Immortal and Walnut Tree share top prizes at Busan
The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), Asia's largest film festival, closed its 20th anniversary edition on Saturday with the largest attendance to date.
Top prizes at the festival were shared between Iranian director Hadi Mohaghegh's “Immortal” and Kazakh director Yerlan Nurmukhambetov's “Walnut Tree.”
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Prizes for the New Currents competition section were announced Saturday morning and selected by a jury headed by Taiwanese actress, director and screenwriter Sylvia Chang.
“Immortal” is the story of an old man whose guilty conscience makes him attempt suicide repeatedly. “Walnut Tree” is the story of a wedding comedy that shows up everyday life in a small village.
“The film is an extraordinary feat of visual storytelling, filled with emotion. It is partly about how to die, but mostly about how to live, and how to keep our dignity as human beings. It is a beautiful film,” said Chang about “The Immortal”.
The BIFF Mecenat Awards went to Korea's “Boys Run” by Kang Seok-pil and China's “Look Love,” by Ye Yun. Korean director Kim Young-jo's “Still and All” earned a special mention.
The awards were formally presented to the winners Saturday evening at a closing ceremony ahead of the screening of Chinese film “Mountain Cry.”
BIFF drew a record audience of 227,377 as it showed 302 films from 75 countries.