2024 TIDF Award-Winning List
Asian Vision Competition
Grand Prize
Taman-taman (Park)
SO Yo-hen｜Taiwan
This film full of formalistic and narrative surprises invites the protagonists to share their daily lived experiences in a foreign land. A film with a daring approach that we wish to see more. With a radical mise-en-scene and great props, this film is playful and with meaning. This piece of collective filmmaking turns this public park into an imaginative decor of time and space that can only exist in cinema.
The Grand Prize of Asian Vision Competition goes to a more or less non-fiction film with a highly original artistic approach: Taman-taman (Park) by SO Yo-hen.
Jury Prize
K-Family Affairs
NAM Arum｜South Korea
This film intertwines personal narrative with universal themes, offering a poignant reflection on both the filmmaker's family story and the broader societal and modern history of the country. Through the lens of her parents' differing ideas on achieving a meaningful life, the filmmaker embarks on a journey to discover her own perspective and path in life. It's a courageous undertaking, confronting agreements and steadfastly adhering to one's beliefs with love and passion.
Feminism transcends mere academic discourse in this film; it's a lived experience woven into the fabric of everyday life. The struggle for equality and empowerment is not just a theoretical concept but a palpable reality in which every human being participates with its behaviour. In this brilliantly edited work, the filmmaker mirrors herself against her parents, striving to keep the spirit of resilience and determination alive.
Therefore, it is with great honour that the Jury Prize of Asian Vision Competition is awarded to K-Family Affairs by NAM Arum.
Special Prize
Damnatio Memoriae
Thunska PANSITTIVORAKUL｜Germany, Thailand
This essay film smartly connects the dots that cover many forgotten histories and stories of massacres on the Asian continent, and casts its gaze on the darker side of pan-Asian history being used by the world’s superpowers as a geo-political chess board. By juxtaposing pop music and state-controlled propaganda, the film moves the audience towards a thought-provoking exercise. The Special Prize of Asian Vision Competition goes to Damnatio Memoriae by Thunska PANSITTIVORAKUL.
Special Mention
Song of Souls
Sai Naw Kham｜Myanmar
We wish to acknowledge the filmmaker for crafting the film amidst challenging circumstances. The work gives voice to an ethnic group, allowing them to share their lived experience during a civil war largely overlooked by the world. This quiet courageous film sheds light on an ongoing conflict where art and rituals serve as vital coping mechanisms for the community's suffering. The jury would like to give a Special Mention to Song of Souls by Sai Naw Kham.
International Competition
Grand Prize
The Trial
Ulises DE LA ORDEN｜Argentina, France, Italy, Norway
Cinema is not capable of changing our past. But it can help us to remember and to learn lessons from our past. In the age of digital reproduction of images, even images of violence are getting more and more devaluated. We’ve seen violence too many times on screen to simply look back on the dark pages of our past and finally learn the lesson and change the present. But cinematic language gives a powerful tool to break this habituality and insensibility. Without showing the violence directly, this film brings back to the screen many horrible stories, victims and criminals that stayed unpunished for years. Without leaving the same space during the whole duration, this film manages to reproduce the episode of the history that once received a fair verdict and shouldn’t have happened again. Let’s not let it happen again. The jury unanimously decided to give the Grand Prize of the International Competition to The Trial by Ulises DE LA ORDEN.
Jury Prize
Knit’s Island
Ekiem BARBIER, Guilhem CAUSSE, Quentin L'HELGOUALC'H｜France
With a unique approach, the film enters a virtual world to record, which also symbolises an expanded perception of ‘reality’ of our time. While different characters act as different cameras, presenting various perspectives and facets of humanity, we also empathise with, questions, and feel disconnected from the characters’ identities in the game as well as their real lives. This is a film that provokes contemporary reflections on ‘existence’ and at the same time portrays the dilemmas and poetry of both games (or life). The Jury Prize of the International Competition goes to Knit’s Island by Ekiem BARBIER, Guilhem CAUSSE, Quentin L'HELGOUALC'H.
Special Mention
Guapo’y
Sofía PAOLI THORNE｜Argentina, Paraguay, Qatar
As part of the international jury, we saw fifteen films over the last 5 days. It was an emotional roller coaster ride. From indescribable violence perpetrated by dictatorships in the past and present, to violence and precarity caused by poverty, these films excavated the human condition in myriad ways. It is important that the selection included films that show a way out —films on people’s resistance against colonialism and corporate greed. While the act of memory keeping is essential, the other aspect of it is also healing. In this respect, a film that moved the jury very deeply both in its cinematic treatment and message is a film that acts like a balm, and takes us back to our roots, literally speaking. The jury would like to give a Special Mention to Guapo’y by Sofía PAOLI THORNE.
Taiwan Competition
Grand Prize
Taman-taman (Park)
SO Yo-hen｜Taiwan
As part of a very strong selection of Taiwanese films, a particularly cinematic experience sparked our imagination and curiosity, a gamble with form and concept that stood apart. This was a film that showed us the potential of the suspension between events, the potential of a green gap in the grid of concrete, the potential of lingering, loitering, and waiting for direction, and of generous eavesdropping that empowers rather than pigeonholes, creating a portal into a private moment, where politics and poetry inhabit the everyday. And with these multiple perspectives we might find some insight into a history and culture that is as complex as the diverse spectrum of residents in Taiwan. We might ask who can talk and be heard in Taiwanese society? The Grand Prize of Taiwan Competition goes to Taman-taman (Park) by SO Yo-hen.
Jury Prize
Diamond Marine World
HUANG Hsiu-yi｜Taiwan
The grass might be greener on the other side of the fence. That is probably where the gods of fortune will bless us more. But there are the people who are already there with their ambitions, dreams, hopes and habits although somewhat might be different. Passing through waters and surfaces with devices or means of transportation. Negotiations are made, to reach an agreement and understanding, from several sides where it is not always about multiplying assets. A new language is created of mixed feelings, word exchanges, emotions expressed, and out of respect. There are always other people across our seas. Save us a seat to let us know you better.
The Jury Prize of Taiwan Competition goes to Diamond Marine World by HUANG Hsiu-yi.
TIDF Visionary Award
Grand Prize
The Clinic
Midi Z｜Mynamar, Taiwan
Through the lens of framing characters in multiple spaces and scenes, the film uses illness as an entry point to intricately reveal the tumultuous and panic-stricken social reality. The state of exception in the country places lives in a disposable state at any moment. Patients seek medical help to save themselves, and doctors also use art to save themselves, further emphasising the deep-seated logic of cruel reality. The visual aesthetics are poetic and organic, deeply rooted in a profound reflection on culture. The jury unanimously decided to give the Grand Prize of the TIDF Visionary Award to The Clinic by Midi Z.
Special Jury Prize
Taman-taman (Park)
SO Yo-hen｜Taiwan
A social space for migrant workers in Taiwan becomes the unlikely backdrop for a series of digressions, inventions, and conversations shared between friends, and for the real-time summoning of a unique cinematic vision. For a film that unfurls in time like few others, the Special Jury Prize of TIDF Visionary Award goes to Taman-Taman (Park) by SO Yo-hen.
Taiwan Film Critics Society Prize
Parallel World
HSIAO Mei-ling｜Taiwan
The jury recognised Parallel World for its nuanced and steadfast approach, along with its profound grasp of documentary filmmaking. The film transforms the director's intimate experiences of accompanying her daughter, Elodie, through growth and challenges into a luminous exploration that transcends boundaries. It sheds light on universal existential inquiries and the enduring love and hope embodied by its characters.
Next Generation Award
My Stolen Planet
Farahnaz SHARIFI｜Germany, Iran
In the documentary, the recurring photos of childhood express a strong will of ‘not forgetting’; the reel footage of others interprets a sense of helplessness in ‘I never left Iran, but I‘m also not in Iran’; the videos by others reveal the pain and fear of the people under authoritarianism; footage from the press showcases the people’s ignited anger; the rendering of dance and song displays Iranian women‘s resilience to smile at their hardships. The juxtaposition of the open past and the closed present, the liberated indoor space and the constrained outdoor one as well as diverse presentation techniques, reminds us of the fragility of freedom, and the preciousness of democracy. This not only touches the hearts of the audience but also prompts deep reflection among young people. The Next Generation Award goes to My Stolen Planet by Farahnaz SHARIFI.
Audience Award
My Stolen Planet
Farahnaz SHARIFI｜Germany, Iran
Outstanding Contribution Award
CHANG Chao-tang
