The 21st ifva Asian New Force Jury Meeting Transcript
Jury Members: Bede Cheng (Cheng), Lav Diaz (Diaz) and Lim Kah-wai (Lim)ifva representative: Kattie Fan (Fan), Diana Cheung (Cheung)Fan:

The mission of this meeting is to select award winners for the Asian New Force category,
one Gold Award, one Silver Award and one Special Mention. You can go through the tenworks one by one to warm up, or if you already have some works you want to nominate,maybe we can select three each and focus on those films.

Lim:My top films are The Translator, Unfortunately and Playgrounds. These are my threechoices. But if I can select another two, I would recommend Turtle and Running.

Diaz:

My top three are Playgrounds, Under the Sun and Unfortunately.

Cheng:

I’ll pick Translator, Playgrounds and Unfortunately.

Fan:

All of you have chosen Unfortunately and Playgrounds. Two votes for The Translator andUnder the Sun. Maybe we can talk about Unfortunately and Playgrounds first?

Lim:

For me, The Translator is quite similar to Playgrounds, because through these films wecan know about situations that we were not familiar with before, through cinematiclanguage. Both explore the marginal people like refugee, poor labor in our world nowadays.
Their point of view is not in stereotype and even open our eyes. Technically I think TheTranslator is better than Playgrounds, especially in the cinema. When I saw Playgrounds
in the cinema, there is some problem with the sound, especially the last part. Probably it’sa projection problem, not from the film itself. Unfortunately is very interesting, because it
just uses two long shots to explain the situation of the two people. At the beginning wedon’t know what is happening, and it is very suspenseful, and suddenly we know the answer.
It’s quite out of my expectation. From their conversation we may guess something might
have happened, but we don’t know what, and when the ending happens we feel very
shocked. The structure and style of this film is very suitable for a short film, but The
Translator or Playgrounds could be extended to a feature film. If I was a filmmaker I would
extend Playgrounds and The Translator to a longer version and explore more. It dependson what kind of short films we think about.

Diaz:

I really like Playgrounds, it talks about how we develop mistrust, it says a lot about what’s
going on in the world now as human beings. The message is very strong for me, and thetechnical issue is immaterial. The characters are strong and fully developed, they interact
well. The discourse on morality is very strong for me. I am also interested in Unfortunately.
The form and how he develops the horror towards the end is very strong, it’s a film that I
want to watch again.

1Lim:To hear the dialogue again.

Diaz:

I also like the form, how the filmmaker detaches himself from the characters and watching
the whole canvas, and it works well.

Cheng:

Watching The Translator on the big screen with a real audience feels different. I look forthe quality of universality, whether this story can take place in another culture or anothercountry. I first time I watched The Translator, I thought it was so-so, but I wasn’t thatimpressed. Now there are dozens of films about Syrian immigrants, so my initial reaction
was it’s another one of those films. It’s about this kid who has a crush on this bigger girland the only way he can feel he has the power over her is over the issue of language. Nomatter what situation or social status you’re in, you’re using whatever power you have toexert your control over people. This happens everywhere, and is very common in China.
This makes the story interesting, it’s not just about the Syrian migrant worker and how
poorly they are. It is using this set-up to tell a story about how even a little kid withminimum power tries to achieve control over others. I liked Unfortunately the first time I
watched it, but the second time was just so-so. Maybe because I’ve watched it once before,I thought the dialogue feels too long. Of course the dialogue is very well-written. It doesn’t
have to happen in Iranian society, it can happen in Hong Kong today--a man not feelingconfident in his marriage and his jealousy rises and ends up a tragedy. The director is very
confident, having the camera just sitting there for 15 minutes, and then films the othercharacter. As Ka Wai said, the director uses the medium of short film very well, whichsimply tells an instant in the lives of some people. With Playgrounds, the characters arewell developed, and the driver is not just a hero, but someone who wants to do the rightthing. In the end, he doesn’t get the reward he’s looking for, which happens in reality. This
group of Tamil workers who lost their kid, but has him returned. I don’t see why they should
feel grateful for what the driver has done for them. People who are under-privileged are notnecessarily grateful or nice, so the film breaks the stereotype. Bangalore is an up andcoming city, but their buildings are built by people who are poor. This is a story that canhappen anywhere, not just in developing countries.

Diaz:

There are cases like this where kids are kidnapped, and when they are brought back, money
is demanded. So it’s about mistrust.

Cheng:

It’s not just the rich exploiting the poor, but the poor is also exploiting the poor.

Diaz:

Poverty brings out the dark side of human beings.

Lim:

I have a problem with Playgrounds. The last scene focuses on the guy who brings back thekid. We need one more cut to show the family. From the beginning we see the driver, andthen we see the kid’s family. We can imagine their relationship and background, but weneed to know more about the family.

2Diaz:The discourse is more on the dark side of humanity and mistrust. It’s a choice the filmmakermakes not to show too much of the family. It’s about the lost kid and how these two parties
engage with this.

Lim:

The scene where the two guys see each other, their expression is very strong. The editingis very strong to show the power in that scene. I think in the last part, we still need one morecut.

Diaz:

As filmmakers, we have many choices, and this was his choice. He chooses to focus on thisguy’s paradoxical look in reaction to the money.

Lim:

I can understand.

Cheng:

The whole film is shot at night, it’s quite a challenge. Comparatively, Unfortunately justhas the camera sitting there for a long time.

Lim:

About Under the Sun, I want to say something about the form and style. There has beenquite a lot of this style of film in China, to show this kind of disturbed situation.

Diaz:

It’s a horror film, it’s horrifying. Your senses are working to understand what’s happening.

Lim:

I like the first and second shots, at the station and with the family. After that I got a little bitbored.

Cheng:

We’ve seen a lot of films like this from China, like in the Hou Hsiao-hsien style.

Lim:

Also the sound, it’s very pretentious to show the economics of China from the news. But
the camera work, the track shots are very good.

Fan:

Aside from these for films, do you have any other nominations?

Diaz:

All of the ten films are very good. The Translator is very good, had they put more emphasison the power of the kid and language instead of a love story, it’d be stronger.

Cheng:The message about the power of The Translator doesn’t come out till the end.

Diaz:

It’s a well done film. The discourse is good, and the visual power is strong.

Cheng:

My film is restoring some Bruce Lee films, one of which, Fists of Fury, is about Japanoccupying China. The main villain is a Japanese collaborator, who says “You can’t call mea translator.” When watching The Translator I immediately thought of this character in aBruce Lee film. There are many stereotypes of refugees, but these are using I-Phones.

Fan:

Are you ready to nominate the Gold Award winner?
3

Diaz:All ten films can get awards. They’re good.

Lim:

For me, Unfortunately, The Translator and Playgrounds are all very good. It depends on
what you think is the purpose of short films and the meaning of these prizes. As film
language, they are all well done. If the award is about exploring the ways about short films,
then I would push for Unfortunately. As the level of completion, including technically andperformance, I think The Translator is more complete than Playgrounds. In the first shotof The Translator, it shows the border and the truck, then the place they work in, and thenyou see the girl. The editing is very smooth. And when the two characters meet at the funfare, it’s very suspenseful because you don’t know what she wants.

Diaz:I feel it should push the subject matter more, not just about refugees, and explore moreissues.

Lim:

It could be extended to a feature. It has a lot of characters and potential to become a feature.

Cheng:

I’m split between Playgrounds and The Translator, the latter film looks better technically.
Playgrounds looks a bit rough. But if you need to shoot a film at night all over the city,
there are a lot of constraints for the filmmakers.

Diaz:

That’s the politics and humanity of the film, its roughness and rawness. It’s not a clean film,
but it’s powerful.

Cheng:

With Playgrounds, the title is ironic. I lean towards the Playgrounds.

Diaz:

Me too.

Lim:

I agree with what you said about Playgrounds. It’s a very good film.

Diaz.

It’s a powerful film, with its vision of humanity and the state of the world now, the mistrust.
It’s all there.

Fan:

Do we all agree that Playgrounds gets Gold?

Lim:

I agree.

Fan:

And Silver?

Lim:

Unfortunately.

Diaz:

Why not The Translator?

Lim:

Maybe Special Mention? For me The Translator is similar to Playgrounds, andUnfortunately is quite different from the two.
4Cheng:

Out of the 70 works, there is nothing else like Unfortunately.

Diaz:

It’s also a horror film. The discourse is great, and the device with which he did it. It’s very
clever and amazing.

Cheng:

It’s about how a relationship can take a bad turn and go tragic.

Lim:

The editing point is quite good, and just at the right time.

Diaz:

It’s well written and acted. The actors are great.

Fan:

We have Gold and Silver Awards. Special Mention will be The Translator?

Diaz:Yes.

Asian New Force Category
Gold AwardPlaygrounds
Shamik Sen Gupta, Pallavi MD (India)
Silver Award
Unfortunately
Sharokh Dolkou (Iran)Special Mention
The Translator
Emre Kayis (Turkey)

5