We present the list of winners of the Beijing International Film Festival that took place from April 16th – 23th (China).

Best Feature Film Award

La Patota (Paulina) by Santiago Mitre – Argentina | 2015 – 103 min.

Paulina abandons her successful career as a lawyer in Buenos Aires to engage in social activism back in her homeland on the border between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. After two weeks working in a neighborhood scarred by marginalization, she is assaulted by a gang. Despite the brutality of the attack, instead of fleeing, Paulina resolves to hold tighter to her convictions – to survive, against the odds. PAULINA is a social thriller that explores the characters connected to an act of violence- the victims and the perpetrators – and examines how that violence triggers different ideas of justice.

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Best Director Award

Christina Rosendahl for the The Idealist – Denmark | 2015 – 116 min.

A journalist attempts to reveal the secret behind a nuclear disaster that occurred during the height of the Cold War when Denmark officially said no to nuclear weapons, but apparently had a different deal going on with the USA.

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Best Actress Award

Dolores Fonzi for the film La Patota (Paulina) – Argentina | 2015 – 103 min.

Best Actor Award

Land of Mine by Martin Pieter Zandvliet – Denmark | 2015 – 101 min.

In the wake of the Second World War, the Danish authorities force thousands of German prisoners of war to defuse the millions of mines buried on Danish beaches.

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Best Supporting Actress Award

Ketevan Tskhakaia for the film Moira by Levan Tutberidze – George | 2015 – 89 min.

This is a dramatic story of the family living in the seaside city. After Mamuka is released from prison, he tries to rescue his family from poverty. His mother is working abroad, father is in a wheelchair, and his unemployed younger brother appears to be attracted by criminals. Mamuka takes a bank loan and buys a small fishing boat. He is eager to work and intends to return his mother back. The Brothers name the fishing boat after Moira – a goddess of fate. But fate is often blind and merciless…

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Best Supporting Actor Award

Shijie Jin for the film The Master by Haofeng Xu – China | 2015 – 109 min.

In the 1930s, few people had heard of Wing Chun. Chen Shi, a Wing Chun practitioner, came to the then “Kung Fu Capital” of China – Tianjin, hoping to open a school to promote this martial art. Little did he know that the local rules required that if one wanted to establish his own school, he first had to challenge eight established schools and emerge as the winner. One must also recruit a young local as his disciple to fight for him. After winning the challenge, the young disciple would be forced to leave Tianjin, with the master staying back to start the new martial art school.

Training a disciple took time, so Chen Shi conveniently married a Tianjin woman before finally finding someone who could sacrifice for his plan. Everything went smoothly as dictated by the custom and his school was about to open. However, a warlord took control of the local martial art community. When his soldiers were evicting Chen Shi’s disciple, they accidentally killed the young man. The master then decided to give up promoting Wing Chun and take revenge for his disciple. He assassinated the warlord when the latter was hosting the opening ceremony for his school and faced the besiege by all martial art schools in Tianjin head-on.

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Best Screenplay Award

Santiago Mitre y Mariano Llinás for the film La Patota (Paulina) – Argentina | 2015 – 103 min.

Best Cinematography Award

Aferim! (Cinematography: Marius Panduru) directed by Radu Jude – Romania | 2015 – 108 min.

In 1835, in Eastern Europe, the gendarme Costandin and his son cross a barren landscape in the middle of Wallachia. They are hired by a nobleman to find a Gypsy slave who has run away from his estate and is suspected of having an affair with the noble’s wife. No matter what happens, Costandin comments on every situation with a cheery aphorism. However, his son takes a more contemplative view of the world. On their odyssey, they encounter people of different nationalities and beliefs Turks and Russians, Christians and Jews, Romanians and Hungarians. Each of them has prejudices against the others, which have been passed down from generation to generation. And even when the “slave” Carfin is found, their adventure is far from over.

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Best Music Award

Sune Martin for the film Land of Mine by Martin Pieter Zandvliet – Denmark | 2015 – 101 min.

Best Visual Effects Award

Go Away! Mr. Tumor by Han Yan – China | 2015 – 128 min.

On her 29th birthday, Xiong Dun lost her job, broke up with her boyfriend, and was bafflingly taken to the police station. But it’s not the end of her misfortune. After the jubilation on her birthday, she suddenly fainted in the room. From then on, she set foot on a miserable yet jubilant journey, each journey with a different fellow traveler – her visionary love protagonist Doctor Liang, the naughty and cute little boy “Maodou”, and the bald yet sexy Queen Xia Meng. Thanks to their common reason, this special group of people gathered together in the special place, the hospital. Their encounter brought about joy with tears and laughter in the course of dull and miserable treatment. Each of them gained strength from Xiong Dun. In the hardest time of their life, they learned to smile at their fate. At the same time, getting along with different kinds of people, Xiong felt her life infinitely beautiful. Sorrowfully, Xiong passed away. Delightfully, she had taught us how to drive away the clouds of life with smile.

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