[BIFF Press Release] Announcing Jury Members for the BIFF Mecenat and Sonje Awards!
2022. 09. 05 09:39
Press Release |2022.09.05
The 27th Busan International Film Festival Announces Jury Members for
the BIFF Mecenat and Sonje Awards!
The 27th Busan International Film Festival, which will be held from Oct 5 (Wed) to Oct 14 (Fri), has confirmed the jury member lineup for the BIFF Mecenat Award and the Sonje Award.
Directors Representing Asian Cinema of Today!
WANG Bing, Ossama MOHAMMED, KIM Il-rhan to Serve as the BIFF Mecenat Award Jury
[BIFF Mecenat Award Jury Members]
(From Left: WANG Bing, Ossama MOHAMMED, KIM Il-rhan)
The BIFF Mecenat Award is awarded to the best Korean and Asian feature documentary in the Wide Angle competition section. The BIFF Mecenat Awards aims to discover and support talented and emerging documentarists. The jury members consist of three directors of different nationalities to highlight new Asian directors across the continent. Each of the two selected winners will be granted 10,000,000 KRW.
Chinese director Wang Bing, who has brought about a paradigm shift in the world of documentaries, has been appointed as the jury president for the 27th Busan International Film Festival’s BIFF Mecenat Award. In addition, director Ossama Mohammed, who documented the current situation of Syrian society with a keen eye through the camera lens and who was also invited to several of the world’s leading film festivals, and director Kim Il-rhan, who shines a spotlight on unseen, socially marginalized people, will also be joining as jury members.
The Sonje Award Searching for the Best Asian Short Film!
Saeed ROUSTAEE, HAYAKAWA Chie, and YOON Gaeun Appointed as Jury Members
The Sonje Award is given to the best Korean and Asian short films in the Wide Angle competition section. Each of the 2 best short films, which will be carefully selected by the 3 jury members, will be awarded a cash prize of 10,000,000 KRW.
This year’s jury includes Saeed Roustaee, winner of the FIPRESCI award at the 75th Cannes Film Festival for Leila’s Brothers (2022), Hayakawa Chie, winner of the Golden Camera Special Mention at the 75th Cannes Film Festival for Plan 75 (2022), and Yoon Gaeun, director ofThe World of Us (2016) and The House of Us (2019).
The 27th Busan International Film Festival will be held at the Busan Cinema Center from Oct 5 (Wed) to 14 (Fri).
[BIFF Mecenat Award Jury Members]
■ WANG Bing | China | Director
Wang Bing began his career as an independent filmmaker in 1999. His film, Tie Xi Qu: West Of The Tracks (2003), is an enormous documentary work of more than 9 hours that has garnered great success internationally. He is also active in video installation, fiction film, and photography as well as feature documentary. His works, including Three Sisters (2012), ′Til Madness Do Us Part (2013), and Dead Souls (2018), have been invited to many film festivals. Recognized as one of the most prominent Chinese artists and directors, he has been honored by retrospectives of his entire oeuvre in major museums, such as the Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique, Centre Pompidou in Paris, and Documenta.
■ Ossama MOHAMMED | Syria | Director
Born in Latakia, Syria in 1954, Ossama Mohammed graduated from the Russian State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in 1979. His first short documentary Step by Step (1978) was selected after 35 years to the official selection of Berlin Film Festival in 2013. His first fiction film Stars in Broad Daylight (1988) was selected at the Cannes Film Festival’s Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in 1988. The second feature Sacrifices (2002) was selected at the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section. After the forced exile to Paris in 2011, he began a new cinematic adventure: Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait (2014), which was Cannes official selection in 2014. All of his films were banned in Syria.
■ KIM Il-rhan | Korea | Director
Kim Il-rhan is a documentary filmmaker and an activist for ‘PINKS: Solidarity for Sexually Minor Cultures & Human Rights’. Kim records scenes of state violence that violate human rights, produces videos capturing on-site accounts, and directs documentaries in furtherance of human-rights activism for sexual minorities. Two Doors (2012) and its sequel, The Remnants (2017), are some of Kim’s media productions from the site of Yongsan Tragedy and was acclaimed by critics. Currently, Kim is in the process of making a documentary, Edhi and Alice (2021), which is about two transgender women.
[Sonje Award Jury Members]
■ Saeed ROUSTAEE | Iran | Director
Saeed ROUSTAEE was born in Tehran, Iran in 1989. He studied cinema in high school and then cinematography at Soore University. He first directed three short films, which won over 100 awards worldwide. His feature debut, Life and a Day (2016), won Best Directing and Best Screenplay Awards at the 34th Fajr International Film Festival, Iran’s premier film festival, and several prizes at many other international festivals. His second feature, Just6.5 (2019), premiered in the Orizzonti section at the 76th Venice and won the award for Best Director at the 32nd Tokyo International Film Festival. His most recent film, Leila’s Brothers (2022), was selected for the competition section and won the FIPRESCI Award from the International Federation of Film Critics at the 75th Cannes Film Festival.
■ HAYAKAWA Chie | Japan | Director
Born in Tokyo, Hayakawa Chie studied photography at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Her short film, Niagara (2014), was selected in the Cinéfondation section at the 67th Cannes Film Festival. It was also a recipient of Grand Prizes for Asian Short Film at the 16th Seoul International Women’s Film Festival. She was awarded the Golden Camera Special Mention at the 75th Cannes Film Festival with her feature debut Plan 75 (2022), which is a remake of her own short film Plan 75, the opening segment of the anthology film Ten Years Japan (2018) produced by internationally acclaimed director Kore-eda Hirokazu.
■ YOON Gaeun | Korea | Director
Director Yoon Gaeun studied history at Sogang University and continued her graduate studies in film at the School of Film, TV & Multimedia at Korea National University of Arts (K-ARTS). Starting with her debut short film, The Taste of Salvia (2009), she has written and directed Guest (2011) and Sprout (2013). Guest (2011) won the Grand Prize at the 34th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and Sprout (2013) was awarded the Crystal Bear for Best Film in the Generation Kplus Competition at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. Subsequently, The World of Us (2016) earned her Best New Director at the 37th Blue Dragon Awards, and Best Screenplay at the 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards.
