Mad World

  • A TAXI DRIVER Wins Best Picture + Top Awards at Asian World Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_22990" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]A TAXI DRIVER A Taxi Driver[/caption] The 3rd Asian World Film Festival came to a close with George Takei’s Allegiance: The Broadway Musical on the Big Screen.  A Taxi Driver was the top film of the 2017 Festival, winning the award for Best Picture, along with a Special Mention to actress  Kang-ho Song for her performance in the film. The film was also awarded Dr. Kim’s ‘He Can Do She Can Do’ Award.

    The AWFF Jury Awards

    Snow Leopard Best PictureA Taxi Driver (Dir: Jang Joon, Republic of Korea) Snow Leopard Best Actor: Actor and director, Aktan Arym Kubat in Centaur, (Kyrgyzstan) Snow Leopard Best Actress: Anoma Janadari in Burning Birds (Dir: Sanjeewa Pushpaumara, Sri Lanka). A Special Mention was given to Kang-ho Song in A Taxi Driver. Snow Leopard Special Jury AwardMad World (Dir: Wong Chun, Hong Kong). Snow Leopard Audience Award was given to Ayla: The Daughter of War (Dir: Can Ulkay, Turkey). Snow Leopard Best New Director Award was awarded to two winners: Scary Mother Dir: Ana Urushadze (Georgia); and How Victor “The Garlic” Took Alexey “The Stud” To The Nursing Home Dir: Alexander Hant (Russia).

    Other awards

    Dr. Kim’s ‘He Can Do She Can Do’ Award, and cash prize of $10,000 was awarded to A Taxi Driver (Dir: Jang Hoon,Republic of Korea). The Snow Leopard Rising Star Award was presented to Sreymoch Sareum for her role in First They Killed My Father. The film’s director, producer and co-screenwriter Angelina Jolie and co-screenwriter and executive producer, Loung Ong, accepted the award on Sreymoch’s behalf at a special screening of the film . The Spirit Award for Dedication and Passion was given to Vietnamese actress Ha Phuong; and the Murray Weissman Poster Art Award was given to Little Gandhi (Dir: Sam Kadi, Syria; designer: Brian A. Metcalf).  Little Gandhi is Syria’s 2017 Foreign Language Film Oscar contender. George Takei was honored with the Snow Leopard Lifetime Achievement Award for his activism work within the LBGTQ community.    

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  • 92 countries in Competition for Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 90th Academy Awards

    [caption id="attachment_19636" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Pop Aye – Kirsten Tan Pop Aye – Kirsten Tan[/caption] A record 92 countries have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 90th Academy Awards.  Haiti, Honduras, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mozambique, Senegal and Syria are first-time entrants. The 2017 submissions are: Afghanistan, “A Letter to the President,” Roya Sadat, director; Albania, “Daybreak,” Gentian Koçi, director; Algeria, “Road to Istanbul,” Rachid Bouchareb, director; Argentina, “Zama,” Lucrecia Martel, director; Armenia, “Yeva,” Anahit Abad, director; Australia, “The Space Between,” Ruth Borgobello, director; Austria, “Happy End,” Michael Haneke, director; Azerbaijan, “Pomegranate Orchard,” Ilgar Najaf, director; Bangladesh, “The Cage,” Akram Khan, director; Belgium, “Racer and the Jailbird,” Michaël R. Roskam, director; Bolivia, “Dark Skull,” Kiro Russo, director; Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Men Don’t Cry,” Alen Drljević, director; Brazil, “Bingo – The King of the Mornings,” Daniel Rezende, director; Bulgaria, “Glory,” Petar Valchanov, Kristina Grozeva, directors; Cambodia, “First They Killed My Father,” Angelina Jolie, director; Canada, “Hochelaga, Land of Souls,” François Girard, director; Chile, “A Fantastic Woman,” Sebastián Lelio, director; China, “Wolf Warrior 2,” Wu Jing, director; Colombia, “Guilty Men,” Iván D. Gaona, director; Costa Rica, “The Sound of Things,” Ariel Escalante, director; Croatia, “Quit Staring at My Plate,” Hana Jušić, director; Czech Republic, “Ice Mother,” Bohdan Sláma, director; Denmark, “You Disappear,” Peter Schønau Fog, director; Dominican Republic, “Woodpeckers,” Jose Maria Cabral, director; Ecuador, “Alba,” Ana Cristina Barragán, director; Egypt, “Sheikh Jackson,” Amr Salama, director; Estonia, “November,” Rainer Sarnet, director; Finland, “Tom of Finland,” Dome Karukoski, director; France, “BPM (Beats Per Minute),” Robin Campillo, director; Georgia, “Scary Mother,” Ana Urushadze, director; Germany, “In the Fade,” Fatih Akin, director; Greece, “Amerika Square,” Yannis Sakaridis, director; Haiti, “Ayiti Mon Amour,” Guetty Felin, director; Honduras, “Morazán,” Hispano Durón, director; Hong Kong, “Mad World,” Wong Chun, director; Hungary, “On Body and Soul,” Ildikó Enyedi, director; Iceland, “Under the Tree,” Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson, director; India, “Newton,” Amit V Masurkar, director; Indonesia, “Turah,” Wicaksono Wisnu Legowo, director; Iran, “Breath,” Narges Abyar, director; Iraq, “Reseba – The Dark Wind,” Hussein Hassan, director; Ireland, “Song of Granite,” Pat Collins, director; Israel, “Foxtrot,” Samuel Maoz, director; Italy, “A Ciambra,” Jonas Carpignano, director; Japan, “Her Love Boils Bathwater,” Ryota Nakano, director; Kazakhstan, “The Road to Mother,” Akhan Satayev, director; Kenya, “Kati Kati,” Mbithi Masya, director; Kosovo, “Unwanted,” Edon Rizvanolli, director; Kyrgyzstan, “Centaur,” Aktan Arym Kubat, director; Lao People’s Democratic Republic, “Dearest Sister,” Mattie Do, director; Latvia, “The Chronicles of Melanie,” Viestur Kairish, director; Lebanon, “The Insult,” Ziad Doueiri, director; Lithuania, “Frost,” Sharunas Bartas, director; Luxembourg, “Barrage,” Laura Schroeder, director; Mexico, “Tempestad,” Tatiana Huezo, director; Mongolia, “The Children of Genghis,” Zolbayar Dorj, director; Morocco, “Razzia,” Nabil Ayouch, director; Mozambique, “The Train of Salt and Sugar,” Licinio Azevedo, director; Nepal, “White Sun,” Deepak Rauniyar, director; Netherlands, “Layla M.,” Mijke de Jong, director; New Zealand, “One Thousand Ropes,” Tusi Tamasese, director; Norway, “Thelma,” Joachim Trier, director; Pakistan, “Saawan,” Farhan Alam, director; Palestine, “Wajib,” Annemarie Jacir, director; Panama, “Beyond Brotherhood,” Arianne Benedetti, director; Paraguay, “Los Buscadores,” Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schembori, directors; Peru, “Rosa Chumbe,” Jonatan Relayze, director; Philippines, “Birdshot,” Mikhail Red, director; Poland, “Spoor,” Agnieszka Holland, Kasia Adamik, directors; Portugal, “Saint George,” Marco Martins, director; Romania, “Fixeur,” Adrian Sitaru, director; Russia, “Loveless,” Andrey Zvyagintsev, director; Senegal, “Félicité,” Alain Gomis, director; Serbia, “Requiem for Mrs. J.,” Bojan Vuletic, director; Singapore, “Pop Aye,” Kirsten Tan, director; Slovakia, “The Line,” Peter Bebjak, director; Slovenia, “The Miner,” Hanna A. W. Slak, director; South Africa, “The Wound,” John Trengove, director; South Korea, “A Taxi Driver,” Jang Hoon, director; Spain, “Summer 1993,” Carla Simón, director; Sweden, “The Square,” Ruben Östlund, director; Switzerland, “The Divine Order,” Petra Volpe, director; Syria, “Little Gandhi,” Sam Kadi, director; Taiwan, “Small Talk,” Hui-Chen Huang, director; Thailand, “By the Time It Gets Dark,” Anocha Suwichakornpong, director; Tunisia, “The Last of Us,” Ala Eddine Slim, director; Turkey, “Ayla: The Daughter of War,” Can Ulkay, director; Ukraine, “Black Level,” Valentyn Vasyanovych, director; United Kingdom, “My Pure Land,” Sarmad Masud, director; Uruguay, “Another Story of the World,” Guillermo Casanova, director; Venezuela, “El Inca,” Ignacio Castillo Cottin, director; Vietnam, “Father and Son,” Luong Dinh Dung, director. Nominations for the 90th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, 2018. The 90th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

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  • New York Asian Film Festival Announces Awardees, Lifetime Achievement Award for Eric Tsang

    [caption id="attachment_22827" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Eric Tsang Eric Tsang[/caption] The 16th New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) will present five awards, including the Star Hong Kong Lifetime Achievement Award to Eric Tsang, two Star Asia Awards, the Screen International Rising Star Award to Thailand’s Chutimon “Aokbab” Chuengcharoensukying, and the Daniel E. Craft Award for Excellence in Action Cinema to South Korea’s Jung Byung-gil. Gang Dong-won, China’s Duan Yihong will be awarded the Star Asia Award at the 16th New York Asian Film Festival on 1st July 2017. It is in recognition for his entire body of work. It will be presented in person to the actor before screenings of Extraordinary Mission and Battle of Memories at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. This is the first time that a Star Asia Award has been presented to an actor from China. Previous recipients include Donnie Yen, Miriam Yeung and South Korea’s Lee Byung-hun. The festival’s Screen International Rising Star Asia Award recognizing new talent has previously been presented to two actors from China, Huang Bo in 2010 and Jelly Lin in 2016. “We’re honored to give one of our top awards to Duan Yihong, who we regard as one of China’s greatest modern actors,” said Samuel Jamier, the festival’s executive director. “The cinema of China is now central to our lineup, in recognition that it is not only at the forefront of genre cinema in Asia, but is also making the most perceptive, honest films about human relationships.” Chinese-language films in this year’s selection include Yang Shupeng’s Blood of Youth, Han Han’s Duckweed, Liu Yulin’s Someone to Talk To, Zhang Yang’s Soul on a String, Leste Chen’s Battle of Memories and Extraordinary Mission, directed by Alan Mak and Anthony Pun. The Excellence in Action Cinema Award will be presented to South Korea’s Jung Byung-gil. The maverick director is a former guest of the festival in 2008 when he attended the international premiere of his debut feature Action Boys. He returns to New York almost a decade later with his reinvention of action cinema, The Villainess, which will be the closing film. The NYAFF will honor the great Eric Tsang with the Lifetime Achievement Award. This is a change from the previously announced awardee Tony Leung Ka-fai, who is unfortunately no longer able to attend the festival due to extenuating circumstances. The festival describes Tsang as the perfect choice in a year in which the festival is championing first-time filmmakers from Hong Kong. Although best known as an actor, Tsang’s most vital contribution to Greater China cinema is as an investor, producer and supporter of new directors. The festival is showing his new film Mad World by first-time director Wong Chun, also attending. The festival will screen 57 feature films over 17 days. The festival opens on 30 June with the international premiere of Thai high-school thriller Bad Genius and closes on 16 July with the U.S. premiere of South Korean revenge thriller The Villainess. The festival’s centerpiece gala is Mikhail Red’s ecological thriller Birdshot from the Philippines. The festival this year launches its competition for first- and second-time directors whose films are receiving their North American premiere at the festival. The seven films competing are Bad Genius (Thailand), Birdshot (Philippines), A Double Life (Japan), Jane (South Korea), Kfc (Vietnam), and With Prisoners (Hong Kong). The 16th New York Asian Film Festival will be held at Film Society of Lincoln Center June 30 to July 13, 2017; and SVA Theater from July 14 to July 16, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZVtP80s2RE

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