TOKYO FILMeX 2015Awards
The Jury of the TOKYO FILMeX 2015 competition, consisted of LEE Yong-kwan (The Chairperson of the Jury: Korea / Festival Director), Sylvia CHANG (Taiwan / Actress, Film Director, Producer), SHIOTA Akihiko (Japan / Film Director), SAITO Atsuko (Japan / Film Critic and Film Subtitle Translator) and Gregory GAJOS (France / Director of program & acquisition of Ad Vitam, distribution company), awards the following prizes.
Grand Prize
“Tharlo” Pema Tseden (China / 2015 / 123 min.)
The winning film’s director will receive 700,000 yen.
A simple concept that a man seeks an identification card loses track of himself, is beautifully made into a cinema.
Special Jury Prize
“Behemoth” ZHAO Liang (China / 2015 / 91 min.)
The winning film’s director will receive 300,000 yen.
The modern civilization and devastating human and nature are visualized in critical and poetic ways.
Special Mention
“Dark in the White Light” Vimukthi JAYASUNDARA (Sri Lanka / 2015 / 82 min.)
Director OKUDA Yosuke The Dork, the Girl and the Douchebag (Japan / 2015 / 141 min.)
Audience Award
“Dearest” Peter CHAN (China, Hong Kong / 2014 / 130min.)
Student Jury Prize
“Tharlo” Pema Tseden (China / 2015 / 123 min.)
A love song strips itself of that which binds it, and transforms into the atonal growl of punk rock.
Tharlo. He does not have the means to harm another person, nor even to protect himself. He smiles at the people he meets, and occasionally forgets his own name. There are moments when he reacts just as a small child would, and is utterly defenseless. A barber shop, a karaoke parlor. When he ventures into town, as if someone is leading him by the hand, his lovable defenseless is exposed. As he experiences things he has never experienced before, the words of Mao Zedong are repeated over and over. Those words seem to take on his own warmth.
Is nature truly the place that where he belongs?
Ultimately, amid a green landscape, Tharlo turns his back on us, and is no longer the man we once knew.
We see that he has gained, or perhaps lost, something overwhelming.
Student Jury :
YAMAMOTO Kan, SUGAWARA Mio, SOGO Kazuyo
Talents Tokyo Award 2015
“A Love to Boluomi” LAU Kek Huat (Malaysia / Taiwan)
The winning project’s participant will receive 300,000 yen.
The Jury decided to give the Talents Tokyo Award 2015 for further script development.
We chose “A Love to Boluomi“ from LAU Ket Huat from Malaysia for his bold clarity of vision and unflinching commitment to the material, based on real life events. The filmmaker clearly earned the trust of their subjects and we are sure that he will manage to do a film with filmic and emotional resonance.
Talents Tokyo 2015 Main Experts :
PARK Kiyong (Dorector), Stephan HOLL (Producer), Emillie GEORGES (World Sales), Christine TROSTRAUM (Programme Manager of Berlinale Talents)
The Chairperson of the jury
LEE Yong -kwan (The Chairperson of the Jury: Korea / Festival Director)
LEE Yong-kwan majored in Films at the Chung-Ang University. Serving as a professor, LEE had consecutively filled various film academical posts at the Chung-Ang University and the Central Academy of Drama in China. In addition, he served as the festival director at the Seoul Short Film Festival and the chairman at the Seoul International Youth Film Festival and at the Cinematheque Busan. He is one of the key founding members of Busan International Film Festival and worked as the executive programmer from the beginning of the festival. After 5 years as the co-festival director of the Busan International Film Festival with Kim Dong-ho, LEE became the sole Festival Director at the Busan International Film Festival in 2010. In 2012, he was appointed to Deanat the School of Films at Dongseo University.
LEE Yong-kwan has been acclaimed in the film industry in recognition of his achievements and efforts in the cultural development in South Korea. He used to be the moderator of TV movie programs and had published a quarterly film magazine Film Language for 10 years. Beyond that, he is the author of various books about international & local film industry.
The jury members
Sylvia CHANG (Taiwan, Actress, Film Director, Producer)
One of Asia's most celebrated actresses and female directors, Sylvia CHANG's career spans four decades and over 100 films.
As an actress, she has won numerous Golden Horse and Hong Kong Film awards and has worked with such internationally acclaimed directors as KING Hu, Mike NEWELL, TSUI Hark, Yonfan, Ang LEE and François GIRARD. In 2015, she starred in Johnnie TO's Office and JIA Zhangke's Mountains May Depart.
CHANG made her directorial debut in the 1980s and has helmed 10 films to date; including 20 30 40 which competed at the 2004 Berlin International Film Festival and Murmur Of The Hearts which opened the 39th Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Throughout her career, CHANG has also helped introduce new filmmakers with her many talents. She produced and starred in the debut features of Ann HUI and Edward YANG.
Recognized for her variety and depth as a filmmaker, CHANG's films are characterized by their strong portrayals of women from various walks of life. CHANG has been the subject of numerous tributes and retrospectives in Toronto, London, Taipei and, most recently, Hong Kong.
SHIOTA Akihiko (Japan, Film Director)
Born in 1961 in Kyoto. Made independent films together with KUROSAWA Kiyoshi and MANDA Kunitoshi while enrolled at Rikkyo University. In 1995, shot the original video “The Nude Woman” (script by TAKAHASHI Hiroshi) which received high praise. Won the Special Jury Award and Best Actress Award at the Nantes Three Continents Festival with the MIYAZAKI Aoi starring “Harmful Insect” (02). Furthermore, “Resurrection”, “Dororo”, among other nationwide releases have recorded major box office success of over 3 billion yen. His latest film is “I Just Wanna Hug You.” Has written the literary work, ‘Eiga Jutsu: Sono Enshutsu ha naze Kokoro wo Tsukamunoka’.
SAITO Atsuko (Japan, Film Critic and Film Subtitle Translator)
Born in Shizuoka Prefecture. After graduating with a degree in Sociology and Philosophy from Nara Women’s University’s Faculty of Letters, completed a specialized course in editing at the Conservatoire Libre du Cinéma Français in Paris. After returning to Japan, held a position in the publicity department of France Eigasha before becoming a freelance film critic and subtitle translator. Beyond reporting on the Berlin, Cannes and other international film festivals for Kinema Junpo, the Yamagata Shimbun, among others, she oversees the film festival column on Kahoku Shimpo’s website. Principal translation work include Pierre BRAUNBERGER’s ‘Cinemamemoire’(Hakusuisha Publishing), Mary Pat KELLY’s ‘Martin Scorsese: A Journey’ (Bungeishunju Publishing), Tony REEVES’ ‘The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations’ (Shobunsha Publishing), John BAXTER’s ‘We’ll Always Have Paris’ (Seiryu Publishing), among others. Moreover, she has been in charge of subtitle translation on Jean-Pierre AMÉRIS’ “Mary’s Story”, Xavier BEAUVOIS’ “The Price of Fame”, Mia HANSEN-LØVE’s “EDEN”, Agnès TROUBLÉ’s “My Name is Hmmm…”, among many others.
Gregory GAJOS (France, Director of program & acquisition of Ad Vitam, distribution company)
After studies in history and cinema, he joined the distribution company Mars Films. He arrived at the creation of Ad Vitam in 2000, where he manages since the department of acquisitions and programmation. In 15 years, Ad Vitam released films from directors like Jia Zhang Ke, Hou Hsiao Hsien, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Marco Bellochio, Jeff Nichols, Pablo Trapero, lucrecia Martel, Benoit jacquot. Ad vitam is now also a production company.
Audience Award
The award-winning film is chosen from the TOKYO FILMeX Competition and the Special Screenings section after the vote of the audience. (expect the Closing film)
Student Jury Prize
Student Jury
NAKAMURA Yutaro (Tama Art University)
YAMAMOTO Kan (Osaka University of Arts)
SUGAWARA Mio (Japan Women’s University)
28th Tokyo Student Film Festivals
