Rubber takes top prize at PiFan

The 15th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) closed over the weekend with the Best of Puchon Award going to the French film Rubber, directed by Quentin Dupieux.

Local thriller Blind made its premiere as the fest’s Closing Film. PiFan officially closed yesterday (July 24) after its traditional two extra days of repeat and surprise screenings after the closing awards ceremony.

For the ceremony, Juno Mak, winner of this year’s Best Actor award for his performance in the Hong Kong film Revenge: A Love Story, was on hand with his co-star Sora Aoi and director Wong Ching Po.

Other celebrities on the red carpet for the closing awards ceremony included Kim Ha-neul, star of Blind, as well as festival ambassador Park Bo-young, known for her roles such as that in Scandal Makers.

Rubber’s Best of Puchon award came with a KW15m ($14,200) cash prize for the best feature in official competition.
Korea’s Na Hong-jin took the Best Director Award with KW10m ($9,470) for his thriller The Yellow Sea.

Myanna Buring took Best Actress for her performance in Kill List from the UK.

The Jury’s Choice award went to the Mongolian film Operation Tatar, directed by Bat-Uulzii Baatar while the NH Nonghyup Citizen’s Choice went to Shinagawa Hiroshi’s film Slapstick Brothers from Japan.

The European Fantastic Film Festival Federation (EFFFF) Asian Award went to the Korean film Bloody Fight in Iron-Rock Valley, directed by Ji Ha Jean. The film also took the Fujifilm Eterna Award for best Korean feature with a prize of film stock.

The NETPAC Award for the best Asian film in the Vision Express section went to Japanese film Hospitalite, directed by FUKADA Koji.

The festival ran July 14-24 with the Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF) running parallel July 17-20.