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.