China’s “Atlantic Rhapsody,” directed by Zhong Kaifeng, won the Best Film award at the 28th Golden Cup Awards, closing the Shanghai International Film Festival’s awards night on June 20th.
This Chinese debut, which also won Best Cinematography for Hao Jiayue, led the ceremony in spreading recognition across countries and competition categories.
Atlantic Rhapsody had its world premiere at the 28th SIFF, where Zhong spoke at a press conference about how he shaped the film’s atmosphere through natural light and ambient sound design. The film is set in northeastern China and stars Ying Fan, who describes the central character as “a figure of the time, a person who wanted to create a big buzz, but ended up being at the mercy of the times.”
The jury’s grand prize went to Nicolas Rincon Gilles from Belgium for “Illuminada.” Morocco’s Yassin El Idrissi won the award for best director for his social realist cannabis drama “Halimah,” which marks Morocco’s return to the main Golden Cup competition for the first time in 27 years. El Idrissi used his background as a photojournalist to produce this film and was also recognized as the lead actor. Moroccan small role veteran Khadijah Amari, who had never anchored a feature film before, won Best Actress for the film.
Chan Song-wen won the Best Actor award for “Secret in the Box,” a mainland Chinese-Hong Kong co-production directed by Frankie Tam Gong-yuen and a remake of Oh Yong Ping-kyung’s murder mystery. One of China’s most prominent theatrical actors, Zhang previously starred in Cai Shangjun’s The Sun Rises, in which he played opposite Xin Zhilei, which had its world premiere in Venice in 2025 before opening in Toronto and Busan.
The award for best screenplay went to Reis Çelik for the Turkish-German co-production “Nights of Blindness.” The film is the second in Çelik’s Night of Plans trilogy, following Silent Night (which won the Crystal Bear Award at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival), and is set during the 1980 military coup in Turkey, and focuses on the characters navigating the literal political darkness. At a press conference at SIFF, Çelik said he wanted to bring to light “certain aspects of reality that are downplayed and ignored” and said he hoped Chinese audiences would respond to the content.
Germany’s Susanne Heinrich received the Outstanding Artistic Achievement Award for her film The Miserable Mother, a Franco-German film that shared its world premiere at SIFF and the Munich International Film Festival.
In the Asian Newcomer category, Her First Taste, directed by Gong Yi-wen and supported by SIFF Project, won the Best Feature Film Award, and the lead actress Ma Fufu won the Best Actress Award. The film, about a girl obsessed with writing as she navigates her identity and first love on campus, was one of the Chinese productions director Gong highlighted at a press conference, where she explained that she asks actors to internalize the lines and then throw them away to maintain spontaneous behavior on set.
The award for Best Director in the Asian New Talent category went to Sompot Chidogasongponse for his debut feature film “9 Temples to Heaven,” a Thai director’s debut feature film about a family’s one-day pilgrimage to nine Buddhist temples. Director Chidogasongponse spent more than 20 years working as an assistant director to director Apichatpong Weerasethakul on films such as “Memoria” and “The Great Graveyard”, and had the world premiere of his film at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. The award for Best Actor in the same category went to Sonpop Songkampol for his role in the film.
The award for Best Original Screenplay in the Asian New Talent category went to Ridham Janve for the Indo-German co-production “Hunter’s Moon.” Jeanvet, whose work centers on mountain landscapes, spoke at a press conference about how nature in his films acts as a mirror that both celebrates and humbles his human subjects.
The award for Best Cinematography in the Asian New Talent category went to Samiul Karim Shuptak for Ishtiyaq Ahmad Jihad’s The Blind Girl and the Elephant. A Bangladeshi-German co-production produced by Manoj Pramanik and German co-producer Christoph Tork of Mogador Films, it had its world premiere in the Asian Newcomer category.
The award for best documentary went to the Chinese film “Notes Unheard,” directed by Gu Yun. The film tracks the relationship between father and son over several years through repeated dialogue, but the director chooses not to reveal the conclusion.
The Best Animation Award went to French director Olivier Krell’s “Lucy Lost,” which was selected from a field of five films, including two European co-productions and Indonesia’s “Garuda: Dare to Dream.”
In the short animation category, Belgian director Ada Goubenir’s “If Only” won best animated short, and Canadian director Athena Hahn’s “Sitting Bird” won best live-action short.
Full list of winners – 28th Golden Goblet Awards
main competition
Best Picture – “Atlantic Rhapsody” (China)
Jury Grand Prix – Nicolas Rincon Gilles “Illuminada” (Belgium)
Best Director – Yassin El Idrissi “Halimah” (Morocco)
Best Actor – Zhang Song-wen “Secret in the Box” (Mainland China/Hong Kong)
Best Actress – Khadijah Amari “Halimah” (Morocco)
Best Screenplay – Reis Çelik “Blind Night” (Türkiye/Germany)
Best Cinematography – Hao Jiayue, “Atlantic Rhapsody” (China)
Outstanding Artistic Achievement – Suzanne Heinrich “The Wretched Mother” (Germany/France)
Asia’s new talent
Best Feature Film – “Her First Taste” (China)
Best Director – Sompot Chiggasornponse, “Nine Temples to Heaven” (Thailand)
Best Actress – Ma Fufu “Her First Taste” (China)
Best Actor – Songpop Songkampol, “Nine Temples to Heaven” (Thailand)
Best Screenplay – Ridam Janve “Hunter’s Moon” (India/Germany)
Best Cinematography – Samiul Karim Shuptak “The Blind Girl and the Elephant” (Bangladesh/Germany)
Other categories
Best Documentary Award – “Notes Unheard” Gu Jun (China)
Best Animated Film – “Lucy Lost”, Olivier Krell (France)
Best Animated Short Film – “If Only” Ada Goubenir (Belgium)
Best Live-Action Short Film – “Sitting Bird” Athena Hahn (Canada)
