On Sunday at the Osaka Asian Film Festival, Gina S. Noer’s “Like & Share” from Indonesia won the Grand Prize and the best picture award.
“The film’s compelling message, which embraces young women’s sexual curiosity and desire while emphatically rejecting sexual abuse, hit all of us on the jury. The movie has an original aesthetic as well. As the narrative develops, the film’s initially charming, pleasant, and poppiest mood turns darker, making us cringe. The jury declared in a statement that “Like & Share,” with its powerful message and excellent direction, is a movie that has to be watched right away.
In this film, it is discussed how humans cope with trauma and sexual assault. It’s difficult to explain, and it’s difficult to produce a movie about it, but I believe that if we have enough faith in something significant, the correct audience will be honored, said Noer.
Kai Ko, a former actor from Taiwan who is now a director, received the most promising talent award for his first film, “Bad Education.”
The ABC TV Awards went to Hong Kong filmmaker Ho Cheuk-tin for “Over My Dead Body,” while Lu Hsiao-fen won the Yakushi Pearl Award for best actor for his work in “Day Off.” The movie, which was helmed by Fu Tien-yu, also won the audience prize at the festival.
Ishibashi Yuho’s film “When Dawn Comes, I Feel Empty” won the Japan Cuts Award.
The winning short films were “Daddy-To-Be” from Taiwan’s Pan Ke-yin and “Swallow Soaring to the South” by American, Canadian, and Chinese director Lin Mochi.
The festival, which took place from March 10 to 19, came to an end with the world premiere of Ito Chihiro’s second film as a director, “Side by Side,” a magical-realist mystery thriller. Prior to the movie’s April 14 commercial release in Japan, a screening was held in Osaka.