BiFan awards winners revealed

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At the 19th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan), Philip Yung’s Hong Kong crime-thriller Port Of Call scooped the Bucheon Choice: Feature Award along with Best Actress for Jessie Li and a Special Mention for actor Michael Ning.

Starring Aaron Kwok and shot by Christopher Doyle, Port Of Call previously closed the Hong Kong fest and opened the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF).

The Bucheon Choice feature competition jury, made up of filmmaker Alexandre O. Philippe, actress Lee Jung Hyun, producer Pablo Guisa Koestinger, critic Richard Kuipers and director Kim Tae Kyun, announced they were unanimous in their decision to award the top prize to Port Of Call, citing its “sharp commentary on disaffected youth and contemporary Chinese society, and its examination of a shocking crime and its disturbing psychological components.”

The jury gave the Jury’s Choice Award to director Han Jun-hee’s Coin Locker Girl, which had its world premiere in Cannes Critics’ Week and closed NYAFF. Star Kim Go-eun also won a Special Mention for her performance in the thriller.

Philippe, on behalf of the jury, said: “For its precision and power in telling the story of two complex female characters and its compelling portrayal of life, death and family ties on the outer fringes of society we are very pleased to award the Jury‘s Choice Award to the outstanding Korean film Coin Locker Girl, directed by Han Jun-hee.”

The Bucheon Choice: Feature competition’s Best Director Award went to Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell for their work on the coming-of-age sci-fi ‘bicycle version of Mad Max’, Turbo Kid.

The largest genre fest in Asia, BiFan presented its awards tonight (July 24) and has two more days of encore and special screenings ahead.

Full awards list

Bucheon Choice: Feature

Best of Bucheon
Port of Call (Hong Kong) dir. Philip Yung

Best Director
Turbo Kid (New Zealand/Canada) dir. Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell

Best Actor
Chino Darin - Death in Buenos Aires (Argentina) dir. Natalia Meta

Special Mention - Actor
Michael Ning - Port of Call (Hong Kong) dir. Philip Yung

Best Actress
Jessie Li - Port of Call (Hong Kong) Philip Yung

Special Mention - Actress
Kim Go-eun - Coin Locker Girl (Korea) Han Jun-hee

Jury’s Choice
Coin Locker Girl (Korea) Han Jun-hee

NH Nonghyup Citizen’s Choice
The Master Plan (Directed by Alain Darborg)

Bucheon Choice: Short

Best Short Film
Reunion(Finland) dir. Iddo Soskolne, Janne Reinikainen

Jury’s Choice for Short Film
A Love Story (New Zealand) Steven Baker

Jury’s Choice Special Mention for Short Film
The Fisherman (Spain) Alejandro Suarez Lozano

Best Korean Short Film
The Scoundrels (Korea) Ahn Seung-hyuk

Citizen’s Choice for Short Film
Sweet Family (Korea) Park Joong Ha

European Fantastic Film Festival Federation (EFFFF) Asian Award

EFFFF Asian Award
Assassination Classroom (Japan) Hasumi Eiichiro

EFFFF Special Mention
Bombay Velvet (India) Anurag Kashyap

Netpac Award

100 Yen Love (Japan) dir. Take Masaharu

LG HiEntech Award

Boy from Wonderland (Korea) Huh Eun Hee