Sunday, the directorial debut of Uzbekistan’s Shokir Kholikov, has claimed the grand prize at Japan’s Skip City International D-Cinema Festival.
Indian thriller Stolen, which debuted at last year’s Venice, picked up best director for Karan Tejpal and the audience award while Yoshihiko Taniguchi’s Happy Life, which received its world premiere at the festival in Japan, won the special jury prize and Skip City Award.
Scroll down for full list of winners
The awards were presented at a closing ceremony of the 21st edition of Skip City, which ran July 13-21 in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture.
The grand prize included a cash award of $6,400 (¥1m). Deadpan drama Sunday centres on the daily life of an elderly couple in a quiet village and the intergenerational conflict that arises when their son plans to rebuild their house.
Accepting the award, Kholikov said: “This prize does not belong only to me. It takes many people to make a film, and I consider this a prize for my entire cast and crew and for Uzbekistan as a whole. I’ll try hard to make my next film and show it in Japan as well.”
The film previously won the Asian New Talent Award at Shanghai International Film Festival, where the film premiered in June 2023, and picked up best director at last year’s Red Sea International Film Festival.
Collecting the audience award, India’s Tejpal said: “It’s a very local idea, very personal to me and I feel like the fact that it has transcended across culture, space and resonated with the Japanese audience means a lot to me.”
In the Japanese feature category, best picture went to Hina Murata’s The Midnight Sun, which was produced as a film school graduation film, and Jengil Park’s Poems Of Flower Rain picked up the audience award.
The international competition jury was headed by director Kazuya Shirashi alongside Moviola president Miyuki Takei and Miyako Araki, director of production at Asmik Ace. The Japanese film competition jury comprised director Satoko Yokohama, producer Meiske Taurisia, and actor Yohta Kawase.
Skip City 2024 winners
International Competition
Grand Prize
Sunday (Uzbek)
Dir. Shokir Kholikov
Best Director
Karan Tejpal, Stolen (India)
Special Jury Prize
Happy Life (Japan)
Dir. Yoshihiko Taniguchi
Skip City Award
Happy Life (Japan)
Dir. Yoshihiko Taniguchi
Audience Award
Stolen (India)
Dir. Karan Tejpal
Japanese Film
Best Picture
The Midnight Sun
Dir. Hina Murata
Audience Award
Poems Of Flower Rain
Dir. Jengil Park
Japanese Short
Best Picture
Hana And Koto
Dir. Hiromi Tanoue
Audience Award
Stand Up And Roll
Dir. Jun Hosoi
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