The jury, led by Korean Chinese director Zhang Lu, praised the film for 'continually shooting even in extremely limited light to show a side of the true China' and for showing 'how far documentaries can go with the two tools of simplicity and minimalism'. The film documented the last days of a makeshift farming and hunting household forced off the land by the Chinese government.
Yu had previously made a highly acclaimed debut last year at CinDi, winning both the Directors' Jury and Critics' Jury awards ex aequo with his first documentary, The Last Lumberjacks. Survival Song also made its world premiere at CinDi.
The International Critics' Jury gave the Blue Chameleon award to Takahashi Izumi for What The Heart Craves, praising the film for its exquisite and intense portrayal of a painful relationship. The film is the Japanese director's second after his award-winning The Soup, One Morning.
The Local Critics' Jury gave the Green Chameleon award to Voice Of Rain That Comes At Night, directed by Igarashi Kohei for his 'creativity and passion in creating a moving and original film starting from a very basic subject matter.' The Japanese film made its world premiere at the fest.
The inaugural Audience Jury made up of 15 cinephiles gave the White Chameleon Award to Peng Tao's Little Moth, a film about a young girl who can't walk but is bought by a couple who want to make money off her begging. The film also screened at the Locarno film festival.
CinDi has the CJ Culture Foundation as an official partner, with support from the Arts Council Korea, the Korean Film Council, Seoul Metropolitan Government and Gangnam-gu Government.
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