MOGWAI, CANNIBAL GRANNY, HYPNOTIZE THE JURY Win Big at NAFF
Three days of intense meetings and project pitches ended in a ceremony presentation of awards last night for the NAFF, Asia's premiere gathering for genre film projects. 24 different film projects were pitched to several companies, with over 500 meetings taking place, a record for the event, and a testament to both the importance of BiFan as the premiere destination for genre cinema in Asia, and the work of those behind NAFF to foster new talent.
This year's (directors Joko Anwar and Yim Pil-Sung, producer and acquisitions consultant Annick Mahnert of Screen Division, and Head of Development and Production at Ivanhoe Pictures, Katherine Lee, scrutinized the projects on criteria of marketability and artistic strength.
We here at ScreenAnarchy are especially proud. Our South Korean correspondant, Pierce Conran, pitched his project Cannibal Granny (which he is writing and producing, directed by Lee Sangwoo), and it won both the NAFF Korean Award (which comes with approximately $5000), and the Sitges Pitchbox Award. Watch for it at a festival near you in 2017 (trust me, it's going to be awesome).
Alejandro Suarez Lozano's Mogwai (USA), a horror film project based on a the crossing of cultures between east and west, won the top prize of The Bucheon Award, which provides a production fund of approximately $13,000. The project also won the Aurora Media Holdings Award, which provides a cash prize of $5,000.
The NAFF Award, with a cash prize of approximately $9000, went to Zeng Zeng for her project Dust to Dust (China). Zeng is one of the top emerging directors in China, having founded her own company, Zengzeng Media, to produce her work.
Three prizes are awarded to assist films in the post-production stage, and this year the sponsots banded together to give the award to a single project. The Moneff-Wave Lab-The Color Award went to Hypnotize the Jury (China/Hong Kong), directed by Lai Siu Kawn Kenneth, Sze Pakl Lam Paul, and Lau Wing Tai. The film had previously won the NAFF Award at the Hong Kong International Film Festival's Project Market.
Matsumoto Hana's Human Parts Company won the DHL Award. Matsumoto, only 19 years old, is already making her mark in film; her feature Dadadada Seventeen screened at BiFan this year.
Congratulations to all the winners.
