremiah MOSESE