On its 16th anniversary, the festival presented its 1st Kodak VISION Award. The 1st prestigious award was given to an Indian social film "I did not Kill Gandhi" with the negatives of the film worth ¥2,500,000 to the director Mr. Jahnu Barua. It was an extra prize from Kodak for the creating of his next feature.
"I won this award thanks to the audience's quick response to my film's message. I am very pleased with it because it means so many people agreed with my message of peace and nonviolence as it is considered something very important. I will never forget how the audience in Fukuoka liked this film. I am not sure of my next feature yet, however I am encouraged to shoot it thanks to this award." (Comment by the director Mr. Barua)
The opening film "Elegy for a Mother" from Sri Lanka was screened as the world premiere. Though the director Mr. Lester James Peries, one of the greatest Asian directors was unable to attend the festival due to his age 87 years old, his wife Mrs. Sumitra Peries, a production designer of this film read out his message on behalf of him.
"Behind the Painting", the posthumous work of a great Thai director Mr. Cherd Songsri was shown as a special screening. His retrospective film exhibition was also held as a special event with his 7 films archived by the Fukuoka City Public Library.
This year's festival was characterized by the rise of a new generation. Among 24 official invited films, more than half were the 1st or the 2nd features. The theme of the forum was "A New Generation and the future for Asian Films" where the director Mr. Riri Riza from Indonesia and Mr. Royston Tan from Singapore reported the current situation of the print production in their countries.
During the festival, the typhoon No. 13 hit Fukuoka on the three-day weekend. The maximum momentary wind speed was 49.0 meters (the 2nd biggest in Fukuoka's recorded history). The screening was barely held as scheduled, however a great number of audience was affected by the cancellation of transportation facilities and the temporary closing of commercial facilities. On the other hand, the huge turnout was attracted to "The Ants" directed by Mr. Kaoru Ikeya, a documentary about the life of a former remnant soldier. The additional screening of this film was held on very short notice on the final day due to the overflowing audience. It was the 2nd additional screening in the history of the festival since "A Last Note" in 1995.
"Focus on Asia in Kumamoto" was held in October and 6 films were exhibited which were shown in Fukuoka the last few years.