This year, the 68th edition of the prestigious Venice International Film Festival has seen four Asian movies won slew of coveted prizes.
Cai Shangjun
Among them is China's Cai Shangjun who won Best Director and earned the Silver Lion prize for his detective drama called PEOPLE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE SEA. It was a surprise movie put into competition.
Deannie Ip
Veteran Hong Kong actress Deannie Ip won Copa Volpi for Best Actress in Ann Hui's A SIMPLE LIFE. The movie is about an elderly servant and her friendship with her employer.
In the meantime, Japanese movie KOTOKO by Tsukamoto Shinya, won the Horizons (Orrizonti) sidebar section. The Horizons jury described the movie about a mentally unstable mother as moving "freely through numerous genres to create an impressive representation of a woman's fragile psychological state."
The last one is the Marcello Mastroianna prize, where 19-year-old Sometani Shota and 16-year-old Nikaido Fumi won Best Young Actor(s) for Japanese drama HIMIZU, directed by Shion Sono.