74th Berlin International Film Festival – Asian Winners 2024

By Asian Film Festival on February 24, 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

Nine Asian films were awarded at the Berlin International Film Festival which took place from February 15 – 25, 2024 in Berlin, Germany.

Note: Our website focuses on productions from South, East and Southeast Asian countries.

COMPETITION

Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize

A Traveler’s Needs by Hong Sangsoo – Korea | 2024 – 90 minutes

Nobody knows where the woman comes from. She is sitting on a park bench and diligently playing a child’s recorder. She says she is from France. With no money or means of supporting herself, she has been advised to teach French. This is how she comes to have two Korean women as her pupils. The woman likes to walk barefoot and to lie down on rocks. And when she is feeling up to it, she tries to see each instant in a non-verbal way and to live life as rationally as she can. But things remain as hard as ever. She relies on the Korean alcoholic drink of makgeolli to provide a bit of comfort every day. (Berlinale 2024)

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ENCOUNTERS

Special Jury Award (ex aequo)

Some Rain Must Fall by Qiu Yang – China, USA, France, Singapore | 2024 – 98 minutes

Cai, a 45-year-old housewife, has lost track of who she is and who she wants to be. During one of her daughter’s basketball matches, she inadvertently injures an elderly woman. This seemingly trivial event is a catalyst that causes her life to spin out of control as past events resurface while she heads into an uncertain future.

Director Qiu Yang follows a series of short films with his debut feature, an intimate drama about a woman forced to confront the wreckage of her life and her longing for change. (Berlinale 2024)

GWFF BEST FIRST FEATURE

Best First Feature

Cu Li Never Cries by Phạm Ngọc Lân – Vietnam, Singapore, France, Philippines, Norway | 2024 – 92 minutes

Having picked up the ashes of her long-estranged husband in Germany, a woman returns to her Vietnamese home. In her luggage she is carrying a pygmy slow loris, a species of primate from the Vietnamese rainforest, which she has inherited from the deceased. The woman’s young niece, who lives with her, is preparing for her wedding. The young couple anxiously ponders their uncertain future together. The present in which the characters live and the complex echoes of Vietnamese history intertwine in a contemplative and poetic way. (Berlinale 2024)

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BERLINALE SHORTS

Silver Bear

Remains of the Hot Day by Wenqian Zhang – China | 2024 – 24 minutes

China at the end of the 1990s, lunch in an extended family. The father works in distant Shenzhen and is rarely home. The grandmother cooks and keeps an eye on the children. The air is filled with levity, longing, worries and exhaustion. Memories of a bygone era, told from the perspective of the six-year-old daughter. (Berlinale 2024)

PANORAMA AWARDS

Panorama Audience Award – Third Prize

All Shall Be Well by Ray Yeung – China, Hong Kong | 2024 – 93 minutes

Angie and Pat are a well-off lesbian couple in their mid-60s. They have lived together for 30 years in the flat Pat owns in Hong Kong. Their relationship is accepted by their friends and families and they are valued and loved by those around them. After Pat unexpectedly dies one night, Angie is not only emotionally supported by her circle of friends, but also – at least at first – by Pat’s family. However, little by little, arguments about the burial and inheritance lead to an estrangement. Angie has no legal right to remain in the flat she shared with Pat and is at the mercy of the dwindling goodwill of her dead partner’s family. Even though the couple shared the financial burden equally between them, Pat was the one who took care of everything in their relationship. Supported by her chosen family, Angie embarks on a later-life emancipation journey.

As in his film Suk Suk, Ray Yeung once again takes a precise look at the often precarious everyday life of the older queer community. In the character of Angie, he creates a quiet and yet impressively resilient lesbian heroine. (Berlinale 2024)

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GENERATION AWARDS

Generation International Jury

Special Mention for Best Short Film in Generation 14plus

Songs of Love and Hate by Saurav Ghimire – Nepal, Belgium | 2024 – 17 minutes

Prem, the charismatic host of a popular radio show offering advice on matters of the heart, is himself plagued by heartache. He seeks solace in the rugged mountains. As he goes through his own emotional upheaval, desperate calls from listeners asking him for advice echo through the wilderness. Both Prem and his audience try to navigate their way through the treacherous terrain of love. A gripping tale of emotional turmoil and self-discovery. (Berlinale 2024)

Special Prize for Best Short Film in Generation Kplus

A Summer’s End Poem by Lam Can-zhao – China, Switzerland, Malaysia | 2024 – 15 minutes

In a village near the southern Chinese city of Chaozhou, a boy has spent the summer with his grandfather. As the last day of the holidays approaches, he gathers together his hard-earned savings to fulfil a dream: he has long yearned for a city hairstyle. But the gap between expectation and reality is large. This story of a boy who bids farewell to his childhood and embarks on a journey towards self-discovery transcends the boundaries of a small village and resonates with universal themes such as growing up and the unpredictable nature of life. (Berlinale 2024)

Youth Jury Generation 14plus

Special Mention for Best Film

She Sat There Like All Ordinary Ones by Qu Youjia – China | 2024 – 105 minutes

Zhuang is a late bloomer. When he first meets his classmate Meng, a talented long-distance runner, he rashly and spontaneously takes the blame for her theft of a starting pistol. But before they can get to know each other better, Meng gives him the cold shoulder. Confused, Zhuang decides to join Meng’s track team, even though this leaves him with less time for studying. Academic pressure is added to the puzzles of adolescence. Zhuang plans to surprise everyone with a bold gesture. He is just waiting for the right moment… (Berlinale 2024)

Children’s Jury Generation Kplus

Crystal Bear for Best Film

It’s Okay! by Kim Hye-young – Korea | 2023 – 102 minutes

While In-young and her classmates at the Seoul International Arts Company are performing overseas, In-young’s mother tragically dies at home in Korea. In-young remains bravely resilient during the difficult first year of mourning. Threatened with eviction as a result of overdue rent payments, she secretly moves into the building of her dance school. Seol-ah, the head choreographer, discovers In-young’s hideout and reluctantly takes her into her home. The company’s 60th-anniversary performance is coming up and Seol-ah feels pressured to put on a flawless show. Meanwhile, In-young becomes the target of envy and bullying from the ensemble’s top dancer. Gradually, In-young and Seol-ah learn to reconcile their expectations with reality and find unexpected comfort in each other’s company. (Berlinale 2024)

Teddy Awards

Best Feature Film