For the first time since its inception in 2006, the FIRST International Film Festival in China did not award the Best Film prize. The festival’s jury, led by Guan Hu, a Cannes Un Certain Regard winner and director of Black Dog, explained their decision by stating that this year’s films, while good, lacked the outstanding and groundbreaking qualities they were seeking. The jury felt that the creative work this year was more stable than pioneering, leading them to leave the Best Narrative Feature award vacant.
The Grand Jury Prize was awarded to Chen Yanbin’s Sailing Song of June, a film set in a small town in the southwestern Chinese province of Guizhou, which was praised for its “sharp edges” and “powerful sensory impact.” The Best Documentary award went to Meng Xiao’s I’m Gonna Find You.
Baggio Jiang received the Best Director award for his debut feature Shards, inspired by a family reunion dinner he attended during Lunar New Year in 2022. Jiang is currently studying Film and Psychology at Stanford University. Huang Jingyi won the Best Performance prize for her role in Fishbone, a film exploring mother-daughter relationships that had previously been recognized as an outstanding work-in-progress at the 13th Beijing International Film Festival.
The Best Screenplay award was shared by Huo Xueying and Zhang Yudi for The Midsummer’s Voice, a coming-of-age film about a Peking Opera student facing challenges from his changing voice.
Audience awards were presented to Xu Huijing’s Unstoppable and Jiang Yuzhi’s Shards in the documentary and drama feature categories, respectively. Unstoppable also won the top prize in the festival’s First Frame competition, which highlights films by or about Chinese women. The documentary follows the life of Chinese mixed martial-arts star Zhang Weili over three years.
