The 27th edition of the Far East Film Festival (FEFF) in Udine, Italy, concluded this weekend with China’s “Her Story” taking home the Golden Mulberry award, marking a significant triumph for female filmmakers at the event.
Director Yihui Shao’s box office hit claimed the festival’s top honor, awarded by audience votes, while Hong Kong’s “The Last Dance – Extended Version” by Anselm Chan secured the Silver Mulberry. Mainland China dominated the podium as director Yin Lichuan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” rounded out the winners with the Crystal Mulberry.
This year’s results highlighted gender equality in Asian cinema, with two of the three top prizes awarded to female directors from mainland China. The victories came as part of a festival edition that organizers described as “particularly attentive to social issues.”
The festival, which ran from April 24 to May 2 at Udine’s Teatro Nuovo and Visionario venues, drew impressive crowds. Festival founders Sabrina Baracetti and Thomas Bertacche reported 65,000 spectators attended screenings across both venues, while the event welcomed more than 3,000 guests to the northern Italian city. Professional accreditations reached a record 1,993, including 130 university cinema students from six countries.
Industry presence was equally strong, with over 200 professionals participating in the Focus Asia industry sessions. The Philippines-produced project “What’s Left of Us” claimed the TAICCA/Focus Asia Co-Production Award.
Other award winners included “Diamonds in the Sand” by Filipino director Janus Victoria, which received the White Mulberry for best debut film from jurors Kim Yutani, Sakoda Shinji, and Megumi. Japanese psychological thriller “Welcome to the Village” by Jojo Hideo earned the Mulberry for best screenplay, while the same jury gave a special mention to Kim Bo-sol’s animated South Korean love story “The Square.”
The online component of FEFF saw more than 10,000 streaming hours across its 23 digital titles. Viewers particularly embraced Mongolian noir “Silent City Driver” by Janchivdorj Sengedorj, which won the Purple Mulberry from the MYmovies community, while Hideo Jojo’s Japanese thriller “A Bad Summer” logged 1,426 viewing hours.
Taiwanese actor and filmmaker Sylvia Chang, who received the Golden Mulberry Award for Lifetime Achievement alongside filmmaker Tsui Hark, captured the festival’s spirit in her acceptance speech: “We’re living in a very crazy world now, and in the middle of all this chaotic situation I feel we’re very blessed we still have films. We still have movie houses that we can go to… whether you want to escape or you want to cry, you want to laugh, you want to share emotion – well, at least in that two hours we still believe the world is beautiful.”
With its 27th edition successfully concluded, FEFF has already announced next year’s dates, with the 28th edition scheduled to run from April 24 to May 2, 2026, in Udine.
Read the full article here
