On a gigantic night for Japan, Mitsuhiro Mihara Takano Tofu won the top prize at the 26th Far Eastern Film Festival (FEFF), which ended on Thursday evening in the northern Italian city of Udine. The family drama, which stars Tatsuya Fuji and Kumiko Aso as a father and daughter running a small-town tofu shop, won the coveted FEFF Golden Mulberry Audience Award. Takano Tofu also won the Purple Mulberry Award awarded by users of MYmovies, the leading Italian cinema fan platform.
For Japan, it was a double in the top audience awards, as was Naoya Fujita’s youthful drama Confetti took second place. In third place was a film from Hong Kong Time keeps turning the pagesNick Cheuk’s devastating drama, which won best director, wins the Asian Film Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards for the same film.
In the FEFF critics’ awards category, “Black Dragon,” Japan won once again with Kazuya Shiraishi’s period samurai film Bushido receiving the award. The White Mulberry Award for first director went to Korean Kim Tae-yang for his film Actually which found recognition at many festivals around the world. Filmed over four years, Actually is a bold story about a man and a woman who meet by chance and walk through a changing Seoul.
Rounding out the 2024 FEFF awards was the Mulberry Award for Best Screenplay, which went to the Korean A citizen of his own kindaction comedy directed by Park Yong-ju, about a mother seeking revenge after falling victim to fraud.
“Now in its 26th year, we are proud to have helped bring commercial Asian cinema to the world, and if you look at the winners tonight, you’ll see why we continue to be excited about what’s happening across Asia,” said FEFF president Sabrina Baracetti in remarks at the awards ceremony prizes. “Audiences here in Udine share our passion and we will continue to explore modern horizons with them – and with Asian cinema.”
