‘Suleiman Mountain’ Wins Top Prize at Debut Pingyao Festival

(Variety) The Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival closed its first edition Saturday with prizes for winners of its international and Chinese sections. The festival ran from Oct. 28 to Nov. 4 in the historic town of Pingyao, in China’s Shanxi Province.

“Suleiman Mountain,” directed by Elizaveta Stishova, collected the Roberto Rossellini prize worth $10,000 for the director’s next film. The jury praised the picture for its “incredible” female characters.

Festival favorite “The Rider” earned Chinese director Chloe Zhao the prize for best director and a $5,000 advance against her next film.

Vivian Qu’s “Angels Wear White” collected $4,500 (RMB30,000) as the best film in the Fei Mu section for Chinese titles. Liu Jian earned the best director award for his adult-oriented animation “Have a Nice Day,” which bowed in competition at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.

Audience awards went to “Suleiman Mountain,” Ficarra & Picone’s “L’Ora Legale” (Italy), Aida Begic’s “Never Leave Me” (Bosnia/Turkey), Peng Xiaolian’s “Please Remember Me” (China), Ana Urushadze’s “Scary Mother” (Georgia/Estonia) and Peng Fei’s “The Taste of Rice Flower” (China).

Claes Bang was named best actor in the Cannes-winning film “The Square,” while Feng Wenjuan was named best actress in “Please Remember Me.” In the Wings project market, Wang Yitong, director of “The Pig Butcher,” picked up $7,500 (RMB50,000) for his next film.

Source: Variety by Patrick Frater

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