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The 16th Shanghai International Film Festival wrapped up on Sunday evening with an awards
ceremony. Reporter Song Wenjing tells us who's taking home the trophies.
Russian film "The Major" was the biggest winner, taking away the Golden Goblet Award for best
film, as well as the awards for best director and outstanding artistic achievement. The
Jury Grand Prix went to Sweden's "Reliance", which also won awards for best screenplay
and best cinematography.
Hong Kong actor Nick Cheung won the best actor award for the film "Unbeatable". The jury
described his character as "a man who lives at the bottom of society but who has a strong
character and magnetic personality". 10-year-old Malaysian performer Crystal Lee became the
youngest winner of the best actress award in the festival's history.
This year 14 films selected from more than 1,600 entries were in competition for the
festival's top awards. But some film fans say the awards are far from influential.
"To be honest I don't know about any of the films. Most of the films competing are not
from mainstream film giant countries," said Zhang Yafen.
Although many filmgoers say they still don't know much about the festival's Golden Goblet
Award, they say a wider range of films available means they're going to the movies more. And
they say they hope the available films will continue to get better.
"I'm looking for films that are not produced for the majority with some independent thinking.
We've mostly seen Hollywood and Hong Kong films. That's just too much," said Fan Chenfang.
"Both artistic and business values are taken into consideration when we select movies.
Major cinemas in town usually import blockbusters under the pressure of profit, so we hope that
people can also see a greater variety of films, especially independent movies, at our fesitval,"
said Fu Wenxia.
And Fu says a successful festival is about more than just the competition and awards.
"Buying and selling the movies should be the main purpose of a good film festival, so we
also help young directors market their films. Successful film festivals even match filmmakers
with buyers before the festival kicks off, so that once it's underway, people are ready
to do business. The power of new media is also important. We hope that next year audiences
will be able to see the festival's documentaries and films through the internet."
Organizers say they hope that the Shanghai Film Festival will further lead to opportunities
for Chinese and foreign film makers to work on joint productions. China now has a limit
on the number of films it imports, which is 50 a year, but co-produced films are not covered
under that restriction.