Taiwanese filmmaker Lin Shu-yu's Winds Of September was awarded best film at the Asian New Talent Awardsof the 11th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) on Friday night (June 20).

The film, produced by Eric Tsang with Hong Kong-based Mei Ah Entertainment and co-produced by Taiwan's Ocean Deep Films, is the Taiwan chapter of the Winds Of September trilogy.

It tellsa story of friendship, betrayal and a love of baseball by a high-school gang in 1990s Taiwan. The trilogy features three stories by new filmmakers about young people in Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan.

Korea's Hyeongi Hong won best director for Thirsty, Thirsty, about a middle-aged man who begins to work as a debt collector due to his own heavy debt burden from loan sharks.

Zhang Meng from mainland China took the Jury Prize for his drama Lucky Dog about a loyal and optimistic former railway worker dealing with retirement.

Now in its fifth year, SIFF's Asian New Talent Award received 161 entries from 18 Asian countries. Ten films were selected to compete and a jury of five, headed by German film author and curator Ulrich Gregor, selected the three prize winners.

Jury members also included Korean director Kwak Jaeyong, Indian filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Chinese filmmaker Sherwood Hu and Chinese actress Qin Hailu.

Best film winner Lin will receive a cash prize of $21,800 (RMB150,000) and post-production services worth $21,800 (RMB150,000) from Technicolor's Bangkok office. Best director winner Hong was also given a cash prize of $21,800 (RMB150,000) and post services of $15,000.

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