Chinese star Fan Bingbing and Singapore director Ang Geck Geck Priscilla were on hand to receive trophies at the Bangkok International Film Festival (BKKIFF), which hosted its closing ceremony despite widespread flooding that hit the Thai capital.
All 50 districts in Bangkok were declared flood disaster zones on Saturday after two days of torrential rain. A special two-day public holiday will be observed on Monday and Tuesday in response to continuing flooding.
After deliberation, BKKIFF’s festival team pressed ahead with the closing ceremony, which was held on Sunday (September 27) at the IMAX Theatre of Iconsiam, a high-end shopping complex located along the Chao Phraya River.
Some 20 films were selected for the international competition. The Bangkok Grand Prix for best film was given to Abinash Bikram Shah’s feature debut Elephants In The Fog, a Nepal-France-Germany-Brazil-Norway co-production, while the best director prize went to Marine Atlan for France-Italy coming-of-age drama La Gradiva. Both films premiered at Cannes, in Un Certain Regard and Critics’ Week respectively.
Fan was presented with the best leading performance prize for her role in Malaysian director Chong Keat Aun’s Mother Bhumi, for which she previously won best actress at the Golden Horse Awards last November. The acting prize at BKKIFF is gender neutral and judged by a panel of actors who consider films from all sections at the festival.
Ang’s feature debut Ah Girl picked up two awards, including best Asean film, a new prize for a Southeast Asian film from any section with 16 eligible films in competition, and the New Voices award. The latter is a separate category for emerging filmmakers an included nine films in competition.
“We’d like to thank the international guests who came all the way to meet local audiences at the festival and attend the closing ceremony,” BKKIFF festival director Donsaron Kovitvanitcha told Screen.
“The festival’s main area in Siam and Iconsiam were not affected much but some of the guests have experienced inconvenience at the airport due to the flooding.”
Thai director Sivaroj Kongsakul and Thai actor Wanlop Rungkumjud were unable to travel to the closing ceremony as their areas were flooded. Both were jurors for best Asian short film, which went to Nguyen Thien-An’s The Dream Is A Snail – the first Vietnamese film to compete for Cannes’ short film Palme d’Or.
The House On The Moon, which premiered in competition at Locarno, closed the festival after the awards ceremony, with Singapore director Nelson Yeo, Taiwanese actor Lee Kang Sheng and Singapore actress Lim Shi An in attendance.
More than 150 films were screened during the 15-day festival from September 13-27.
BKKIFF 2026 winners
Bangkok Grand Prix: Elephants In The Fog (Nep-Fr-Ger-Bra-Nor), dir. Abinash Bikram Shah
Best Director: La Gradiva (Fr-It), dir. Marine Atlan
Jury Prize: Forever Your Maternal Animal (Bel-Fr-Mex), dir. Valentina Maurel
Special Mentions
- Tin Castle
- 9 Temples To Heaven
- I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Best Performance in a Leading Role: Fan Bingbing, Mother Bhumi
New Voices Award: Ah Girl (Sing), dir. Ang Geck Geck Priscilla
Best ASEAN Film: Ah Girl (Sing), dir. Ang Geck Geck Priscilla
Best Asian Short Film: The Dream Is A Snail (Viet), dir. Nguyen Thien-An
Special mentions
- Warden, dir. Sabah Mohammadi
- Silent Voices, dir. Nadine Misong Jin
- Incident On The Mountain, dir. Savunthara Seng
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