10th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY for WANG WU

On June 16-24, 2007, the 10 th edition of Shanghai International Film Festival took place. According to Susanne Davis (European Film Promotion): "The Jin Jue Awards have great importance to the winning films as they will be treated preferentially by China Film Group with regard to import regulations."

This means that, on one hand, the festival is an important event that helps to promote lively relations between China and the European Union. On the other hand, it offers the possibility for both cultures to satisfy their growing curiosity about each other.

Out of the seven jury members, for Jin Jue Award, four were European. Among those was German Cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, ASC.

This year's Best Cinematography award went to Wang Yu for Wu Qingyuan / The Go Master (2006, China), directed by award winning Tian Zhuangzhuang. According to the Jury: "The simplest images tell the richest story."

The Go Master has also won Best Director Jin Jue Award. The Jury's words on the film were: "Tian Zhuangzhuang is more than a director, should say, he is also a writer and thinker. He is never afraid of the loneliness, but keeps showing the best of human nature through normal-life-details."

Film Synopsis : Wu Qingyuan is the 20th Century's greatest player of Go, the eastern equivalent of chess. He was identified young as a Go prodigy and transplanted in his mid-teens from China to Japan, where Go was a national obsession. He has lived there ever since, marrying a Japanese woman who shared his devotion to Buddhism, and was surrounded by war and destruction and torn by divided loyalties. This film is neither an orthodox biopic nor a dry historical chronicle but a serene and very beautiful account of one man's attempt to maintain mental and emotional equilibrium while pursuing the goals of truth and perfect game-play.

Both director and cinematographer have previously worked together in the documentary Tea-Horse Road Series: Delamu (2004). Wang Yu latest project is Lost in Beijing (2007) by Y u Li.

"The Jin Jue Awards have great importance to the winning films as they will be treated preferentially by China Film Group with regard to import regulations." - says again Susanne Davis (EFP).

Therefore, awarded European Films are able to break in the over expanding Asian market.

This year's winner's list:

Best Feature Film: ACCORDING TO THE PLAN (Germany) by Franziska Meletzky

Jury Grand Prix: THE NEW MAN (Sweden/Finland) by Klaus Haro

Best Actor: Juan Jose Ballesta DOGHEAD (Spain)

Word by Jury: The youth at a loss made him a pure person.

Best Actress: Corinna Harfouch, Dagmar Manzel, Kirsten Block, Christine Schorn ACCORDING TO THE PLAN ( Germany )

Best Screenplay: Shemi Zarhin AVIVA MY LOVE (Israel)

Best Music: Isao Tomita LOVE AND HONOR (Japan)

Word by Jury: The music of this film is the soul of the film hiding behind film characters.

Special Award of the 10th Shanghai International Film Festival: THE KNOT (China) by Yin Li

Word by Jury: The "out-of-date" love story in this film deeply touches audiences nowadays, expressing pure feeling well interpreted by classical emotions.

For complete information go to SIFF's 2007 official website.

Diana Soeiro