Chinese film-maker’s short The Administration Of Glory was in competition at Cannes in 2014

Ran Huang

Chinese film-maker and artist Ran Huang has received the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Bursary from this year’s award curator, US actor-director Danny Houston, at the Sarajevo Film Festival.

“When I saw Ran’s films I knew I was watching the work of a visionary: he makes me see the world differently and I find that very exciting,” said Houston.

“Sarajevo Film Festival is all about international communication through Art and Ran is investigating the human condition.”

Ran Huang said he was delighted at the possibilities offered by the Bursary: “As an artist you work largely on your own but in film I really enjoy the openness to others’ ideas.

“I appreciate this opportunity to expand my vision, to explore a new language, a new community and a new way to connect with people.”

Huang came to film from fine art, and his conceptual short films Disruptive Desires, Tranquility and the Loss of Lucidity (2012), Blithe Tragedy (2010), and Fake Action Truth (2009) have received international attention and critical acclaim in the art world.

As a rising voice in the contemporary art scene in China, Huang’s art practise encompasses film, video, sculpture, installation, photography, painting and drawing.

The Katrin Cartlidge Foundation, which aims to promote new talent and new perspectives in cinema, awards an annual bursary at Sarajevo, in honour of the late English actress’ close association with the area and with the founding principles of the festival.

Cartlidge, who died in 2002, is well known in the Balkans for her performances in Milcho Manchevski’s Before the Rain and Danis Tanovic’s No Man’s Land as well as performances in Mike Leigh’s Naked, Career Girls and Topsy Turvy and Lars Von Trier’s Breaking the Waves.