Uzbek drama Sunday won the Grand Prize at this year’s Skip City International D-Cinema Festival in Saitama, Japan, while India’s Stolen, directed by Karan Tejpal, took best director and the Audience Award.
Directed by Shokir Kholikov, Sunday revolves around an elderly Uzbek couple who resist their children’s attempts to drag them into the 21st century. Stolen, produced by Gaurav Dhingra’s Jungle Book Content Studio, follows two big-city boys who find themselves out of their depth when they try to help an impoverished young woman find her kidnapped baby in rural India.
Happy Life, directed by Japan’s Yoshihiko Taniguchi, received the Special Jury Prize and the Skip City Award, which is selected from all the Japanese films both in the International Competition and the Japanese Film Competition.
Japanese director Kazuya Shiraishi headed this year’s International Competition jury, which also included producer Miyako Araki and Miyuki Takei, president of Japanese distribution company Moviola.
In the Japanese Film Competition, Hina Murata’s feature debut The Midnight Sun received best picture in the feature-length category, while Jengil Park’s Poems Of Flower Rain won the Audience Award (see full list of winners below).
Japanese director Satoko Yokohama headed the jury for the Japanese Film Competition, which also included actor Yota Kawase and Indonesian producer Meiske Taurisia (Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash).
Skip City took place physically July 13-21 in Saitama, the capital of Saitama Prefecture, which is adjacent to Tokyo, and virtually from July 20-24.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION WINNERS:
Grand Prize (JPY1m): Sunday (Uzbekistan), dir: Shokir Kholikov
Best Director (JPY500k): Stolen (India), dir: Karan Tejpal
Special Jury Prize (JPY300k): Happy Life (Japan), dir: Yoshihiko Taniguchi
Audience Award: Stolen (India), dir: Karan Tejpal
Skip City Award: Happy Life (Japan), dir: Yoshihiko Taniguchi
JAPANESE FILM COMPETITION WINNERS:
Best Picture (Japanese Feature, JPY300k): The Midnight Sun (Japan), dir: Hina Murata
Best Picture (Japanese Short, JPY200k): Hana And Koto (Japan), dir: Saki Watanabe
Audience Award (Japanese Feature): Poems Of Flower Rain (Japan), dir: Jengil Park
Audience Award (Japanese Short): Stand Up And Roll (Japan), dir: Jun Hosoi