The 25th ifva Awards
Asian New Force Category Jury Meeting
Jurors: Yamashita Nobuhiro (Yamashita), Boo Junfeng (Boo), Joyce Yang (Yang)
Organizer Representatives: Kattie Fan (Fan)Fan:

Today’s mission is to select the awards for this category.
Thank you for summitting your comments for each film. We have made a table toindicate your preference. Yamashita has indicated that he is very keen on The
City of Honey, and the other two jurors have chosen this film as well. Maybe
Joyce can begin and talk about your nominations first, and then Junfeng can talkabout your choices as well.

Yang:

I was in the jury for the last round as well and watched about 80 films, and thefinalists were selected from the first round. To talk about the films that I would
like to nominate, they are the ones that I gave 8 points. There are the ones we cantalk about for awards. My personal favorite is the film Touch. I think it’s very
smart and close to teenagers’ lives. I especially like the lead actress, how she canturn a flat story into a very amusing one. Another film I would like to mention is
The City of Honey. This film is the shortest one, at only 7 minutes, but people
can feel the power of the ending. At the beginning, we see the story is very flat,with two kids playing in a car, but in the end, you realize how brutal the reality
is. That’s why I really like this film. The third film I’d like to mention is The
Mortician of Manila. I only gave the film an average score of 7, but this film
really has independent spirit. It explores the life of a person who witnessed what
happened there. I think this work deserves further discussion. The fourth film I’dlike to mention is The Remains. This film is from Nepal, and it’s rare that we seea film from there. It does not choose to explore hot topics but focuses on thephilosophical lives of the people living there. It’s more like a fairy tale, because
in the middle of the film, the old man has a fish tail. I really like the part of thefilm when the old man meets a child at the end of his life. This image is very
poetic, and this is something we should pay attention to because it’s a very uniquevision. Out of the 90 films that we saw, this is the only one from Nepal, and is avery special film.

Fan:

Does Boo Junfung have any comments?

Boo:

Can I ask a question about independent spirit? Can you define it more? What doyou mean by independent spirit? If this such a key criterion, we should have aclearer definition of what it means.

Fan:

When we talk about independent spirit, it’s a broad idea. Many years ago, we could1easily make comparation between independent and mainstream in terms of the
production budget. Now filmmakers use films to express their views with certain
budget and in a personal, independent way. Independent spirit is uncountable inquantity or direct connect with money. It can be a concept. From my point ofview, we shall look at the filmmaker’s intentions and how they deal with social
issues, or how they utilize the medium to tell stories. The definition keeps
changing from time to time. It is up to the juror to define it.
Boo:

Some of the filmmakers are in school, and some are from countries that have film
commissions or support, so their works will be more polished, so it’s kind of hardto decide what this independent spirit is on the production level. But if we lookat what the films are saying and how they reflect the realities of their societies, it
may be a more meaningful way of looking at it. The other two jurors can express
their views on that.

Fan:

Every year, the jurors’ decisions may be different. When the medium was quite
new, our award winners were awarded for how they use the medium to express
their ideas. In recent days, most of us are more focused on social issues, forexample about how globalization is changing the world and how to react to it.
This year, we received over 1400 submissions and went through three rounds ofjury meetings. Different jurors from each round have different things they findindependent with the films.

Boo:

Maybe I’ll just go through the works that I like. The City of Honey definitely has
strong form. When the ending came, of course it’s shocking. At the beginning,
the audience is drawn into the world of the children, which made the ending all
the more shocking. I think it’s a bit manipulative in how it delivered the punch,
but for a short film, I guess it works. With Mandatory, I should have given it a 7;
I should have given it less than Viral Kids, which I felt is stronger. I’ll talk about
Viral Kids first. The use of social media in the film is quite interesting. In the
beginning, with the child singing, you think social media is a way of getting
attention, and then they flip it around and you find that they are being exploited,
and then the twist with the revenge comes at the end. I thought that was quite
interesting. They are street kids, but some of them have access to the phone, andthe empowerment that device can give you can mean very much. For me themessage is quite special. I gave this film 7.5; I didn’t like it as much as The Cityof Honey. The Remains was refreshing for me. Most films use drama to tell thestory, but here you have the chance to look at the visual poetry. I read in the
director’s statement that the film was part of his journey of finding his cinema,
and that, to me, is what independent spirit would mean. He is seeking to define
his cinema; to me, that’s quite admirable, especially coming from a country like
Nepal, and he choses to find his own voice. For that I gave him a very high score.
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I am curious about Ceremony Night. You gave it a high score. I am curious what
it is about the film that made sense to you, or that spoke to you.
Yamashita: I think the story isn’t that interesting, but the director’s view on how he showed
the audience the story is quite interesting, and is done in a very beautiful way.
That’s why I gave Ceremony Night a high score.
Yang:

I like Ceremony Night. It’s about the lives of the roller-coaster workers and thatthey are faced with the risk of being fired after the ceremony night. They don’t
have any rights or protections, and they are powerless people in this grandopening. What happens at the beginning of the story is a man’s death, buteverybody is trying to cover up his death instead of showing empathy for what
had happened, and nobody wants to find out the reasons behind it. The story talks
about the problems with the system; these people are not cared for or respected.
I spent some time thinking about the ending because the lead character mademany people lose their lives, and that ending is quite shocking as well. Definitely,
there is a sense of revenge, but what is the director trying to say? He wants to saythat this society and this system is very dangerous, if we don’t care and reflect,and dig into the deeper into injustices, the whole system will go crazy. That pointis a metaphor for society. Personally, I don’t like the ending very much, because
I find it unjustified, but I understand the anger and where it came from, it camefrom people who have been ignored by the social system, how people treat thedeath, the way the co-worker wants to hide the death and the dead body under
the amusement park, while everyone else is enjoying everything above. It’s like
Parasite, in which poor people live in the basement while others enjoy a greatlife above. That’s why I gave this film a high score.

Boo:

I can see that the film is speaking about the working class, but I didn’t quite get
the upper-class part of it. I didn’t read too much into the class commentary.

Yamashita: I really like The City of Honey because it’s very simple and strong. Although it isvery short, it can have a very strong impact. The second work I choose is Paper
Helicopter, I don’t think the story is very interesting but the girl’s performanceis wonderful and the director’s skills are quite good, so I chose this work. I wasa little confused when choosing the third film. From the score sheet it should be
Ceremony Night, but now that I know I must take independent spirit into
consideration, I’m a little bit confused. Now I’d like to choose Viral Kids as mythird choice. The film is interesting, and I can feel the director’s effort. These are
my three award choices.
Fan:

Are we going to nominate our Gold Award winner for this category? Joyce’s
preference goes towards Touch, right?
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Yang:

Yes. I chose four films, should I remove one from the list?

Fan:

Maybe you can assign priority to your choices.

Yang:

Actually, I can remove The Mortician of Manila. I’d like to ask Junfeng andYamashita your opinion of Touch. What do you think about this film?

Yamashita: I think the story is not interesting, it’s just fair, but the skill of the director is great.
The girl performance is a bit flat at first, but by the end I really enjoy her
performance.
Boo:

I was very entertained by the film, and I like the fact that she is such an unlikablecharacter, but you learn to care about what she is feeling. The execution and thefact that film is told without dialogue is impressive. The reason I didn’t rank itreally high is that I’ve seen many Israeli films, and they get a lot of support, so I
think it’s not difficult for them to have something that is more polished and welldeveloped. Considering independent spirit and where it stands with this film, I
didn’t give it any extra marks. I appreciate that it tries to address the Arab world,
and that the film makes the girl’s concerns seem a bit silly compared to the othergirl she’s speaking to. But I can’t help but feel that it’s a little bit cursory.

Yang:

Thanks for the comments. I really agree that Touch is very polished andentertaining. When I watched it, I have doubts about the use of the war in Syria,
I wonder the reason for using that, and whether using war as an element would
give meaning to the film. I don’t know if it’s a strategical consideration or out ofreal concern with the war. So I agree with you. The main character meets theother girl on social media, but the problems of that other girl has never beenaddressed properly or more deeply. I think the film is lacking in that respect.

Boo:

I feel that the main character had used her, but I also feel that the filmmaker had
used her, too.

Yang:

That’s what I feel, too.

Fan:

You can prioritize your selections to nominate the Gold Award.

Yang:

I would say The City of Honey.

Boo:

The City of Honey for me as well.

Yamashita: I also select The City of Honey.
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Fan:

We now have the Gold Award. How about Silver?

Yang:

I am voting for Viral Kids.

Yamashita: Everyone gave Viral Kids a high score. Even if it cannot get Silver, I hope it can
get some other award because I really enjoyed it.
Boo:

I’m okay with Viral Kids getting Silver.

Yang:

From the beginning, I was impressed with the camera movement of Viral Kids.
The mise-en-scene is so difficult if the story is happening in the streets. The story
is not just about one kid, but a group of kids, and the placement of camera angle
is very smart and thoughtful.

Boo:

In terms of the filmmaking, it’s very thoughtful even though the aesthetic is very
chaotic. It’s quite clear that a lot of thought went into it. There is a part with kids
coming out of a school, and I think they timed it to the end of the real school
because I don’t think they can afford so many extras. It looks like a lot of things
were timed to real situations and the crew just went there with a small cameraand shot it. I think that’s something quite special about the film.

Yamashita: The camera keeps shooting the children from their eye level, which is very
thoughtful and nice.
Fan:

It seems we all agree to give Viral Kids the Silver Award. Now for Special Mention.
We didn’t call this prize the Bronze Award because there may be some films that
may have elements that are special to mention, but maybe their overall excellence
is not as good as the Gold and Silver awards. That’s the reason we call it Special
Mention, so when choosing this award, you can think of the reasons behind it.

Yamashita: Should Special Mention be judged by the balance for the movie, or just from thepoint of view of the judges?
Fan:

We named this award Special Mention instead of Bronze because we are notranking it third among the ten films, but we want to highlight some special
elements inside the film. Maybe the story is very special but the execution is notgood enough to get Gold or Silver, or the concept behind the film is very special
and thought-provoking, but the technical part is not as well as others. Special
Mention is to highlight some parts inside the film, it may not be the balance ofthe film, as you mentioned. It is up to the juror. Any nominations for Special
Mention?
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Boo:

I would like to advocate for The Remains because I feel that if we talk about
independent spirit, this film fits my definition of it. If we talk about encouraging
filmmakers towards further exploration in their filmmaking, I personally am
curious and would like to see more from this filmmaker. But feel free to disagreewith me.

Fan:

Any other nominations?

Yamashita: I have two nominations. One is Touch and the other is Paper Helicopter. These
are two very different kinds of movies, and I cannot decide which one is suitablefor Special Mention. Because we talked about independent spirit, I think Touchis suited for this theme, and I choose it for Special Mention.
Yang:

I’d like to advocate for The Remains because I don’t think there’s an independent
voice in terms of the film industry in Nepal. I find The Remains to be a surprisenot just because of the country it’s from, but also because it uses lighting, soundand local landscapes so well. It’s a story, a poem happening in a landscape, andthe director has designed and captured a lot of beautiful, poetic things and put
them into a flowing picture. Because we are choosing Special Mention, I think
the film’s poetic touch is one of the specialties of this film.

Yamashita: I agree that The Remains is quite different from others, so I would also like tochoose this film for Special Mention.
Yang:

You don’t need to compromise, you can share more thoughts.

Fan:

Is this the conclusion? If you all agree, then The Remains will be our Special
Mention.

Yamashita: I think The Remains is really not like a movie, but just like a painting, going fromone scene to the next, which is interesting. This is my point of view from myheart.
Yang:

Is it okay if I shared more about The Remains? For me, The Remains is notentertaining at all. I read the director’s notes that The Remains refers to the lastfew days of the old man. It talks about what people have to do before they die in
the tradition of Nepal. So, it’s a very spiritual journey that the old man takes
before he dies, and that’s how I understand the story behind the images.

Boo:

I try not to read anything before I see the films, and when watching The Remains.
I was quite taken by the images one after the next. There’s a constant flow of6

water in the film, when I see the old man and the child, I get the sense that thefilm is about life. Even though I didn’t completely understand the voice-over, as
it went along, I felt that there was something that someone at the end of their life
would look at. I can imagine this can be a very contentious film, especially if it
got the first or second prize. As a Special Mention, it encourages a different
kind of exploration of cinema, and allows me to open my mind to look at whatelse is there in cinema you can look out for.
Yamashita: I understand everyone’s points of view regarding The Remains. I also think thisfilm is totally different from the rest. Also it is a new vision and the scenes are
beautiful, but when I watched the film, I did not get any excitement from it. I
expected more from a poetic film like this. I think the film is too beautiful.
Boo:

I can see where that is coming from.

Fan:

Are there any other nominations for Special Mention?

Yamashita: I cannot name a film for Special Mention because none of them is very special.
Yang:

Are we going to discuss Ceremony Night, because this film ranks 4th. Junfeng,
would you like to talk about Paper Helicopter?

Boo:

At the beginning I thought this film was special. I really wanted to like it.
Especially the first few shots when they go to the doctor to ask for the donkey,
the way it was shot is really interesting. Then when the brother and sister are
sitting outside and staring into space, I thought it was very interesting. As it wenton, the subtitles didn’t help because I couldn’t understand them, sometimes, I
have to read it a few times to understand what they are saying. As the film wenton, it changed; it became simpler and is just about the race. It tries to make therace exciting but doesn’t quite get there. It lost me and I didn’t quite like it somuch anymore. At the beginning, I wanted to like it.

Yamashita: I also think that the story of Paper Helicopter is not really interesting. At the very
beginning I also felt a sense of anticipation. I feel the lead actress is great.
Yang:

In terms of the storytelling of Paper Helicopter, I totally agree with you both. Thisis the only film in which it is not easy to follow the story. There is some problem
with the narration, but I agree the casting is good. I like the girl’s face. I reallywant to see this story about a girl winning a donkey race, and in the middle, thestory has a lot of twists, but the film doesn’t manage to explain the twists very
well. Some scenes are a little bit manipulative, they are not natural but feeldesigned. That’s why I didn’t give this film a very good score.
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Boo:

Can we talk a little bit about The Swing because I see that Joyce’s score with thisfilm is quite low, while Yamashita and my score are relatively okay. I want totake into consideration that a lot of the filmmakers here are men, and I want tolook at a woman’s voice. Also, this film comes from a place where we’ve neverseen a film from. In the spirit of what Special Mention is supposed to mean,
maybe we can talk about this film.

Yamashita: I anticipated more from the beginning, but after watching the film, the story isn’t
that great. It’s just a simple story. The location and casting are good, but the storytelling part is not as good as I thought.
Yang:

I like the story, but I have to say it is very predictable. At the beginning I knew
what’s going to happen at the end. With the scene in the principal’s office, it is
not presented very well. The actress in that scene was not presented very well,and that’s why I didn’t give it a very high score.

Yamashita: I have a question for everyone. Is Special Mention awarded for the director or canit be for the casting?
Fan:

It’s for the film in general.

Yamashita: Should we choose this work because of the skill of the director or the cast?
Fan:

It should be mainly for the director, but if you think that the acting or the cast is
worthy of mention, then it could be an area to give out the prize. I’d like toemphasize that the prize is given to the director and the film itself rather than tothe actor.

Boo:

For Ceremony Night, when I read the artist’s statement, the film is about the fearof being rejected, it’s one of the filmmaker’s biggest fears, which he tries torecreate with this film. What do you understand of that? What is the rejection?
I’m thinking if I’m missing the thing about class or is this his intention?

Yamashita: It’s a bit difficult for me because I cannot understand all the subtitles. About
rejection, I think everyone in this beautiful amusement park is enjoying
themselves, but this guy has a sense of anxiety and nervousness, and the contrast
between the two is shown in the film. Personally, I experience anxiety when
everyone else is having a good time, so I think that’s what the director is showing
this situation, and his skills are great.
Yang:

My understanding is that person has been rejected from the ceremony, from the8system in which the working class is unseen. That’s how I understand rejectionin the story.
Boo:

I can see that.

Yang:

We have three films now. Which one are we going to choose?

Yamashita: I choose The Remains as Special Mention.

Asian New Force Category award winners
Gold Award
The City of Honey
Moein Ruholamini (Iran)
Silver Award
Viral Kids
Arjanmar H. Rebeta (Philippines)
Special Mention
The Remains
Manoj Babu Panta (Nepal)

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The 25th ifva Awards Asian New Force Category Juror’s Comment
Touch
Joyce Yang: The protagonist was impressive to facial express vivid and subtle feelings, leading
up the whole story. Without a single line, but the rhyme of narrative goes very smoothly, mixed
with good sense of humour, which truly belongs to teenagers. An easily accessible theme had
been unfolded and went further to address the war shadows on teenager’s life in Syria.
Boo Junfeng: Engaging, clever storytelling revolving around a young female lead whose
confident façade hides an insecure interior. Speaks of self-centred generation who lives onsocial media, but handicapped in real life.
Yamashita Nobuhiro: With totally no dialogue in the conversation using only the smart phone,it was amazing that I could watch the whole film until the end with joy. It is a story about theprotagonist who was fearful to communicate with others, took the last step out of the comfort
zone. It was a very universal theme because it was a story that was common in all eras though
the method was different. I felt a little bit of warmth at the end of the movie.
Ceremony Night
Joyce Yang: The composition of images, especially lighting, is thoughtful and contribute to thetheme. The setting of whole story is full of metaphor, echoing the movements happening inmany places in the world, including Hong Kong.
Boo Junfeng: Strong, visual ending, but not sure what the film is saying. The sense of revenge
feels sensationalized and unjustified.
Yamashita Nobuhiro: One man’s suspicion turns into anxiety and goes crazy little by little in
the end. The location sense is very interesting with the contrast between the disturbing emotionof the protagonist and the glorious amusement park. Last shot of the playground equipment wasvery interesting and at the same time very shocking that I think it was very great.

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The Heavy Burden
Joyce Yang: A straightforward story. Narration is neat. The suppressed emotion amongst thethree generations of men is touching, heightening the atmosphere of the ending. The on-point
camerawork and framing are the glue that holds it altogether. The outdoor and indoor scenes
are both presented successfully.
Boo Junfeng: Shows the absurdity of national borders and the humanity that transcends them.
Seems to draw parallels between donkeys and human life, but I can’t quite grasp the symbolism
of it.
Yamashita Nobuhiro: The film is made using a donkey’s point of view and the effort can be
obviously seen. The location is great, and the story is easy to understand. But I wanted
something more expressive and something new. I felt that especially the music was a factor thatmade the whole work feel flat. The story, the music and the production are well organized, buton the other hand, I expected something that would catch the audience’s hearts.
Paper helicopter
Joyce Yang: Paper helicopterIntriguingly crafted a well-structured story of a girl’s bravery, hopeand friendship with plot twist and it all paid off. It is not easy to handle an assemble of castingwith so many same-aged kids. The leading actress surprised me. As the central character, shedelivers this conventional story properly. However, more balanced treatment among young
actors would have better result.
Boo Junfeng: Starts off promising with child actors and interesting visual language, but it lostme after a while.
Yamashita Nobuhiro: It was good that the children were still being children. In particular, thegaze of the starring girl was wonderful. It showed both the strength and the weakness of thewhole movie. Directing and shooting were cute but also somehow feeling hard-boiled. The
director’s mysterious talent was interesting. And I would really want the sister and brother whoplay the leading role could become “Gucci” model.

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Viral Kids
Joyce Yang: The strength of this film is its street shooting treatment. Handheld camera has beenutilized throughout the whole film. It follows viral kids across the city, revealing the problems
hidden in the dark, for instance, the politician’s campaign slogan. The city becomes a richcontext of the story. Furthermore, the compound social media elements is the highlight.
Boo Junfeng: Strong social commentary about the exploited children on the streets. Interesting
twist about the use of social media as empowerment, rather than mere exploitation.
Yamashita Nobuhiro: Shooting with a feeling of floating, I feel that effort was put all along theway which made it interesting. I was impressed by how the children’s crisis was presented was
not imposed onto the audience. There was music and dynamism. And I thought that it waspossible to portray the theme of “darkness” just like a movie.
The City of Honey
Joyce Yang: Starting from a childish scene but ends with the portrayal of terrorism. Leaving
audience horrified with how close and sudden death was to those innocent children. It is brutal
but the mere truth is presented to the audience. The narration is guileless but successfully madeits point.
Boo Junfeng: Conceptually strong film about the dreams and aspirations of children set in thehorrors of war. The ending is almost manipulative, but it works for the brevity of a short film.
Yamashita Nobuhiro: It is a very simple and short movie but an amazing movie that resonatesin the heart. I was impressed with the one cut scene that shows the contrast between the innocent
children who were in the scrapped car and the terrible reality outside. The last gunshot was only
shown by the sound which brought the imagination of that moment that there were other murdercases elsewhere. I could experience the horror and sadness at the same time. The director isvery talented.

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Mandatory
Joyce Yang: The dilemma and paradox the soldier faces provoke deep reflection on the state
apparatus. Enjoy the setting of the narration and understand the intention behind all scenes.
However, the story is more like formulated than naturally derived from characters.
Boo Junfeng: The story is polished and well-executed, with nuanced characters – you could
feel the soldier’s dilemma within a short span of time.
Yamashita Nobuhiro: Directing, shooting and music were all technically wonderful. And I think
the skill of the director is powerful. The message of the work was all conveyed to the audience,but it does not leave a lingering sound. For me, a little unsatisfaction remained.
I personally instead of just showing everything in the film, the director could challenge himself
of not showing everything.
The Mortician of Manila
Joyce Yang: With the real-life tragedy and horror involved, this powerful documentary delvesin the situation in Philippine after the new drug law had been put in place. At the heart of thefilm is the old man who runs funeral business in town. The film left ambivalent feelings towards
the old man. From his perspective, death is something close but also distant.
Boo Junfeng: Familiar subject in Filipino films, but seen through the interesting perspective ofa mortician. Many powerful moments captured. It is impressive that the filmmaker captured themoment the family of the deceased meets the mortician, and managed to follow and develop
the portraits of each of them.
Yamashita Nobuhiro: While watching the movie, I thought about “death should be equal to all
mankind. However the weight of death might be different depending on race, country and class”.
Through the funeral house, various distances to death were shown and it was interesting. The
distance between the director and the subject was always calm so that the audience can keep
calm and watch the whole movie till the end. The shot of children and the dog makes us feelthe vitality. It was great that the death and vitality were both shown in the movie.

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The Remains
Joyce Yang: Cinematography is elegant, and the musical background and natural sound help tosustain the delicate mood. With the aesthetic touch of the story, it has achieved a winning spiritof tranquility. Most importantly, it lets elderhood meet childhood in a poetic and philosophicalway.
Boo Junfeng: Strong visual poetry about life – the continuing motion of the river flow ismesmerizing. The use of cinema as a poetic medium is a breath of fresh air compared to theother films.
Yamashita Nobuhiro: It seems like a chain of images rather than a movie. And the images were
all beautiful. Characters and the landscape were shown as a part of nature. Rather thanconnecting one cut to another cut, you could say that one cut finished after another. And I felt
like I had seen dozens of paintings. It was a work between painting and movie. Location was
great.
The Swing
Joyce Yang: Well-crafted story, depicting good person in critical times and the sacrifice is theswing, representing the existing good things. There seems to be references from other Iranianfilms. There are issues with acting. Some side actors are not as good as leading ones.
Boo Junfeng: The device of trying to create warmth in the cold is simple and effective inevoking a sense of desperation and love. The dramatic moments in the film are not its strongest.
Yamashita Nobuhiro: The shooting was gentle and I liked it. It felt universal and powerful
though it was a small story. It was straight forward on the direction of the characters and it
successfully showed the charm of characters. However, the impression of the hard time of theleading role was a bit weak. Instead of a story about the rise of humanity, I felt like it’s just a“story”. I would like to have more surprise and discovery.

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