Black Ox, directed by Japanese filmmaker Tsuta Tetsuichiro, won the Firebird Award in the Young Cinema Competition (World) at this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival (April 10-21). Jiang Xiaoxuan’s To Kill A Mongolian Horse was presented with the same award in the Young Cinema Competition for Chinese-language films.
The jury praised Black Ox for “combining a distinctive philosophical and aesthetic outlook with incisive historical commentary as well as a vivid evocation of nature”. Starring Taiwanese actor Lee Kang-sheng, the film is the story of a former hunter-gatherer who loses connection to his spirituality in the process of becoming a farmer during Japan’s period of westernisation in the 19th century.
Also in the Young Cinema Competition (World), Mexico’s Ernesto Martínez Bucio was awarded best director for his debut feature The Devil Smokes, about five siblings struggling to survive after their parents disappear. Georges Khabbaz won best actor and Hanna Schygulla took best actress for Yunan, directed by Ameer Fakher Eldin, about a Syrian author living in exile in Germany.
Set in Inner Mongolia, To Kill A Mongolian Horse follows a horseback performer struggling between adhering to traditions and embracing contemporary society. The jury commended the film for “raising heartfelt questions rather than reconciliation” in the face of the gradual disintegration of homeland, family affection, and traditional culture.
Also in the Chinese-language section of the Young Cinema Competition, the best director award went to Jing Yi for The Botanist, a Xinjiang-set coming-of-age story, which played in Generation Kplus at this year’s Berlin film festival. The film was also presented with the FIPRESCI Prize.
Best actor in the Chinese-language competition went to Wang Ke from Zhu Xin’s All Quiet At Sunrise, while best actress was presented jointly to Wu Ke-Xi and Xu Haipeng for their performances in Constance Tsang’s Blue Sun Palace.
In the Documentary Competition, the Firebird Award went to Yalla Parkour, directed by Areeb Zuaiter, while Andres Veiel’s Riefenstahl took the Jury Prize. In the Short Film Competition, Their Eyes from French director Nicolas Gourault received the Firebird Award, while the Jury Prize went to Anba Dlo co-directed by Luiza Calagian and Rosa Caldeira.