The Official Selection of Tiantan Award in the Competition section was officially announced at the press conference of the 14th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) on March 28, 2024.
Outstanding films from all over the world will be brought together in Beijing, extending a collective sincere cinematic invitation to the audience. The official announcement of the Official Selection of Tiantan Award in the Competition section at the 14th edition revealed that 15 excellent films from 21 countries and regions will hit cinema screens in Beijing this April.
Serbian director Emir Kusturica, Jury President of the Tiantan Award, along with six members, namely Australian film sound designer David White, Chinese American actor Kris Phillips, Austrian director Jessica Hausner, Brazilian animation director Carlos Saldanha, Chinese actress Ma Li, and Chinese actor Zhu Yilong, will work together to select the final winners for the Tiantan Award.
Here is a detailed introduction to the Official Selection:
Benjamin, a PhD student who fails to get the scholarship, becomes a substitute teacher in a middle school. Without any experience and faced with a weakened institution, he discovers the difficulties of the profession. Hopefully, his supportive and committed colleagues will lead him to take a fresh look at the profession.
Before 2016, Thomas Lilti was a general practitioner, and also worked part-time as a director and screenwriter. During his studies at school, he produced three short films, which were once screened at student film festivals. His talent was thus discovered, and obtained a chance to shoot his first feature film Les Yeux bandés (2007). Subsequently, he participated in the production of many film and television works as a screenwriter. In September 2014, his second film Hippocrate was released. The protagonist of this film is a newcomer doctor, in which director Lilti perfectly combined his two professions. This movie was commercially successful and widely acclaimed, helping the director win three nominations at the French César Awards in 2015. In 2018, his third film Irreplaceable attracted 1.5 million audiences to walk in cinemas. Afterwards, Thomas Lilti worked with Canal+ to make the TV series edition of Hippocrate, and co-produced the new film The Freshman in 2018.
This film is an adaptation of Robert Seethaler’s worldwide bestseller. At the turn of the 20th century, a young orphan named Andreas Egger is sent to live with his ruthless uncle on a farm in a remote valley. At the age of 18, Andreas finds the courage to leave and becomes a woodsman. He rents a cabin in the valley with the money he has earned, and meets Marie, the light of his life. However, Andreas reluctantly enlists as a soldier and joins the German Wehrmacht. With little chance of winning, he heads to the former Soviet front. Having survived the madness of the war, Andreas returns to the valley and to a changed world.
Hans Steinbichler grew up in southern Bavaria, Germany, and studied directing at the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF Munich). The director's debut feature, A Birthday to Remember (2003), received several awards. His second feature, Winter Journey (2005), was premiered at the official selection of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and nominated for the German Film Awards for Outstanding Feature Film. Steinbichler's another film, My Mother, My Bride and I (2007), premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and won the Grimme-Preis Award in the director category for the second time. The Blue of the Sky (2011) became the winner of the Bavarian Film Awards for Best Production. In 2016, his new film, The Diary Of Anne Frank, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, and won the German Directors Award Metropolis. Two years later, Hans Steinbichler was awarded the honor again for his film The Unheard Woman (2018).
All the Long Nights is an adaptation of Seo Maiko’s novel of the same name. Misa Fujisawa experiences premenstrual syndrome (PMS). This leads to the change of her temper, and she finds she even can't keep calm when facing her boss. In order to change the situation, Misa decides to change her job and surroundings. Five years later, she finds a new job at a science company. Takatoshi Yamazoe sits next to her and is also much younger than the rest of the staff. Takatoshi becomes the object of her gentle manner and care -- a strange, silent guy, plagued by panic disorder. The two people get closer without falling in love, but they have healed each other.
Sho Miyake was born in 1984 in Hokkaido. He graduated from Hitotsubashi University’s Faculty of Sociology, and once studied at the Film School of Tokyo. His film Small, Slow But Steady (2022) was shortlisted in the Encounters section of the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival, and won the Best Film, Best Director and other awards at the 77th Mainichi Film Awards.
After 20 years, Sue returns to her homeland Egypt to see her estranged mother. Sue's mother Fairouz is a splendid and eccentric aristocrat. Leading her on a surprising journey from Cairo back to Alexandria, Sue reconnects with her loved ones and faces startling and painful memories. She will reconcile with her past, and finally become the empowered woman she ought to be.
Tamer Ruggli is a Swiss-Egyptian filmmaker who graduated from the ?cole cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL). After intensifying his writing skills at the New York Film Academy in 2015, he was awarded the Swiss Society of Authors (SSA) Scholarship in 2016 for Back to Alexandria, his first feature-length fiction script. Tamer’s short films have been selected and awarded by numerous prestigious international film festivals such as Palm Springs International ShortFest and Outfest Los Angeles.
The cheapest drivers in the hearse business, gambling addict Risto Kivi and his friend, the 85% brainless man Arto Niska, have found themselves in a situation where everything has gone wrong, and they are in need of a fresh start. Ultimately Arto, the man without a brain, and Risto, the man without a heart, are forced to gamble with their own lives.
Teemu Nikki is a veteran filmmaker who has directed numerous films. As the son of a pig farmer from Sysm?, Finland, he is self-educated and widely acclaimed, and has won many awards. Nikki is good at expressing political satires on human nature with kind and sharp narratives. The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic (2021) won the Audience Award at the Venice International Film Festival, and the Tiantan Award for Best Feature Film, Best Screenplay and Best Actor at the 12th BJIFF. Nikki’s other works include films like Not In My Back Yard (2020) and Euthanizer (2017), and TV series such as Mister8 (2021) and Mental.
Wu Di, a struggling artsy youth in Beijing, returns to his hometown in frustration after experiencing setbacks in both his job and relationship. His sudden return disrupts the tranquil life of his family. Not only does he need to face the “intimacy” with his family again, but he also needs to explore more possibilities for his future. After encountering numerous obstacles in reality, a chance meeting with his high school classmate Feng Liuliu leads to an unexpected turn of events in his life.
His debut feature film, Couch Boy, was nominated for Best Actor at the 11th FIRST International Film Festival. His current project, Gold or Shit, starring Hu Ge and Gao Yuanyuan, features a distinctive light-hearted comedic style that is uniquely personal. The film’s visual style is delicately sincere.
In October 1958, the Cold War was at its peak. Working on a secret experiment at the state nuclear institute Vin?a in Yugoslavia, a group of young communist scientists led by Professor Dragoslav Popovi? get irradiated with a lethal dose of uranium. They are sent to the Institut Curie clinic for experimental medical treatment headed by respected doctor Georges Mathé. As they are left with only days to live, the medical team still has no solution. So, Doctor Mathé proposes to perform the first-ever human bone marrow transplant. The film is based on a true story.
Dragan Bjelogrlic is a Serbian actor, director and producer. Apart from a successful acting career that lasts 40 years, in the last two decades, he has also devoted to producing and directing movies and TV series, consequently becoming one of the most recognized and successful cinematographic creators in the entire region.
Travel is for parting, or perhaps, for reunion. Newlyweds Lin Xiushan and Wang Rui work in different cities. They meet once a month traveling on a slow train. They set the alarm clock, make love, and then part ways again at dawn. In an era without cellphones, this was the norm for long-distance relationships. On the day of the Mid-autumn Festival, the two young people unexpectedly get a day off. They each want to surprise the other, but fate has other plans. Throughout the day, they keep missing each other as they travel between the two cities, always a step too late. On the two trains going in opposite directions, they encounter a variety of individuals: some celebrating, some parting, and some facing life and death. After a long exhausting day, the young couple have both tasted the bittersweetness of life and love. Under the watchful moon, as they are about to give up, fate finally seems to answer their prayers...
Li Weiran, born in Kunming, Yunnan Province, and a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy, is a Chinese film director and commercial producer. He became the first Chinese individual to win the prestigious “One Show” award, often referred to as the “Oscars” of the advertising world, with his work for the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) titled Someone Else’ s Child. Over a decade of creating commercials, he has won countless advertising awards both domestically and internationally, earning the title of “China's foremost native advertising director”. His debut film, Welcome to Shama Town, was nominated for multiple awards.
Days after giving birth to a stillborn baby, Robin’s breasts start to produce milk. Unable to throw it away, Robin makes the unusual decision to donate her milk. As her quest for a place to donate becomes more difficult than anticipated, more and more milk starts to crowd her freezer, relationship, and life.
Stefanie Kolk studied biophysics and lived in Japan for two years before entering the Netherlands Film Academy. Her graduation short Clan and shorts Harbour and Eyes on the Road premiered at the Locarno Film Festival’s Pardi di Domani International Competition in 2016, 2017 and 2019. Stefanie’s films have been shown at festivals around the world, in Dutch cinemas and on Dutch national television. She was a participant at Berlinale Talents 2019 and the Talent en Route selection at the Netherlands Film Festival 2019. Her first feature film Milk was selected for Berlinale Script Station 2021, and premiered worldwide at the Venice Days section of the Venice International Film Festival in 2023.
When Nina finds out that her teenage son Lars has been injured in an accident at school, she is faced with a dilemma: Can she leave behind the rehearsals with her orchestra in order to be there completely for him? The decision she makes is a compromise: For five days, she will leave Munich to take Lars on a getaway, to the island in western France. In the small house on the beach, mother and son are forced to face each other. Misunderstandings multiply, suppositions turn into suspicions: Was Lars a witness to a gruesome crime at school? Did he even participate in it? When a winter storm cuts the last connection to the mainland, a dangerous confrontation ensues.
A five-month-old baby is stolen from the clutches of her mother, Jhumpa Mahato, an impoverished tribal woman with a dark past. Raman Bansal, a photographer, becomes the unwitting witness to this brutal incident. Gautam Bansal, a wealthy urban brat, has come to pick up his younger brother Raman from the station. Their already tenuous relationship is further tested when both of them are embroiled in Jhumpa’s endeavor to search for her baby. The trio are forced to navigate the dark underbelly of society, testing their resilience, trust, and ultimately, their humanity. Amidst the heart-pounding action and survival struggles, deeper themes of motherhood, classism, xenophobia, and a disillusionment with the system emerge.
Karan Tejpal is an Indian writer and director who is inspired to unravel tales of the complex and contradictory world that he sees around him. His debut feature film, Stolen, had its world premiere at the 80th Venice International Film Festival. Tejpal started his career working in large-scale Bollywood films, and moved through a range of projects including advertising and television. He found his niche in independent cinema and his early work as a screenwriter has been recognized by the Sundance Screenwriters Lab (2016) and NFDC Screenwriters Lab (2014).
The film is based on the true story The Murderous Girl in a Wedding Dress. After serving 27 years in prison, Old Qin is released from prison to find himself without any family and only a substantial sum of money from a demolition compensation. Determined to fulfill a vow he made to his parents to continue the family lineage, he seeks a spouse in a women’s prison, where he meets Chang Juan, a woman harboring a secret. Upon her release, Chang Juan seeks marriage and eyes Old Qin’s money. However, in her view, someone who has served time in prison doesn’t deserve to carry on their lineage. Inevitable conflicts arise as secrets come to the surface... Both are faced with heart-wrenching decisions time and again: Old Qin chooses life, giving everything for just a shred of warmth; Chang Juan leans towards death, holding no attachment to this world. How will they redeem themselves?
Zhang Guoli is a national first-class actor, director and producer. Zhang has won numerous domestic awards such as the Plum Performance Award, Flying Apsaras Awards, China TV Golden Eagle Award, Magnolia Awards of the Shanghai TV Festival, Golden Rooster Awards, and People’s Hundred Flowers Awards. He has also received international recognition, such as the Best Actor award at the Cairo International Film Festival. Zhang is a prestigious actor and director in China.
Renata seeks refuge in the house of Virginia, her sister. Virginia wants to help her and receives her. But the days pass and the drama of daily life begins to reveal the link between them, the pain of recognizing and rediscovering each other in a past that returns and takes strange forms.
Betania Cappato was born in Argentina in 1984. Her debut feature film, A School in Cerro Hueso, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2021, and received the Special Mention of the Generation Kplus International Jury. The film was also nominated for the Tiantan Award in the Competition section at the 11th Beijing International Film Festival. It has also participated in Melbourne, Tallinn Black Nights, Huelva, Mar Del Plata and other film festivals, and received numerous awards. The Ant Woman is her second feature film, which was co-directed with Adrián Suárez. The film was premiered and awarded at the 2023 Mar Del Plata Film Festival.
Adrián Suárez was born in Argentina in 1976. He has directed several short films, including Emilia (2008), The Roads Ahead (2010), and El Adán (2014). Notably, The Roads Ahead received the FIPRESCI Award at the Mar Del Plata International Film Festival. He was the scriptwriter of the animated short film La jornada (2007), and collaborated on the script and acted on the film Pin Boy (2003, directed by Ana Poliak). The Ant Woman is his first feature film.
The story takes place in a dark city, in a fictional world, during an unknown time. On an exceptionally stormy night, Sarah Bennett arrives at the office of Detective Joe. She asks him to find her missing sister. Though he knows nothing good will come of it, Joe agrees to open an investigation. The investigation quickly entangles, and Joe finds himself alone facing the most dangerous criminal in the city.
Amit Ulman is a director, screenwriter and actor who graduated from the Nissan Netiv Acting Studio. The City is his debut film. He is a creator and participant in Magashim High School and other works, and also a director and editor of music videos and sketches. Amit Ulman has released two music albums, including Hetzi Sograim, the first Hebrew “oral poetry” album.
Set in a village in Anatolia at the foothills of the mountains, portraying the story of the resistance of a young man, Ali, against the domination of landlords and local gangs, striving to win back his wife’s love and affection. Whether he can win the battle between good and evil will determine his fate in the future.
Cemil A?ac?ko?lu, a screenwriter and director, is a native of Istanbul, Türkiye. Since 2011, he has created and directed four films, which were nominated for the Competition section of Montreal, Sarajevo and other film festivals. His fifth film, The Reeds, is a co-production with Türkiye Radio and Television Corporation, and gains support from Türkiye’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
