Kick Off scores in Taipei new talent competition

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Awards News

The winners of the 12th Taipei Film Festival (台北電影節, 25 Jun — 15 Jul) new talent competition were announced this afternoon. The competition is open to films by first- or second-time feature directors.

The winner of the grand prize, worth $15,000, was Shawkat Amin Korki's Kick Off, a co-production between Iraqi Kurdistan and Japan. The jury described the film as a "daring work with outstanding direction".

The special jury prize, worth $7,500, was awarded to Iranian-born Shirin Nishat's Women Without Men, a German-Austrian-French co-production. The jury described it as an "an unforgettable film with great ambitions".

Two Asian films received special mentions, Taika Waititi's Boy from New Zealand and Ho Widing's (何蔚庭) Pinoy Sunday (台北星期天) from Taiwan. The jury described the former as a "small masterpiece".

Meanwhile, the audience award was presented to Chung Mong-hong's (鍾孟宏) youth drama The Fourth Portrait (第四張畫), the festival's opening film. Chung's debut film, Parking (停車), had won the special jury prize last year.

The five-member jury consisted of actress Chen Shiang-chyi (陳湘琪), festival director Kim Dong-ho (김동호), producer Liu Wei-jan (劉蔚然), actor José Wilker and film director Yukisada Isao (行定勲).

Two other Asian films were among the twelve nominated films, Lee Hey-jun's (이해준) Castaway on the Moon (김씨표류기) from South Korea and Glendyn Ivin's Last Ride from Australia.

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