Beijing film festival announces Tiantan Award winners

Tian Hua took home the Lifetime Achievement Award. (Photo by Chen Zebing/China Daily)

The 15th Beijing International Film Festival concluded on Saturday night with the Tiantan Award, its top honor, presented during a star-studded ceremony.

Norwegian film Loveable, the directorial debut of female filmmaker Lilja Ingolfsdottir, emerged as the biggest winner, sweeping four awards — Best Feature, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Screenplay. The film tells the story of a 40-year-old woman striving to rebuild her life after her marriage ends.

Helga Guren, the Norwegian actress who enthusiastically accepted the awards on behalf of Ingolfsdottir — who didn't attend the ceremony - shared that she received the draft script from Ingolfsdottir seven years ago. Since then, she has discussed a lot with the director, hoping the film would delve deeper into the human experience.

Guren also revealed that she was glad Ingolfsdottir — who once had to set the project aside for a time due to other work commitments — finally had her talents recognized.

The Best Actor award went to Pierre Bastin and Benjamin Lambillotte for their roles as two police officers in the Belgian film Vitrival: The Most Beautiful Village in the World, which tells the story of their efforts to ease villagers' fears after a series of suicides.

Chinese actors Hai Yitian and Geng Le jointly won the Best Supporting Actor award for their villainous roles in Better Me, Better Youand Trapped, respectively.

"I entered the film industry when I was 9 years old to play my first role, a bad boy. Unexpectedly, I could win this prestigious honor by playing another bad guy more than 40 years later," said Hai, who expressed his gratitude to the key creators of Better Me, Better You, a feminist film about a caretaker and a solitary elderly woman.

Geng, who plays a ruthless bandit in the crime film Trapped, said the film marks the directorial debut of Zhang Qi, who gave him the freedom to fully explore and shape his character.

Argentine director Ivan Fund's film The Message picked up three awards - the Best Supporting Actress, the Best Artistic Contribution and the Best Cinematography.

Veteran actress Tian Hua took home the Lifetime Achievement Award for her decadeslong devotion in cinema. Tian's most known films include The White-Haired Girl (1951) and Daughter of the Party (1958).

"All my life, I've stayed true to my roots — serving the people through my art. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that at 97, I'd receive such a great honor. I want to live up to the trust and love of the people. As long as my audience will have me, I'll keep giving my all — for them and for Chinese cinema," said Tian, emotionally.

This year's Tiantan Award saw 1,794 feature movies from 103 countries and regions, with nearly 90 percent of all entries coming from abroad.