Directed by Kangdrun, “Linka Linka” won the Firebird Award (Chinese) and the Fipressi Award in the Young Cinema Competition category at the 50th Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Kandrun received the Firebird Award from guest presenter Juliette Binoche. The jury cited the film’s understated cinematic approach to capturing the freedom and anxieties of young people, and praised its exploration of Tibet’s landscape and cultural features. The Fiplessi jury independently selected the same title, praising the film’s depiction of urban Lhasa and the Rinka lifestyle, praising the narrative structure that reflects the instability of memory and builds toward a cleverly conceived conclusion.
The remaining Chinese acting and directing awards were distributed among four titles. Tan See Yu won the Best Director award for Amoeba, and the jury found the film to be a synthesis of the conflicting qualities of adolescence. Yu Anshun won the Best Actor Award for “Dancing with the Rainbow,” and Ong Xuanjin won the Best Actress Award for “Oh Girl.”
In the Young Cinema Competition (World) category, Markus Schleinzer’s “Rose” won the Firebird Award. The jury described the film as a rare and memorable film, calling it both eerie and brutally beautiful. Andrius Blazevicius won the award for best director for How to Divorce in Wartime, with the jury noting his integration of the personal and the historical. Edik Beddoes won Best Actor for “The Blue Heron,” and Sabine Talau won Best Actress for “I Understand Your Discomfort.”
The documentary competition “Firebird” was selected for “Past Future Continuous”, co-directed by Morteza Ahmadvand and Firuzeh Khosrovani, which depicts portraits of exiles who are forbidden to return to their homeland. “The Ground Beneath Our Feet,” directed by Irsa Roka Fanberg and set in Iceland’s oldest nursing home, won the Documentary Jury Award.
The film festival is organized by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Association, which also runs the Hong Kong Asia Film Finance Forum (HAF) and the Cine Fan Summer International Film Festival.
Full list of winners
Young Cinema Competition (Chinese)
Firebird Award: “Linka Linka” – Kangdrun
Best Director: Tang Siyu – “Amoeba”
Best Actor: Yoo An-shun – “Dancing with the Rainbow”
Best Actress: Ong Shuangjing – “Ah Girl”
Young Cinema Competition (World)
Firebird Award: “Rose” – Markus Schleinzer
Best Director: Andrius Blazevicius – “How to Divorce During War”
Best Actor: Edik Beddoes – “The Blue Heron”
Best Actress: Sabine Talau – “I understand your frustration.”
documentary competition
Firebird Award: “Past Future Continuous” – Morteza Ahmadvand, Firouzeh Khosrovani
Jury Award: “The Ground Beneath Our Feet” – Ilsa Roca Fanberg
short film competition
Firebird Award: “God is Shy” – Jocelyn Charles
Jury Award: “Robert and June (And All the Time Around the World)” – Jem Cohen
Fiplessi Award
“Linka Linka” – Kandlung
