On October 23, 2016 the closing ceremony of the 15th International Student Film and Video Festival (ISFVF) was held at the Cineplex of Beijing Film Academy.
This year, the ISFVF received 1161 films from 53 countries. About 78 films entered the final contest and there was a clear improvement in the overall quality of this year compared to the past years. On the night of the 23th, members of the judging panel, guests, shortlisted directors, volunteers and spectators all gathered in the Cineplex to witness the final night of the 15th ISFVF. Meanwhile, representatives of the multinational embassies and strategic partner representatives along with ISFVF sponsor representatives attended the closing ceremony and celebrated the success of the 15th ISFVF of BFA.
The International Awards included the Golden International Student Film Award, the Silver International Student Film Award, the Bronze International Student Film Award and the Outstanding International Student Film Awards. For the student directors from Asia, there are the Best Asian Student Film Award, the Best Chinese Student Film Award, Outstanding Asia Student Film Awards, Outstanding Chinese Student Film Awards and Audience Awards. It’s worth noting that as the result of the deep cooperation between the festival and the Huayi New Media Technology Limited Company, a "HUAYI Bros. Special Award" was set up in ISFVF for the first time this year. 50% of the final scores came from the votes of teachers in BFA and other art schools in China and the other 50% came from anonymous voting from the audience.
The most exciting moments of the ceremony were the announcements of the awards. Firstly, Dr.Tom Murray and Prof. Sun Xin delivered 10 Audience Awards. The winners were: Family Offline (Russia), Accidents, Blunders and Calamities (New Zealand), Borderlines (Czech Republic), Sweeper’s Pride (Germany), Anna (Israel), The Cat Issue (Mexico), Through the Curtain (Germany), Breathe (USA), Verochka (Russia) and Rocket (USA).
Malicious Justice and An Outing won the Outstanding Chinese Student Film Awards. Prof. Kevin Geiger and Prof. Li Chen delivered these two awards. The Best Chinese Student Film Award belong to A Gong and get delivered by Prof. Wang Hongmin, the deputy secretary of BFA.
The Outstanding Asian Student Film winner wasUp and Arise (Israel) and the Best Asian Student Film went to Home Swim Home (China). Mr. Geoffrey Stitt, Dean of School of Film and Television, the Hong Kong Academy For Performing Arts and Prof. Fang Gangliang from the Directing Department of BFA attributed these awards to the winning-directors.
The Best Asian Student Film Awards grabbed most attention. The winning films were Prisoner (USA), Citipati (Germany) and Traces and Absence (Spain). These prizes were awarded by Prof. Mahantheran Maxwell, Dean of Faculty of Film and Television, National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage of Malaysia and Prof. Huang Yingxia, Dean of the Graduate School of BFA.
The outstanding volunteers went onstage and each of them received a certificate from ISFVF Executive PresidentsMr. Li Jin and Ms. Mi Jing. Like every year, volunteers were the most important and valuable elements in ISFVF’s success.
The HUAYI Bros. New Media Award won by Lens (China) and The Pitter Patter Gose My Heart (Germany) and Mr. Zhang Lei, the Vice General Manager of HUAYI Bros. New Media Technology Co., Ltd. distributed the awards to the directors. The award-winning directors who received this award did not only get financial rewards, but also the opportunity to cooperate with Huayi New Media Technology Limited Company, and to become the members of "HUAYI reserve director talent pool".
The climax of the closing ceremony was the announcement of the Golden, Silver and Bronze Awards. Peacock (Czech Republic) received the Bronze International Student Film Award from Prof.Sun Lijun, the Vice President of BFA. Boat People (Germany) received the Silver International Student Film Award from Mr. Nik Powell, the Director of National Film and Television School (NFTS). These two short films received excellent comments from the audience during the festival and they deserved these achievements without a doubt. Finally, the most exciting moment arrived. Carry On (Austria) won the 15th ISFVF of BFA Golden International Student Film Award. This film is very concise and comprehensive. With the cheers of the audience, Prof. Zhang Huijun, the President of BFA and also the President of ISFVF delivered the award to the winning director. “It's a huge honor”, said by the director of Carry On after accepting the trophy from Prof. Zhang Huijun.
