Hong Kong Directors Shine: Scenes from Departure, Compact Disc, and Colour Ideology Sampling.mov Honoured with Taiwan Competition Grand Prize, TIDF Visionary Award, and Next Generation Award
The 15th Taiwan International Documentary Festival (TIDF) held its awards ceremony on the evening of May 7, presenting a total of 11 awards across the Asian Vision Competition, International Competition, Taiwan Competition, the cross-section TIDF Visionary Award dedicated to Chinese-language documentaries, and the Next Generation Award presented in collaboration with the Fubon Cultural & Educational Foundation.
Forty-four films were shortlisted across the three main competition sections while 18 titles competed for the TIDF Visionary Award. The festival received a record-breaking 2,617 submissions from 153 countries and regions, highlighting the international visibility and impact TIDF has built over the years. The ceremony brought together those including Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI) Chairperson Arthur CHU, TFAI CEO DU Li-chin, TIDF Programme Director Wood LIN, jury members, and filmmakers.
TFAI Chairperson Arthur CHU stated: “The energy of our film festival arises from our audiences as well as the invited filmmakers and their works. With our audiences and filmmakers, these bits of energy are microcosms of a larger story as a whole, and I hope that every time everyone comes to our festival they become a part of a larger story.” Programme Director Wood LIN remarked, “A documentary only becomes complete when it comes before an audience. A film festival only becomes complete when it comes together with its audiences and filmmakers. Documentary is a ray of light in this world, and I thank everyone for lighting up Taiwan and this world!”
Bonds That Floodwaters Cannot Wash Away: Until the Orchid Blooms Wins Asian Vision Competition Grand Prize
The Asian Vision Competition Grand Prize was awarded to Until the Orchid Blooms by director Polen LY, filmed over six years in an Indigenous village in northern Cambodia confronting land dispossession. The jury praised its balance between subject and form, noting that beyond addressing important issues, the film reveals the beauty of nature and childhood innocence. The jury also recognised the director’s remarkable potential. Director Polen LY stated that making his film was by no means a leisurely process, yet the rural children he filmed acted as guides in life and away from hopelessness. He did not want to romanticize the concept of “resilience” but rather sought to emphasize empathy and compassion in his work and hoped to convey this to everyone. He also encouraged the filmmakers before him, remarking, “It’s human emotion that AI can never replace.”
The Jury Prize went to the Indian film CycleMahesh, which moves fluidly among documentary, fiction, and myth. Echoing TIDF’s “Re-encounter Reality” curatorial spirit, the jury commended the film’s blurring of reality and representation in its portrayal of migrant workers during the pandemic. Director Suhel BANERJEE remarked that there aren’t many places in the world at the moment where one could freely screen films about Palestine or discuss Palestine, particularly not in India or the Western world. He pointed out that the films he made and that those around him were making “require a certain type of freedom” and said that he hoped everyone would support each other in defending freedom,
The Special Prize was awarded to Writing Hawa, recognised for its powerful portrayal of three generations of Afghan women who persist in spite of oppressive patriarchy. The lives of these mothers and daughters leave us an indelible memory of resistance. Co-director Najiba NOORI stated: “It has been for five years that the country has been under the control of a terrorist group, the Taliban; honestly it has become so normal that you don’t hear the world talk about Afghanistan anymore, the only country in the world that doesn’t allow women to go to school.” She thanked TIDF for giving her a platform and allowing her to bring her story to Taiwan, bringing attention again to an issue that was already fading from people’s memories.
Due to the strong overall quality of this year’s Asian Vision Competition, and to encourage outstanding short films, the jury awarded a Jury Special Mention to Compact Disc, recognising how it bears witness to a period indelibly etched in time for this generation of Hongkongers.
Hair, Paper, Water… Wins International Competition Grand Prize with Poetic Portrait of a Vanishing Vietnamese Culture
The International Competition Grand Prize went to Hair, Paper, Water…, co-directed by TRƯƠNG Minh Quý and Nicolas GRAUX. The jury praised the film’s formal freedom and striking aesthetic approach, weaving together fragments of sound and image into a poetic ethnography that captures the irreversible variations of culture across time. GRAUX already left Taiwan the day before and was unable to attend the award ceremony, but he received word of the win while en route to the airport in a taxi and initiated a group video call with TRƯƠNG to express their thanks and describe the childlike creativity they tried to bring to their project.
The Jury Prize was awarded to Nocturnes, the latest work by directing duo Anupama SRINIVASAN and Anirban DUTTA, both previously shortlisted at TIDF. More than a conventional ecological documentary, the film was recognised as a quiet probe into the act of “seeing”, inviting audiences to rediscover humanity’s place among all beings. Cinematographer Satya Rai NAGPAUL accepted the award on behalf of the directors and stated that he was pleasantly surprised to receive the award, particularly thanking TIDF and expressing his deep gratitude to the festival staff for their attentiveness and care for every detail.
The Special Mention went to Kabul, Between Prayers by Aboozar AMINI, set during Afghanistan’s transition from 20 years of US-backed rule to the return of the Taliban. The film weaves an intimate landscape of the hopes and dreams of young Taliban fighters, while also revealing the fragmentation and absence of women.
Taiwan Competition Honours Taiwan-based Hong Kong Directors: Scenes from Departure Wins Grand Prize, Colour Ideology Sampling.mov Receives Jury Prize
Making its world premiere at this year’s TIDF, Scenes from Departure follows director Ray Kam-hei CHAN’s tender and awkward attempts to reconnect with his father. The film won the Taiwan Competition Grand Prize, marking an impressive achievement for his first documentary feature. The jury praised its modest means, quiet assurance, and capacity to surprise, noting that it proposes a new mode of political cinema through personal filmmaking. Director Ray thanked his producers for their encouragement and helping him believe in the value of his own personal story. Growing up as an only child, he often felt lonely, but it wasn’t until he encountered cinema that he felt he truly learned to communicate. He thanked his father for allowing him to film him so closely and dedicated his film to his deceased mother.
Previously awarded Best Documentary Short Film at the Golden Horse Awards, Colour Ideology Sampling.mov mixing together vérité footage of debates that occur in private and public spaces, this film creatively locates the contradictions of political participation. The jury commended its inventive approach to these tensions, awarding it the Taiwan Competition Jury Prize. Co-director Kathy WONG spoke first, thanking her team and quoting the words of a friend: “Our collaborative partners are our ‘reality’ along the way, thank you Hong Kong, and thank you Taiwan!” Co-director CHAN Cheuk-sze said that documentary cinema “held out an umbrella” for her, allowing her to go out in the pouring rain without getting soaked. She said that in the future she planned to continue running about in the rain until the next time she encounters the audience.
TIDF Visionary Award Grand Prize Goes to Compact Disc
Hong Kong director Rico WONG’s Compact Disc was recognised as a powerful cinematic act resisting forgetting and the erasure of a city’s history. Following its Jury Special Mention in the Asian Vision Competition, the film also won the Grand Prize of the cross-section TIDF Visionary Award, which is dedicated to Chinese-language documentaries. Director Rico WONG specially thanked his four-person team as well as the friends who encountered hardship with him along the way who entrusted him with 100% of their trust in entrusting their stories to him. Two years ago he came to TIDF for the first time as an audience member, at which time he saw works that provided him with courage and insight, and he began making his film after he returned to Hong Kong. He said that he felt honored to be there among such luminaries and to be recognized, saying that he hopes to continue creating and being seen as a filmmaker.
The Jury Special Prize went to the Taiwanese film XiXi, praised for its intimate exploration of East Asian womanhood—one that celebrates the freedom of young women while honestly confronting the costs of challenging tradition. The jury particularly commended director WU Fan for courageously appearing in the film and revealing her own vulnerability. Surprised at having won an award, director WU Fan stated explained that taking part in TIDF this year was like the first time she attended, discovering that “films can actually be made like this.” She further conveyed to those filmmakers before her that it was only because of their existence that she was able to go on filming, thanking everyone for their courageous works of creativity.
The Taiwan Critics Association Recommendation Award, announced prior to the festival as a non-competition award, was presented to Chinese director HU Sanshou for Xiangzidian Village: The Stage, a new documentary portraying his hometown. HU Sanshou thanked the film critics for their appreciation, saying that he particularly liked this year’s theme of “Re-encounter Reality” and that this was no ordinary award to him. His hometown of Xiangzidian is one of the most important points in his life to him, and he thanked his family members, fellow villagers, and those who had already passed away.
Public Television Service’s Viewpoint Programme Receives Outstanding Contribution Award; LA PALOMA Wins Audience Award; Colour Ideology Sampling.mov. Wins Next Generation Award
The Outstanding Contribution Award, announced at the beginning of the festival, was presented to Taiwan Public Television Service’s Viewpoint, honoring the programme for its 27 years of dedication to documentary filmmaking in Taiwan. Accepting the award on behalf of the programme, Tony SU explained, “If documentary is an important medium that reflects society, then Viewpoint, which began broadcasting in 1999, is a program that grew out of Taiwan’s diverse and democratic earth.” He thanked audiences who had stuck with the program over the years and said that he hoped that the program would continue to serve as a vital window for free creativity in the Chinese-speaking world.
This year’s Audience Award went to the Taiwanese documentary LA PALOMA, giving the film strong momentum ahead of its theatrical release in Taiwan. The film is a powerful biopic of a singer who persisted in spite of state surveillance during the martial law period. Director LU Yuan-chi happily explained that his team had particularly hoped to receive the Audience Award, as to them, gaining an audience’s appreciation meant a great deal.
The Next Generation Award co-organized by TIDF and Fubon Cultural & Educational Foundation, an award representing the perspective of a new generation and based on the voting by 23 teenage jurors, went to Colour Ideology Sampling.mov. The youth jury noted that it creates an unstressed opportunity to visually acknowledge and reflect, acting as a doorway for teenagers to explore politics, while also reminding us not to fall into arbitrary or singular frameworks of thought.
Added screenings of all award-winning films will be held on May 10, the last day of the TIDF. These are not-to-be-missed opportunities to watch these winning films! The venues include SPOT-Huashan and Shin Kong Cinemas Taipei Lion’s. For complete remarks by the jury on the winning films as well as screening information, please follow the latest news on TIDF’s official website.
➤TFAI Chairperson Arthur CHU
➤TIDF Programme Director Wood LIN
➤TIDF Awards Ceremony.